“Yabai” [a Japanese slang word/adjective, originally meant something dangerous/risky, but now it also means amazing, cool, insane, crazy, or extreme.]
I thought it was a very recent word, but when I looked up its etymology, it seems to have originated from “yaba”, which was used in the Edo period. “Yaba” means “something inconvenient, outrageous thing to do, something bizarre”, but later, the meaning of “extremely good” seems to have been added.
When something tastes good, it is “yabai”, but even when something tastes bad, it is “yabai”. When you are lucky, it is “yabai”, and even when you are in a tight spot, it is “yabai”!
It may be a convenient term, but if we can only use the same expression to describe different conditions/state of mind, our ability to properly grasp the workings of our mind will deteriorate. It is as if we are looking at a low-resolution image, and we cannot clearly understand our own state of mind.
It becomes impossible to recognize the subtle workings of the mind, such as a sense of loneliness in the emotion of happiness, or a sense of relief in the emotion of sadness. By expressing the workings of the mind in concrete terms, the resolution becomes higher and we can better understand our own mind. Then, we will be able to [properly] approach “why I feel the way I do,” and we will be able to deal with various effects/influences of the mind that occur within us.
In my early years as an instructor, I sometimes fell into a state of anxiety at the most critical moments. Because I did not know on my own why I felt anxious, that anxiety caused even greater anxiety. When this happened, there was nothing I could do about it, and it was so painful that I decided to at least write down the feelings/sensations that I was having and try to sort them out.
I was feeling fuzzy in my head and felt like I was going around in circles. My neck and shoulders were stiff and I felt stagnant/getting stuck. Above all, even though I was learning to “calm and focus the mind at the One Point in the lower abdomen”, my mind was actually disturbed. There was no way things would go well in such a state!
What exactly is this feeling/sensation I’m experiencing right now? Why is it happening? As I practiced Ki breathing and my mind became calmer, I suddenly realized something.
“Oh, I’m actually scared. That’s why my body is reacting.”
At the time, I was afraid of failing and losing the reputation/respect from those around me.
However, I was unconsciously denying it in my mind. The fear of losing one’s reputation is instinctive and difficult to eliminate. However, it is possible to turn our mind from an inward-looking mind to outward-looking one.
Without denying that I was scared, the moment I turned my mind to what I needed to do to achieve my goal, the vague anxiety began to fade away. I became anxious because I was unable to deal with the situation on my own, so to eliminate my anxiety, I had to first know my own condition correctly.
Let’s say we get very nervous and stiff in an important situation. When we are overly nervous, we cannot see/understand the state of our mind correctly. Then the nervousness becomes an issue that we cannot handle. Once we realize we are nervous, we can work on why it is happening and how we can overcome it. When this happens, our anxiety becomes relatively small and less noticeable.
How can we properly assess our own condition/state of mind? One method I recommend is to concretely express the workings/state of our own mind. However, we should not just describe it with a single word like “yabai”! Being able to express it concretely means being able to understand our condition. It means being able to correctly grasp the workings of our mind.
This is also important when we practice Shinshin Toitsu Aikido. We can relax our body properly only when we become aware of the tension we have and understand the state of our mind that causes us to tense up.
Know thyself – This is the most basic, but most difficult thing to do. Knowing thyself is honed by expressing concretely our own conditions.
Translated by Mayumi Case
Edited by David Shaner
Eastern Ki Federation
https://easternkifederation.org/
Original article in Japanese: 自分の状態を表現する (Jibun no Jo-tai o Hyо-gen Suru)
May 1, 2025
https://shinichitohei.com/japanese/04-%e3%83%a1%e3%83%bc%e3%83%ab%e3%83%9e%e3%82%ac%e3%82%b8%e3%83%b3/35024/
