Why I Choose Aikido

I'm taking a Kyu 1 test (one level before Dan), and I need to make a paper of "Why I Choose Aikido" which is one page long.  I wrote this in five minutes, and think it's a good idea to publish it.  Comments welcome, especially if you're also an aikidoka (e.g. Jean). :)

Let's start:

There are many martial arts out there.  “Why I choose” referring to a comparison, so I’ll compare aikido with a martial art I learned before, and is actually one of the origins of aikido, jiujitsu.  I was also a student at jiujitsu before I trained aikido.  In jiujitsu, the focus point is also on throwing someone, rather than hitting them with punched and kicks.  But, in jiujitsu, sometimes we must use maximum power to defeat our opponents.

I went into a match in jiujitsu once.  And I won the first round.  But what happens?  I lost the second and third round, so I’m eliminated in the first phase.

I also have seen some of kung fu and tai chi.  The training in kung fu is rigorous and very exhausting, while tai chi is very very hard to master, without any practical application in its initial levels.

Now, why I choose aikido?  Besides some factors I will describe below, because I’m suppose to write a paper, the reason I choose aikido is:  because I like aikido.  No more.  No less.  That is the main reason I choose aikido as my martial art of choice.  Sure, aikido may has its own drawbacks, but as a whole art, I like it.

OK, now to the other reasons why I choose aikido, I’ll explain in points:

1. No competition.  This is important since life is competitive enough, and the dojo is a safe haven where uke and nage can both hold hands to cross the finish line together.
2. Let aikido work, not make it work.  Ask any aikidoka, can you push an aikido technique to a success?  You can’t!  You can only train a technique again and again and again until you can do it.  Focus on improvement, which is also a good philosophy of life.
3. Effective self-defense.  Touch me, and I can lock your joint anytime.  But I don’t need to hurt you if that can neutralize your attack (if I don’t want to).
4. The say, aikido is based on “love”.  What other martial art can match that?
5. The movements of aikido is beautiful.  Really.
6. Aikido is  cool.

Well, I can rant on about aikido, but since my paper is only one page, I need to stop here.

Twitter

Today I added the Twitter sidebar in this blog.  I'm getting and getting used to these web 2.0 applications that is actually so cool...  How can I join in the game?

Thinking further...  These web applications are the best socialist country in the world.  Everyone can speak freely.  The majority of them are free, with no entry price to the users.

I'm currently using:

1. rememberthemilk.com:  a very good GTD application to manage lists.
2. twitter.com:  a very good look at my time usage, since I'm mostly at the computer in the office.
3. Google Calendar
4. Gmail
5. Google Doc
6. Flickr
7. Friendster
8. meebo.com:  since I have several IMs with just a small bunch of buddies

You should try some of those applications, if you haven't already.

I've just realized, the life in the modern world is sometimes so complicated that I'm in paralysis sometimes.  Do you ever feel that you live on automatic?  I am, sometimes.  But looking further, I need to know my real goals in this life.  Why?  So that I don't only get along with any waves in front of me.  The world offer everything to be gained.  It also offer everyone to be helped.

Don't Take Things Too Seriously

Like I do...  He he he...
Seriously, I'm writing this because I tend to take things to seriously, and man, IT DOESN'T WORK OUT.  So, now, I'm abandoning that stance and adopt a more joyful stance:  "Life is play."
Yes, actually, life is more worthwhile when seen as a playing ground rather than a prison.  A corporate world may seem like a prison (nine to five anyone?), so I'm also abandoning it... soon.

Taj Mahal

Scaring Parrots at the Mahaal, originally uploaded by Devilz Haircut.

Somehow I just need to show this picture... because it's just amazing to see...

The Beauty of Doing Nothing

"Doing Nothing" in modern version might not be the meditation done by Buddhist monks in the past.  This is my "doing nothing" style:  I explored the web and try out various new stuffs like zoho.com, google maps, and a myriad of other things.  Apparently, there are many things in the internet that now support ordinary people to get information, easily, and painlessly, given you have the time and enough intelligence to dig it out (and to del.icio.us it).  It is very helpful in making the gestalt, or the overall picture of the world.  Right, now the world is flat.  What happens in the other side of the world can be broadcasted instantly by Yahoo! News to my computer screen in like... a second (just watch the Dow Jones and Nasdaq closing price).  Wow!
Living in the abundance of information like this is actually very fun.  We can swim through and makes many many links in our heads that connects things.  At Google maps, you can even explore the map with photos attached to it.  You can peek into a NTU student's mind in her blog, and a Buddhist monk also in her blog.  It's like the internet has revolutionized our world in a sense that no one can imagine before.
If I'm not "doing nothing" today, maybe this development will be missing also from my head.  The next big thing is still the internet, how we can use it more effectively to improve productivity and communication.
I never imagine how computers have evolved.  My parents can't use it very well.  I never use computer until about 10 years ago, and my first computer has CGA monitor (black and white).  I wonder who can use this myriad of technology?  It's too good to be true, but I see that this technology is targeted for us twenty-somethings, and maybe thirty-somethings.  But people over forty might not learn the new skill very well.
Wow!  What if everyone can use this... 

Menikmati Pekerjaan (by Ven. Sheng Yen)

Very nice and calming advices (taken from milis Dharmajala), worth every word in gold:

1. Menjadi sibuk tanpa kehilangan keteraturan, dan menjadi lelah tanpa kehilangan semangat.
2. Menjadi sibuk tapi bahagia, lelah tapi penuh sukacita.
3. Boleh saja sibuk: asal jangan sampai kesibukan itu membuat anda marah dan tertekan.
4. Bekerja dengan cepat, tetapi jangan sampai perasaan anda menjadi tegang; tenangkan tubuh dan pikiran anda dan jangan sampai anda menjadi tegang baik tubuh maupun pikiran.
5. Bekerja dengan cepat dengan cara yang teratur; jangan pernah berlomba dengan waktu dalam langkah yang gugup dan kacau.
6. Jangan mengukur kesuksesan dan kemenangan dengan kekayaan dan pangkat: yang paling penting adalah kita melakukan yang terbaik untuk menguntungkan diri kita sendiri dan orang lain.
7. Untuk menjalankan tugas-tugas yang berat, seseorang harus siap untuk menerima keluhan. Dan untuk memikul tanggung jawab berarti siap untuk menerima kritikan. Namun demikian, keluhan membantu mengembangkan perasaan welas asih dan kritikan mengandung nasihat emas.
8. Tetap merasa ringan/santai dalam segala keadaan, dan memberi setiap saat itu memungkinkan.
9. Tiga rumus untuk meraih kesuksesan adalah: bekerja mengikuti penyebab dan kondisi, rebut mereka saat mereka datang, dan ciptakan saat mereka tidak ada.
10. Ambil kesempatan emas saat mereka datang, ciptakan saat kesempatan itu tidak ada, dan jangan pernah memaksakan sesuatu itu harus diselesaikan.
11. Setiap naik dan turun dalam kehidupan kita merupakan pengalaman yang sangat bergizi bagi perkembangan kita.
12. Hadapi masalah dengan kebijaksanaan, dan pedulikan orang lain dengan perasaan welas asih.
13. Perbaiki penyimpangan dengan bijaksana, bantulah orang lain dengan empati.
14. Semakin dalam empati kita, semakin besar kebijaksanaan kita dan semakin sedikit rasa kesal di hati.
15. Hadapi segalanya dengan kebijaksanaan dan perlakukan orang lain dengan perasaan welas asih, tanpa mengkhawatirkan untung atau rugi. Demikianlah maka kita tidak akan pernah terjangkit wabah kekesalan.
16. Membiarkan keadaan mendikte pikiran seseorang adalah manusiawi; membiarkan pikiran mendikte keadaan adalah bijaksana.
17. Seekor bebek besar mengayuh dalam olakan besar; seekor bebek kecil mengayuh dalam olakan kecil. Besar atau kecil, setiap bebek akan mengayuh jalannya sendiri ke pantai seberang -- tetapi hanya jika bebek itu mengayuh.
18. Bila sang gunung tidak dapat pindah, bangunlah jalan mengelilinginya. Bila jalan tersebut tidak dapat berbelok, ganti jalur anda. Bila anda bahkan tidak dapat mengubah jalur anda, cukup ubah saja pikiran anda.
19. Pandai bukan berarti meregang di luar batas anda. Itu berarti terus menerus menunjukkan kegigihan.
20. Kapal yang lewat tidak meninggalkan jejak di air; burung yang terbang tidak meninggalkan jejak di langit. Saat kesuksesan, kegagalan, keuntungan, atau kerugian yang berlalu dengan cepat tidak meninggalkan jejak di hati, kebijaksanaan besar dalam pembebasan telah tercapai.
21. Membantu orang lain adalah membantu diri kita sendiri.
22. Tekanan biasanya berujung dari terlalu banyak memperhatikan hal-hal eksternal dan pendapat orang lain.
23. Berikan pelayanan anda dengan hati yang bersyukur, seolah sedang membalas kebaikan, maka anda tidak akan merasa penat atau lelah.
24. Selalu bersyukur dalam hati anda, dan memberi/berbagi kekayaan, kekuatan fisik, usaha mental dan kebijaksanaan anda tanpa henti.

Monday Moment: Not Feeling So Good

I’m feeling the least energetic today.

• Maybe because it’s Monday.
• Maybe because I’m too tired in my weekend, Saturday and Sunday (two weddings to attend, and one or two problems to deal with).
• Maybe because I need the cash I loaned to somebody who delayed the payment for so long (2 months or so)
• Maybe because I no longer feel connected to my job.
• Maybe because I’m bored.
• Maybe because somebody give me a message today that I don’t expect.

But I am perfectly okay, because:

• Monday will soon become Saturday again. It’s just cycle days.
• The weddings are both my friends’, and the weekend is meant to be used, and I could use my problem solving skills perfectly.
• The cash is a part of my capital for stock market investing, so loaning it actually hedge it from loss in this turmoil market because of ever-increasing world oil price (US$135! Wow!).
• At least my job give me paycheck for the time being, while I’m seeing things unfold after 2009’s election day.
• Well, I could take up some challenge.
• It’s a peaceful message actually, but came from someone I once loved. I’m feeling mixed. But anyway, past is past.

Blend, don't Resist

I am an aikidoka.  Nowadays I rarely practiced because of work, and right now my thumb is injured.  So maybe I won’t hit the dojo in two weeks or so.  But, I still use the aikido way in resolving every conflict available in this world.  In aikido, we don’t “make” something work.  We “let” it work.  Observing how things work is in itself is enlightening.  Maybe that is the most valuable lesson in aikido.  There are a bunch more lessons and philosophies, but for now, letting something work, instead of pushing your own way, is the most important thing.

In life, we may have our own agenda.  But, we are surrounded by people who have their own agendas.  Whew, that will make a headache if you try to think things through.  But, by letting events unfold and taking calm, relaxed, but correct stance in moment by moment, every events can be turned into everyone’s advantage, not just one.

What a beauty of harmony.

Also read another blog entry:  How Aikido Changes Us.

Imagination and Darkness

I observe that darkness always ignites imagination.  Maybe it’s because of the nature of the our mind tend to substitute the missing sights, or sounds, or touches, or memories – with something beautiful.

So, is it the real thing?  Isn’t it that nothing matters in the darkness.  For instance, if you went out with someone at night, she usually looks more beautiful (or at least more mysterious), and that adds up to the occasion.  Or when you play the music softly… it usually conveys the ambience more that if you play it at the normal level.  Especially if the one I’m playing is old-school rock, where the voice of the singer is the least of beautiful (but I like it anyway).  Or… the one you know least is the one you’re always thinking of… no matter if it’s not true in the end.

Mystery add the spice in life.  But it is not the real thing.  All six of our perceptions always deceives us in every twist and turn.  Of course, I’m still the biggest fan of the “dark and beautiful” thing.  I still love all things mysterious.  It’s just sometimes I notice things like these…  strange, but a truth rings in it.