Aikido Now
The name Aikido Now is used to emphasise aikido as art of the present moment. The principle of aikido requires that we are working in the present and our actions are revealed on a moment to moment basis as we apply the principle.
Aikido is talked about as being a lifetime study. The character “do”, in aikdo means path or way, as in the path we are travelling and in aikido we have committed to walk the path of peace and harmony.
In saying all this our teacher Henry Kono Sensei talked about how aikido can be applied from the early stages of training, once the principle is grasped. The principle of aikido asks that we make a shift from simply being concerned about ourselves to including the other. In aikido we work towards the benefit of all involved. Henry sensei liked to describe aikido in terms of balance because balance is something which integral to all manner of structure, the body included. We all know balance and in relating balance to aikido we work with the physical balance of our body and how this changes and the adjustments we make as we deal with the actions of others.
Applying the principle need not depend on number of years of study or the number of techniques we have learned, but is more about choosing to take action which keeps us aligned in balance with what is happening now.
The principle of aikido can only happen in the now, in the moment. In aikido we work with what we are given in the moment and the principle is applied as the event is unfolding. We are balanced in ourselves and our balance is aligned with the movement of those we work with.
The name, Aikido Now is also a tribute our teacher Alan Ruddock who used the phrase “And 1” when he wanted to get across to us a sense of the timing in aikido. The timing is not “And 1,2,3”, it is “And 1” as in we act quickly and decisively now without hesitation.
aikidonow.com 