“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
3 months ago | Permalink
“Its habit of getting up late you’ll agree
That it carries too far, when I say
That it frequently breakfasts at five-o’clock tea,
And dines on the following day.”
4 months ago | Permalink
“It’s not books you need, it’s some of the things that once were in books. The same things could be in the “parlour families” today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not. No, no, it’s not books at all you’re looking for! Take it where you can find it, in old phonograph records, old motion pictures, and in old friends; look for it in nature and look for it in yourself. Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”
4 months ago | Permalink
“Everyone gets a certain look when I use that word. Moral. It’s a word with very bad PR, thanks to certain pressure groups that have come and gone over the last several decades.” … “However, it was one of the tenets of the church I grew up in, waiting to use something until you’re moral enough. It sounded like a great idea. But according to the church, we’re only moral enough for a very simple level of living.”
…
“Obviously, a better idea is to be, oh, immoral enough to manipulate something instead of being manipulated by it.”
5 months ago | Permalink
“Junbi Taiso,” by Nev Sagiba
In the equestrian world, non-riders, in a similar way like to think that horses are for sitting on and they can’t wait to hop on. They get dumped. If you don’t understand a horse from the ground up, you will never be a true rider, merely a bully with no understanding. In the few instances I’ve taught people to ride they do not get to sit on a horse until they are ready. If that takes six months then that’s what it takes. They first have to develop a relationship with the horse on the ground and get to understand and be understood by the horse. Just as with horse sense, Aiki sense begins from the ground up. Positioning is paramount in both instances. If you can’t catch a horse on open ground by drawing the horse to you, you are no horseman. Until then you do not really deserve to ride or be considered a rider. The true equestrian catches untamed horses like this as well. It’s nothing mystical, but a skill. There’s no need for hard chases, yards, ropes, pulleys and buck jumping. That’s for the unskilled.
6 months ago | Permalink
“Life is like a gathering at the Olympic festival, to which, having set forth from different lives and backgrounds, people flock for three motives. To compete for the glory of the crown, to buy and sell or as spectators. So in life, some enter the services of fame and others of money, but the best choice is that of these few who spend their time in the contemplation of nature, and as lovers of wisdom.”
6 months ago | Permalink
“Horse’s Prayer
To thee, Oh my master, I offer my prayer
My life and health I give to your safe keeping
From you I ask food and water
Shelter in winter and summer
A kind hand and a quiet voice
And when I am old And have served you well
Pray, Oh my master
Do not sell me to slavery and a cruel end
”
My life and health I give to your safe keeping
From you I ask food and water
Shelter in winter and summer
A kind hand and a quiet voice
And when I am old And have served you well
Pray, Oh my master
Do not sell me to slavery and a cruel end
6 months ago | Permalink
On Writing Zen Combat
“Zen ken shu!” my white-bearded painting and calligraphy teacher said to me one day. “Zen meditation is the sword is the brush! Understand one and you understand all. But you cannot come to understand one without the other two.”
6 months ago | Permalink
Three Techniques That Have Everything
The three principles of aikido are kokyu-ryoku, tai-no-sabaki, and ki-no-musubi. Each of these principles is used to properly train and execute every aikido technique.
6 months ago | Permalink
“Aikido is for losers,” by Bruce Baker
So if losing the attitude, losing the blindspot, losing the stupidity is what Aikido helps one do, sure, add it to your list of things to try out. Move it up on your “bucket list” you should have made when you were a kid realizing that you ain’t gonna live forever and there are things you want to do before you die.
6 months ago | Permalink
