©™ 2003 - 2005: OWH International - Ueshiba Aikido : Victoria, Canada
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Ueshiba Aikido e-Reflections
ISSN 1712-2341
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May 10, 2005

"We are God's prayer."

Sean Oei


I had been contemplating about how to adequately convey the notion of "irimi", "attitude" and gracious responsibility in the spirit of harmony and service to humanity. The execution of Aikido technique is an outward expression of inner conditioning and attitude. While potentially destructive, we continually forge ourselves in class every week to polish ourselves so that the techniques that emerge will lead to harmony.

In class that week, I had just been sharing about the responsibility involved when using a technique to resolve an attack. Maiming and killing must not be the intentions. To subdue an attacker without depriving any means of livelihood allows the attacker the opportunity to reflect and change. So, weekly practice develops the ability to be devastating while having the ability and wisdom to choose not to. To be able to execute the techniques effectively without inflicting injury.

And then on May 1, during a family conversation my son, Sean, suddenly contributed the above quote out of the blue. He was even able to explain what he meant (which also made a lot of sense). That short phrase had a resonance that was so amazing. I had mentioned before that the practice of Aikido is not religious, but I felt the need to share this quote with you.

Contemplating on that short phrase objectively, I was struck by how vast the implications of what was said is.

The phrase reinforces the value of each living creation and takes away the idea of randomness and existence by chance. Ah, the wisdom that emerges from the mouth of babes.

In harmony
Rafael Oei Sensei.
(© Copyright May 2005: Rafael Oei)

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