Calm Face

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I am often tasked with going through the photos of Kokikai Aikido winter and summer camps to find a dramatic one to use on the t-shirt. It's incredibly frustrating, because the more intense the throw, the more calm Sensei's face is. To most observers it would seem like nothing's really happening. Sensei refers to this when he says, "Looks real: fake. Looks fake: real!" It may be great for aikido, but it doesnt make for a very exciting t-shirt!

I learned a lesson several years ago when a good photographer took photos during my test. Comparing the photos of myself to photos of Sensei, the difference was obvious. In every case, Sensei was upright, his body looked controlled and collected, and above all, amazingly soft and relaxed, at every point during the throw.

As in aikido, so it is in life: the more chaos that comes our way, the more we need to train ourselves to relax, stay calm, keep centered, stay focused and have positive mind.

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