A Short Instruction:
The purpose of this article is to apply the Ki principle (mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.
It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.
Absolute Evaluation
The 29th All Japan Shinshin Toitsu Aikido Taigi Competition was held on 1st August 2010.
As this is competition, there were the rankings and prize winners. Please keep training with pride if you won a prize.
The results are important in a competition, however, the rankings and winning a prize are considered a “Relative Evaluation”. These are decided since there is a group of people participating in the competition.
In addition, there is an “Absolute Evaluation”. (Here we are not referring to the “Absolute Scale” and “Relative scale” used in the educational field.)
This Absolute Evaluation is “whether the participant can perform to the best of his or her ability”.
If he/she was able to show their real ability, it was great. On the other hand, there must have been participants who were not able to show their abilities due to nervousness and pressure. This is a great pity.
I would like all of participants to consider not only the Relative Evaluation, but to count the Absolute Evaluation as a matter of great importance. If you were able to perform to the best of your ability, it should be highly regarded, above and beyond that mere rankings. The only person who can really evaluate your actions in such a way is yourself.
The purpose of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido is not only to learn the techniques, but also to master “mind and body unification”. By unifying mind and body, people can perform to the best of their abilities.
The first principle among the “FOUR MAJOR PRINCIPLES TO UNIFY MIND AND BODY” is “Keep One Point.”
FOUR MAJOR PRINCIPLES TO UNIFY MIND AND BODY
1, Keep one-point
2, Relax completely
3, Keep weight underside
4, Extend Ki
In order to experience our highest ability in an important situation, we need to “calm our mind”. For this purpose, we must know where our mind is. If you are getting tense in your body, then your mind comes up to your head or upper body, your posture will be unstable, and you will not be able to use your body as you wish. If you set your mind into the infinitely small point where you cannot put physical tension (one point in the lower abdomen), your posture will be stable and you can use your body as you wish.
This point is very useful for many athletes, so players in the Baseball Major Leagues and the Olympics are learning eagerly.
In my position, I face many situations that put intense pressure on me. However, I consider each such event as an opportunity to train Mind and Body Unification. Some examples of this kind of event:
・ A situation in which we need to produce a good result
・ A situation in which we are looked at by many people
・ A situation in which we need to achieve success in a fixed time
The above are situations that put pressure on us. In these situations, the outcome of our daily effort of training makes itself known.
All the participants in the Taigi competition had schoolwork, jobs, and family dealings in their daily lives. And by their own choice they have participated in the competition that puts this kind of pressure on them. So this is a great opportunity that only such participants can experience.
For both those who were able to show their abilities, and who were not, please make good use of the experience to the future trainings. If you could not participate this time, please try to participate in the next competition.
If you are engaged with something in earnest, it is natural that you feel pressure in an important situation. Pressure itself is not bad. There are two kinds of people; those who can show their abilities even under pressure, and who cannot.
In order to perform to the best of your ability in an important situation, you should_______ .
This is mastered by neither fighting spirit nor guts, but by training.
Let us train together, from now on.
[Subject]
・ What phrase could be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.