Aiki Dojo Message - Strive to Fail -

Aiki Dojo Message - Strive to Fail
By David Ito Sensei, Aikido 6th Dan
Chief Instructor at the Aikido Center of Los Angeles
“Success is not achieved by winning all the time. Real success comes when we rise after we fall. Some mountains are higher than others. Some roads steeper than the next. There are hardships and setbacks, but you cannot let them stop you. Even on the steepest road you must not turn back.” - Muhammad Ali
The best Aikidoists are defined by their failures not their victories. Failure teaches us way more than success ever will. Aikido training teaches us how to use failure in a positive way. Our defeats and failures are the true story of our lives.
We are celebrated for our successes, but success is just the reward for our hard work and it doesn’t necessarily teach us anything. We learn the most from our failures. That is why the Japanese believe in the proverb shippaihaseikounomoto (失敗は成功の元) or that “failure teaches success.”
In the eyes of a martial artist, failure is a good thing because they understand that true power resides not in winning but in resiliency. Resiliency is “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” In Japanese, the word for “strong” or “powerful” is tsuyoi (強い) but it can also mean “to be resilient.” We see this understanding of tsuyoi in the martial arts term utarezuyoi (打たれ強い) which advocates that we must be able “to take a hit” but it also means “to be strong in the face of criticism or adversity.”
When we think of resiliency the proverb that comes to mind is nana korobi ya oki (七転び八起き) or “To fall down seven times, but get up eight.” The idea is that success is really in being able to get up one more time. In Aikido class, we put this proverb into practice every day. Taking ukemi is the physical manifestation of this proverb. With every throw, we are desensitizing ourselves to the act of falling down and every time we get up, we are reinforcing the practice of resiliency. The more we practice, the more resilient we become. Later in our training, we start to see our resiliency grow not only on the mat but in our daily life as well.
In Aikido and in life, our defeats and failures come to define us, they become the true story of our lives. The true story of our lives is not about what we won or who we beat but what we overcame to get there. Hyakusenrenma (百戦錬磨) is “a veteran who is schooled by adversity in 100 battles.” Most of us lose way more than we win. True success is in getting up one more time especially when we don’t want to and thus the only thing which will teach us this strength is failure. That is why the best Aikidoists are defined by their failures not their victories.
Today’s goal: When life or your opponent knocks you down, just get up one more time.
This post appears in a slightly different form @ aikidocenterla...
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[@carlatkins3835]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing.

[@DeMarisM]

Aikido is the most powerful of martial arts. - Hideo Maruyama