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Aikido'Ka

Grass Valley's Family Martial Arts School -- Focus, Fitness & Fun

O'Sensei Quotes

Feb 25 2014

For Real Success, Embrace Your Failures

Failure is the key to success

Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.

O’Sensei Morihei Uehsiba, Founder of Aikido

When practicing aikido, or any other martial art, we often focus on over coming our attacker. We want to succeed at the technique we’re practicing. And we want to throw — with power! While this makes sense, in a lot of ways, it’s misguided.

Yes, we should practice our techniques carefully to improve our skills. Perfect practice makes perfect, after all. But our learning mostly doesn’t come from getting things right. Getting a technique or movement correct, doesn’t teach us how to improve ourselves. Getting the technique right simply confirms that we understand what’s going on to a certain extent. While that’s certainly valuable, it’s not learning something new.

We start learning new things when we fail. Making mistakes gives us the opportunity to change our behavior and adjust our understandings to more accurately conform to reality. We can then adjust our movements and techniques to refine them so that they work better.

Do your utmost best. Then embrace your failures. Doing so will speed up your learning and make every aspect of training more fun.

In this way, aikido practice is different than school. In school, you are supposed to get everything right. Your grades reflect how correct your answers have been in homework, tests and class participation. If you make a mistake in front of class, that’s an opportunity for humiliation. Mistakes are frowned upon. In school, failure is as bad as it gets.

At the dojo, we support and learn from each other. We all make mistakes regularly and help each other overcome those mistakes. We get in front of class and show how we’re having difficulties and we turn those failures into learning. We embrace our mistakes and use them for self-improvement. And fun.

Written by Frank Bloksberg · Categorized: O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, Respect, Self-improvement, Training · Tagged: failure, Moriteru Ueshiba, O'Sensei Quotes, self-improvement, success

Feb 20 2014

The Purpose of Training

The Purpose of Aikido Training

The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit.

O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido

Written by Frank Bloksberg · Categorized: O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba · Tagged: O'Sensei Quotes

Feb 19 2014

There are no contests in the Art of Peace

No Contests in the Art of PeaceThere are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.

O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido

Written by Frank Bloksberg · Categorized: O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba · Tagged: O'Sensei Quotes

Apr 13 2013

When Life is Victorious

When life is victorious, there is birth; when it is thwarted, there is death. A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Written by Frank Bloksberg · Categorized: O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba · Tagged: O'Sensei Quotes

Apr 08 2013

The Art of Peace

The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow . . . . Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Written by Frank Bloksberg · Categorized: O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba · Tagged: O'Sensei Quotes

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