A Short Instruction:
The purpose of this article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.
The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.
It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least a month.
Practice and validation for learning
Recently my first-ever book “Kokoro wo shizumeru (Calm the mind)” was published in Japan by Gentosha Ltd. I suppose many of you have had the opportunity to read the above book and are reading this weblog for the first time. Therefore, I would like to tell you the importance of the practice and validation at this time. It is also important for those who have been regularly reading my weblog since the early days, so please read this so as to review your way of learning.
These weblog reports are written in order for you to practice and validate, not to just read.
Needless to say, practicing what you learn is important for all kinds of matters. It is useful to read books and participate in seminars, but reading and participating give you only some knowledge. In order to master the contents of the books and seminars, it is absolutely necessary to put them into practice.
So, if you just read this weblog, you may get some knowledge, however, you can not master completely what I mean by simply reading my weblog reports.
On the other hand, practicing is not enough as well. You need validation after practicing. For example, you need to check how your idea and action change your relationship with your family, friends, colleagues, boss, etc.
It is indispensable to analyze the results of practice objectively.
For example, let’s talk about the case that your daily task is “to practice Ki breathing methods every day.” I sometimes hear from those who practice Ki breathing methods,
“I practice Ki breathing methods for one hour every day!”
I know that it is hard to keep practicing Ki breathing methods for one hour every day and it is great to do. But I ask,
“As a result, how did you change?”
Some people have no response after hearing my question. It may be too strict to say that those who cannot answer my question are “self-satisfied,” but they are indeed satisfied with just having practiced Ki breathing methods for one hour.
In addition, among those people, there is a person who tells me,
“I exert myself to practice Ki breathing method for one hour even though I have difficulty in breathing!”
If he has difficulty in breathing, his way of Ki breathing is wrong.
Without validating the way, you will go in the wrong direction even further. As above, just practicing is not enough.
I will show you another example. Let’s say, your daily task is “to use plus words.” Honest people inform me,
“I always use plus words!”
Using plus words itself is great. But I ask,
“As a result, how did you change?”
Again, they have no answer in response to my question. Among those, even there is a person who tells me,
“I experience stress even though I am using plus words.”
In this case, his use of plus words is a meaningless achievement. If he gets stressed while using plus words, it means he may have been restraining himself, he may have been lying to himself, or he is trying to act strong unnaturally.
Again, without validating, you will go in the wrong direction even further. Just practicing is not enough.
Knowledge itself can be easily lost, however, a thing that you master through practice and validation you are unlikely to lose. It will become your life-long asset. I hope you will continue your practice and validation in the future.
The following is the practice and validation for this month:
[Point of practice]
・Choose one daily task for you to practice from the book “Kokoro wo shizumeru (Calm the mind)”
・Fix the period of one month and start practicing.
[Point of validation]
・Validate while practicing in the period (every day / every week / every month), then record some changes that you become aware of in your notebook.