Day 13, Training Day Nine

The Art of Peace by O'Sensei:

To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.

The totally awakened warrior can freely utilize all elements contained in heaven and earth. The true warrior learns how to correctly perceive the activity of the universe and how to transform martial techniques into vehicles of purity, goodness, and beauty. A warrior's mind and body must be permeated with enlightened wisdom and deep calm.

A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.

If you comprehend the art of Peace, this difficult path, just as it is, envelops the circle of Heaven.

Today was a light day of training as we only do mediation and yoga on Sundays. Doing this is a great way to start off the week and helps you stay in balance and harmony with the world around you. For mediation we all sit in a circle in front of the shomen with eyes closed and legs crossed. We sit for thirty minutes in total silence before we move on to yoga. The yoga we do is not conventional yoga. We take simple yoga techniques that coorelate with Aikido and use these in our practice. After our training today, we all got together and went out to breakfast including Sensei and Ben. This was a nice time and I enjoy these times together with the other members of the dojo. Everyone talked about whatever was on their mind and I just listened for the most part. There is an old saying that goes, "Listen twice as much as you speak" and this is what I try to do in my life in order to learn and keep action at the forefront. After breakfast, we all continued on with our day, some watched movies in the common room and some read and slept. Overall it was another fantastic day at the Dojo in Ocean Beach. I look forward to training tomorrow.

Today I also learned the Secret to Aikido. Train Daily.