Shinichi Tohei's Ki Weblog

Fix Your Approach to Learning

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least a month.

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Fix Your Approach to Learning

Among those who have been training a long time in Shin Shin Toitsu Do and Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, there are many who set their sights on becoming instructors. It is marvellous that they wish to be of service in the world by putting the things they have learnt into practice.

Those of my students who are aiming to become instructors often ask me to show them how to instruct. Although I would like to satisfy their desire to know this, I must tell them that I cannot.

This is because it is not any ‘method of teaching’ that is the important thing in being an instructor; the important thing is to master one’s own approach towards learning.

After I give a lecture, I occasionally ask audience members questions such as these:

With what facial expression did I conduct this lecture?

In what order did I explain things in the lecture?

Where did I stand while I was instructing?

Can you tell me roughly the size of my writing on the whiteboard?

The vast majority of the participants cannot answer these at all. For beginners, it may be difficult to notice that much detail. However, it is another story for all those aiming to become instructors.

Since I am actually demonstrating instruction in front of them, it is a great waste not to be observing it. Because they have the learning approach of a student they are not observing my method of instruction. Most of all it is indispensable to have the learning approach of an instructor.

I would like to share with you an experience that had great value for me.

It was when I was first receiving instruction from Tohei Sensei as an uchi deshi. My first task as an uchi deshi was to be Tohei Sensei’s otomo or personal assistant at one of his lectures. The lecture ended as a great success and I performed my duties properly. No, it was just that I had the impression that I had performed them well.

Afterwards, there was a request for a lecture from a person who had attended this lecture. As we could not adjust Tohei Sensei’s schedule for him to give this lecture, they asked us to send a lecturer from headquarters in his stead, or failing this, anyone at all. Tohei Sensei said to me, “Right. You go.”

I replied, ‘Thank you. But I don’t have any lecturing experience.’

Then I was told by Tohei Sensei, ‘But I demonstrated for you, didn’t I?’

I received a terrible shock.

This was because I had been thinking that being an otomo meant to be by Sensei’s side and to attend to him and for this reason, I had not been watching how he was giving his lecture!

Tohei Sensei said, ‘You have to become able to do things when they are shown to you once.”

I remember him explaining this to me.

Since then, whenever he has me be his otomo, I have come to pay deep attention to Tohei Sensei’s way of instruction: with what state of mind does he lecture, in what position does he stand, how does he look at the audience, in what order does he deliver the lecture, how loud is his voice? In a decade, he has had me be his otomo at more than a thousand lectures and seminars, and this experience is an asset that I would not exchange for anything.

There has not been a single time when someone instructed me in lecturing and instructing methodologies. The one and only thing that I was taught was the learning approach of an instructor. I am very grateful that I was able to be taught this learning approach right from the start.

Not being ready to learn is like collecting water in a sieve. No matter how much water you pour in, the water does not accumulate. First of all, fix your approach to learning and then pour in the water. You will be in the state where the water will accumulate. For that purpose, what I am conveying to all those who aim to become instructors is not any method of instruction, but the learning approach of an instructor.

Even for those who are not instructors their approach to learning is very important. Although it is important to decide on what to study for the acquisition of degrees, the most important thing is to fix your approach to learning.

[Things to practice]
Observe your approach to learning and take a record of where you are at
Give three things you think are important in approaching learning.
Put those three things into practice.

[Things to validate]
In what way were there changes to your efficiency in studying?
What kind of changes were there in your approach to teaching?

To greet with Ki

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least a month.

---

To greet with Ki

Greetings have always been fundamental in building relationships.

Traditionally we were given strict training in greetings through our family. However, in recent times, it is often the case that this training must be conducted at school or at work. The same thing is happening at the dojo.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to observe the annual “new employee seminar” at a major consulting firm. The instructor began by giving instructions on greetings to the new employees who came from various industries from around the country.

I still remember my surprise at the lack of the participants’ ability to greet properly -- it was beyond my imagination. I had a realization that this is a generation where training must be conducted in the work environment.

In that seminar, instructions were given such as “when you bow, bow at this angle” and “first and foremost, greet in a loud voice”. Although there were some people who improved with this advice, many people had greetings that were correct in shape only and many who mistakenly thought that all you needed was to be loud.

Although it may be meaningful to start with proper shape and form, the most important thing is to understand the purpose of the greeting.

A greeting is a Zen terminology. But instead of discussing the Zen aspect of it, I would like to address how it relates to learning about Ki.

All greetings start by sending your ki (mind) to the person you’re addressing. And this ki must be a positive ki.

If you don’t send your ki to the person you’re addressing and just speak in a loud voice, it is only noisy and annoying. It is the same as yelling “Hello!” just for the sake of saying it when you have no intention of welcoming someone.

Because you send your ki, you "realize" things. If you send your ki to the person you’re addressing, you will be able to understand their state of mind.

Whether they are energetic. Whether they are not energetic.
Whether they are happy. Whether they are not happy.
Whether they understood what you are conveying. Whether they did not understand.

If you do not send your ki, you cannot realize a single thing about their state of mind. Before you train the forms and shape, it is necessary to train to send your ki. This is why greetings are the basis of building relationships.

In your daily life, are you actively greeting people?

A: “Hello Mr. B!”
B: (to A), “Oh, Hello!”

I often see an exchange like this. Physically it looks like both A and B are greeting in the same fashion. However, in terms of the usage of ki, A and B are completely different.

A notices B and actively greets him. The reason he can do this is because his ki is extending. On the other hand, B first notices A when A greets him, and is only reacting to A. That is to say, A is “greeting” B whereas B is “reacting” to A.

I am not saying it is wrong to react. A “greeting” begins by sending ki to the other person, so if you are always reacting it is necessary to check if you are actively directing your ki.

At work or at school, it is easiest to learn by making a game out of the training. The rules are simple: whoever greets first wins. The one who react loses. By doing this you will actively direct your ki towards your surroundings.

Children may go too far and hide and ambush someone so that they can greet first. Even then, this will ingrain better habits than not greeting at all or greeting in form only.

When both people send their ki to each other, there is a communication of ki. There is a ki exchange. A “greeting” is the basic form of exchanging ki.

[Things to practice]
• Actively greet others. Instead of "reacting", "greet".
• Keep a daily log of the number of times you greeted someone and the number of times someone greeted you.
• Initially aim for a winning record. Make you goal a perfect record.

[Things to validate]
• Observe the changes in how the people around you respond to you.

Maintaining a Positive Subconscious

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least a month.

---

Maintaining a Positive Subconscious

When performing Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido techniques, as is all areas of life, it is important to believe in your abilities.

This is what we call "positive thinking." The importance of positive thinking is not a recent development; it has been recognized since long ago.

However, almost no one addresses just how to make your thinking positive. Koichi Tohei Sensei has, for half a century, taught people throughout the world that how to do something is more important that how to talk about it. The manner we do things in is crucial in making our thinking positive.

Often, people who exert themselves to make their thinking positive find they cannot do it easily. There are also people who find that their efforts only result in more stress.

First, I would like to establish the definition of the "positive" in positive thinking.

Truly being positive does not mean that only the self is positive. It does not mean interpreting things in a way that that is convenient for us. Doing so leads to collisions with those around us, and only makes situations worse.

Truly being positive means being universally positive. This means that others become positive, as well as ourselves. Even if we apply all our energy and somehow manage to become positive, this positive state means nothing if it is self-centered.

A truly positive mind is a universally positive mind.

With that defined, let's move ahead.

The human consciousness contains both the conscious mind, which involves what we are conscious of in the present, and the unconscious mind, which we are unaware of. We frequently use the word "consciousness" to refer only to the conscious mind.

The subconscious is the storehouse of the mind, the accumulation of the knowledge we have acquired from past experiences. Even when memories fade, the subconscious holds on to everything. The conscious mind is formed using materials drawn from the subconscious mind. Therefore, trying to make the conscious mind positive will be a waste of effort if the storehouse of the subconscious is full of negative thoughts. Wasting effort in this way leads to stress.

Maintaining constantly positive thinking requires not mettle or force of will, but a continual effort to steadily develop a positive subconscious.

Let us now address a concrete method to accomplish this. There are several methods, but I would like to show you one for now.

First, let me discuss the use of language. By this, I mean making the words we use positive, or putting positive ki into words as we speak them.

We speak negative words without even realizing it. Saying that we "can't do" something or that something is "difficult" are the best examples of this. Saying that we "couldn't do" something, or that it "was difficult" after trying it is one thing, but there is absolutely no need to say that we "can't" or that it's "difficult" before trying.

The words we speak, the closest to us, enter deeply into our subconscious.

If we speak negative words, they will have just as negative an effect on our subconscious. If the subconscious becomes negative, our daily consciousness becomes negative as well. Once we understand this, we can become afraid to use negative language.

But when we say something negative, we can replace it by saying it again as something positive, so long as we do so without delay, and without feeling disappointed. It would be something like this:

"I don't think I can do that…" (Ah! I shouldn't say that!)

"If I (do such-and-such), I'll be able do that!"

I urge those who think that the subconscious cannot be made positive this easily to try it themselves. If you can accomplish this, not just for a moment, but all day and every day, it will be something amazing.

Next time, I will tell you about another concrete method for making the subconscious positive.

Let's practice and validate the following:

[Things to practice]

Confirm the definition of being "positive" (not just analyzing things in a way that's convenient for oneself)

Check whether the words you speak on a daily basis are positive

Always speak positive language; if you speak something negative, replace it at that instant with something positive

[Things to validate]

Whether speaking with positive language has become habitual

How people's reactions to you have changed

How your dreams have changed

U.S. National Chief Instructor Seminar

I taught Ki and Ki-Aikido at the U.S. National Chief instructors’ seminar in Maryland, USA from June 21 (Thursday) to June 24 (Sunday), 2007. This seminar is for instructors of our branches in U.S. It is held once per year and each year in a different location. This is the most important seminar in the U.S., therefore, I go there and teach annually. Seminar was held in Oregon last year, and in Las Vegas two years ago.

This year’s host was Maryland Ki Society. The seminar took place in the town of Silver Spring which is 30 minutes from Washington DC by car. Our seminar location was in a US governmental building. Therefore, security was tight. The seminar place was a little crowded because of many participants, however, it was really nice place.

The theme of the U.S. National seminar was “Keep one point”. I taught the difference between “keep one point” and “loose one point” thoroughly. I taught each participant() directly and let all participants experience the difference through Kokyu dosa, Kokyu nage, Nikyo, Sankyo, Koteoroshi, Shihonage and other techniques in the seminar.

The point to master “Keep one point” is we must realize that we loose one point whenever our attention is in our head or whenever we get nervous. When you can realize this, you will be able to calm your mind in one point.

To master this, first, you watch the other person’s posture and movement to know if the person keeps one point or not. In the beginning, some participants could not see the difference, however, as the seminar progressed, they started to understand the difference. At last, they were able to understand the difference between Keep one point and loose one point for themselves.

Of course, It is always important to receive teaching from instructor in this practice. However, what is more important is that participants are able to realize the difference between keep one point and lose one point by themselves. The seminar is four days only. If the participants just correct their bad points when I am with them, they may not be able to continue to do so after I return to Japan. They will be able to practice the correct way continuously once they understand the difference between keep one point and loose one point.

Everyone was very happy when they realized this difference for themselves. Therefore, everyone was extending plus Ki. During the seminar, the dojo was full of plus Ki. We all studied seriously, but we kept smiling. In this way a four day seminar went very quickly for me, and also for the participants.

After the seminar, I had the opportunity to visit the Japanese Embassy. This was arranged by our members in U.S. I met Mr. Kato, who is the Ambassador of Japan to the United States of America. I talked with him about Ki-Aikido and U.S. National Seminar. Mr. Kato is a person of character. He was wonderful to talk with and I truly enjoyed meeting him. I was deeply impressed to know that people such as Mr. Kato look after Japan’s interest abroad.

Next year, 2008, we will hold the World Ki-Aikido competition, which is held once in four years, in Japan. Therefore we will not have a U.S. National Seminar next year. We will hold the next U.S. National Seminar in Colorado, USA. the year after next (2009). The atmosphere of an overseas seminar is very different from a seminar in Japan. I hope many of the Japanese instructors will attend a U.S. seminar once.

Personally I could understand almost all of the English. Many U.S. instructors told me, “Your English gets the point across. It is wonderful.” You explain difficult things in simple words”. This is because of my training in my English school, “Aeon”. I really appreciate my English teacher and school.

I really appreciate from the heart members of Maryland Ki Society who were the hosts of the seminar, as well as all participants coming from U.S. and South America.

Calming your breathing

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least a month.

---

Calming your breathing

I have the great opportunity to be instructing many professional athletes.

A common worry among them is not being able to have control over when they are in good condition and poor condition.

Whether they are in top or poor form is largely affected by the state of their minds and that state is constantly changing.

Even if they themselves intend to keep the same state of mind, when they are in poor shape the state of their mind has changed.

To correctly know the state of the mind is generally extremely difficult. This is because it changes before even they themselves notice it.

For this reason, I make sure that I teach them Ki Breathing..

Many people have never turned their attention to their breathing, but if their breathing becomes calm, then their mind also becomes calm.

The most important point is to always have calm breathing and to become able to notice when your breathing is rough.

However, it is difficult to notice that your breathing is rough when it is so. .
At such times we tense up and strain ourselves, before we become aware of what we are doing.

Should you notice that your breathing has indeed become rough, then the only thing for it is to do Ki breathing.

However, if you are not aware of it, then there is no way you can deal with it.

The reason many professional athletes deeply understand Ki breathing is surely because they compete in a tough environment where failure is not an option.

It is the same when performing a Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido technique.

In the latter part of July there will be the All Japan Ki Aikido Taigi Competition, and I would like all those who are planning to attend to read (the following) carefully.

Even though you intend to perform with a constant state of mind, there are times when your state of mind has actually changed and you cannot perform as you hope to.

The most extreme example of this is when you are tense and your body does not move as you wish it to.
In order to demonstrate your real ability in important situations, such as your performance, you should always calm your mind and perform with a constant state of mind.

The breath is a manifestation of the mind, so you should always undertake the discipline of calming your breathing and then do your performance in the same way; in a state where your breath is calm.
If you become able to do this, you will be very strong in important situations.

Everybody knows it is an important thing to “calm the mind.” The question is how to do so.
A concrete method for doing this is Ki breathing.

I give lectures and instruct at seminars for over three hundred days per year. If I am ‘merely’ giving them, then of course there will be times when I am in good or poor condition.

Thus I make sure I perform Ki Breathing before the instruction or lecture.

The times when my breath is rough and I cannot do Ki breathing well are, as I wrote previously, the times when I am stressed and straining.

If I give instruction in such a state, then the possibility of failure is high.

Therefore, by doing Ki breathing until my breathing becomes calm, I am able to take the lecture in a state where my mind has also become calm.

Then naturally enough I succeed.
I absolutely cannot neglect to do Ki breathing.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ki breathing methods, I would like you to urge you to read Koichi Tohei Sensei’s book ‘Ki Breathing(Ki no Kokyuho)' in Japanese. (This book has been translated and uploaded on this weblog)

After you have read this book, I would like you to turn your attention to your own breathing as your way of implementation and verification for this time.

Within one breath, there are bound to be many things to notice.

Let’s practice and validate the following:

[Things to practice]

Observe your own daily breathing

[Things to validate]

Find out at what times does your breathing become rough

Find out the reason why it became rough

Changing your habits by changing your subconscious mind(2)

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least four times within a month.

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Changing your habits by changing your subconscious mind(2)

This continues last time’s discussion of “Changing Your Habits”

Concerning the practice of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, in learning proper actions it is essential to develop new habits. I’d like to tell you about practical ways you can change your habits.

To change your habits “depth of consciousness” and “repetition” are very important. First, let me talk about “depth of consciousness.”

The dramatic experiences that come from bad habits can completely transform a person. A friend of mine drank heavily for many years, he got very sick and drifted near the brink of death. Fortunately, he recovered completely and never drank another drop.

Experiences that touch your very existence enter the depth of your consciousness. Things that enter your depth of consciousness can change your habits.

But, such dramatic experiences are not the stuff of daily life. In the first place, dramatic experiences more often come from unavoidable circumstances than from choice. Because there are so many experiences that do not come by choice, you may not necessarily be able to change your habits by your method of choice.

The idea of entering deeply in to consciousness naturally involves the subconscious, but that is a complex topic that I’d like to talk about another time.

With that, “repetition” is now the important thing to talk about. If you set your mind firmly you can change your habit through the repetition of action.

Last time’s practice-and-validation was about changing the way you put on your shoes. There are many people who, after initially putting their mind to start something new, forget after several days. That cannot become “repetition.” It’s difficult to remember to do something new, so it’s likely that you won’t.

So, how can you achieve “repetition’?

At seminars and other events, I’ve had people do the practice-and-validation exercise for putting on shoes.

One person did this: put a dress shoe on the left, and a sneaker on the right, a deliberate choice to put different kinds of shoes on each foot. With that, it was easy to remember. This person succeeded in changing the habit. As an aside, this person did get some strange looks while walking around town like that.

Another person had a different approach.

For sneakers, put an eye-catching ribbon on the left shoelace, and for dress shoes, change the color of just the left insole. Then, put post-it notes all around the house with the message “left shoe first”, working very had to engage the subconscious. This successfully changed the habit.

There is not much meaning in changing the way you put on your shoes. But, there is a lot of meaning in changing your habits through your own will power. The various methods for doing it are invaluable.

Koichi Tohei sensei has said “In any field, the top people are those who continuously strive to do quality work without tiring.” “Repetition” is essential to adopting good habits, but determination and toughness alone are not enough to sustain the effort. In order to sustain, daily methods are indispensable.

Daily methods, they are a way of learning ki.

Let’s practice and validate the following:

[Things to practice]
1. Like last time, change your normal left-right order when you put on your shoes. Knowing you can do it without being conscious of it, change your habit.
2. Think of three methods for “repetition” and try putting them in practice.

[Things to validate]
1. Which methods were effective in changing habits?
2. Can you apply the methods to changing other habits?

Changing your habits by changing your subconscious mind

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least four times within a month.

---

Changing your habits changing your subconscious mind.

Your personality is expressed within your Shin-Shin Toitsu Aikido techniques.

The techniques of someone who tends to be hasty will be rushed. The techniques of someone who tends to be tense will be tense. Even if you imitate the forms, this will be evident.

This is true not only for negative personalities. Positive personalities are also expressed. This is not surprising since the “mind moves the body”. You can never excel in Shin-Shin Toitsu Aikido if you just concentrate on technique. You can excel only by changing your personality.

When I give this advice to my students, I am asked, “Isn’t your personality something you’re born with?”

What do you think about that? Many feel “you can not change your personality”, and yet we want to change our habits. Therein lies the contradiction.

“Personality” is a “collection of habits.” Habits are a set of behaviors based on how you perceive and respond to things.

A shy “personality” is a type of “habit” where you find rationalizations for not doing something, and therefore do not act. Thus you cannot resolve the “personality” of being shy by looking just into the soul.

In this case it is important to say to yourself “I can do this” and then establish a habit of taking action. That is to say, you must establish habits for both your mind and your body.

It is true that we are born with a particular disposition towards some personality. However, that is not the entire story. If you are a person who can change your habits, you can change your personality.

What does it mean to “change your habits”?

“Changing your habits” does not mean, “stopping your bad habits”. Most people wonder how one can stop bad habits. This is what makes changing habits difficult.

Please imagine for a moment that ink is being added to a glass of water.

When you add the ink, the water becomes cloudy. It is difficult to extract the ink from that cloudy water. However, if you add clean water to the glass, drop-by-drop, eventually, the water in the glass approaches being clear again.

Bad habits are like the ink in the water. It may be difficult to remove bad habits. However, it is definitely possible to learn new good habits. By applying your subconscious mind, and by patiently learning good habits, you can minimize your bad habits.

This is what I meant by “changing your habits”.

The same can be said of Shin-Shin Toitsu Aikido training.

Although there are many people who try his/her hardest to correct a bad habit, this is very difficult to accomplish. It’s probably discouraging when bad habits can’t be corrected readily. However, there is no need for discouragement. You simply need to make a new habit of performing the proper movements. Once you realize this, you progress amazingly quickly.

In order to change a habit, you need to start from small things, no matter how small, instead of from the larger things. When you are able to change your habits through your own efforts, this will lead to great confidence.

When you accomplish this, you will gain the conviction that “you can change your habits”. And then, changing your habits will become a source of enjoyment.

It doesn’t matter if you succeed or not. For now, I would like for you to try to change a habit in your daily life. I will share with you the how-to of changing habits in the next article.

Let’s practice and validate the following:

[Things to practice]

1. Try to remember if you put your right shoe on first or your left. If you can’t remember, put your shoes on.
2. If you put on your right shoe first, make a habit of putting on your left shoe first. If you put on your left shoe first, make a habit of putting on your right shoe first.
3. Devise three plans to help you do this, and then put it into practice.

[Things to validate]

1. Verify that you can accomplish this without conscious effort.
2. Reflect on the technique that was effective in establishing this new habit.

Listen To Others Well

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least four times within a month.

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Ki-Aikido has five principles of Aikido with mind and body unification:
　　
1. Ki is extending
2. Know your opponent’s mind
3. Respect your opponent’s Ki
4. Put yourself in the place of your opponent
5. Perform with confidence

We cannot practice Ki-Aikido without following these principles.

If you try to throw your partner forcefully, partner’s mind will resist. It is very difficult to throw a person whose mind is resisting.

To lead your partner and throw, it is important to interact with your partner in the ways that these five principles suggest.

If you have a selfish mind which says, “I will throw you”, you will collide with your partner. In this case it is impossible to lead your partner. However, if you accept your partner, you can lead him very easily. To know this feeling, it is the best to experience it. Therefore, please attend seminar of H.Q. or a Ki Society near you.

This principle also holds true in every case in your daily life.

For example, let’s say you have something which you want others to understand. If you struggle to convince them, this is as same as throwing others forcefully. Surely their mind will resist. Once their mind has resisted, you cannot lead them any more. This is the same as colliding with others, and you will not be able to throw them.

Even if you have fluency of speech, if you struggle to convince others, they will not try to understand you. If you want others to understand, you must accept them first. Basically, we say “Listen to others first.”

If you say, “Oh, this is and easy thing to do!” then please look more carefully at yourself. Do you really listen to your family and friends well? Does your family or friends agree that you listen to them carefully? Is it possible that only you think you listen to others well, but others do not have this impression?

We human beings do not listen to others as well as we think. Those who realize this will be those who listen well to others.

“Listen to others well” does not mean to just listen to others without words.

When I was small, I often quarreled with my mother. We bickered constantly. Both my mother and I concentrated on making the other understand. Therefore neither of us understood the other. Our quarrels became heavy. We gave my father (Koichi Tohei sensei) a good deal of trouble.

One day, I was called by my father. He told me, “Listen others first. What you want to say is next.” And, father added, “Listen to your mother in silence until she finishes.”

After that, I had a chance to talk with my mother. I remembered my father’s words and actually listened to my mother in silence until the end. However, the result was that my mother got even more angry and I had even more stress. I did what my father told me, but the situation got worse.

I reported to my father, “I did what you told me, however, the situation get even worse.”

Then, my father said with smile, “That's understandable. It's all over your face that you did not agree with her!”

Then, finally, I began to understand that listening to others means to accept other’s mind. After that, I tried to understand my mother’s words from the heart. As a result, my mother’s preaching became very short. I could lead her well.

My mother is not an easy person. Therefore, sometimes I still failed to lead her. However, there were less quarrels after that.

In this same way, I began to not collide with others when I did Ki-Aikido technique.

To accept and respect the other person’s mind, and so to lead others in our daily life, is as same as throwing others in the dojo.

In this way, I throw others everyday in my daily life, not only in the dojo.

This is the meaning of “have joy when throwing, and have joy when being thrown”.

Let’s practice and validate the following:
First, listen to others well. What you want to say is next. (This means not just to accept their idea, but to fully accept their mind)

The point of validation is:
As a result of listening completely and carefully to others, how does their reaction change?
Can you tell others what you want to say as a result?
　

Do Others Actually Make Us Do Something?

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this kind of article is to practice and validate the Ki principles (Mind moves body) which are the foundation of Ki-Aikido in your daily life. Therefore, it has no meaning if you just read it without practicing it.

The fundamental method of mastering anything is practice. However, not just practice, but it is also important to validate how one has changed as a result of the practice.

It is easy to lose what you have learned without practice. On the other hand, you will never lose what you have learned through practice and validation. Therefore, please read, practice, and validate the contents of my article at least four times within a month.

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Do Others Actually Make Us Do Something?

The essence of Ki-Aikido is found in the Ki principles, which are practices showing us how mind moves body. “Mind moves body” means “Mind always has an effect upon the state of the body”.

This is story about Ki-Aikido technique:

A person grabs your wrist with all his strength. Can you move the opponent freely and lead him in a harmonious way? It is up to your realization if you can do this or not.

That the opponent grabs your wrist is a fact. However, there are two ways to experience this: “the opponent grabbed you” or “you allowed the opponent to grab you”.

If you perceive this as you have been grabbed, you cannot move at all. However, if you perceive it as you allowing the opponent to grab, you can move freely. It is truly amazing for beginners. What matters is the state of your mind.

Mind does not have shape. Some people imagine that others cannot know their mind. Therefore they think that it is okay to use their mind in any way. However, this thought does not work in Ki-Aikido. Practice is better than precept, so how we use our mind in practice is important. You cannot execute a Ki-Aikido technique if you use your mind improperly.

Here is the same example of use of mind in our daily life:

Many people get really nervous in public. They feel strongly self conscious about “being seen” by other people. As a result, they pull Ki to themselves.

However, if they change their perception from “being seen” to “seeing”, the nervousness is relieved astonishingly. That is, send Ki to others.

When you pull Ki, you only think about yourself. For example, "What if I fail?" ”What if I am not respected?”

Instead, just send Ki to others, not to yourself. For example, just “see others’ personality”, or “see the expression on others’ faces”, or “see others’ fashion”. These are examples of sending Ki to others. Change your Ki direction from inward to outward.

I was often nervous in the past. However, after I learned to extend Ki to others, even the nervousness became a big advantage, and I became very strong when in front of others.

Another example is when you are asked to perform some sort of work:

Many people perceive this as “others are forcing me to work”. If you see it this way, you cannot work efficiently and will become tired unnecessarily. However, even when it is the same work, if you see it as “I do this work myself”, you can increase efficiency and will not become so tired.

In simple terms, “It is always better to do something positively and in a joyful way, than thinking others are forcing you to do something. However, many find it difficult to make this transition of mind. It is terrible that they use their mind incorrectly and then say “I am tired”. In this way they lose their own motivation.

We practice the effective use of mind in Ki-Aikido. If you apply this in your daily life, you can do things in comfort. Even if you learn one Ki-Aikido technique, its principle is very deep.

Let’s practice and validate the following:
1.When you meet others, think “Others are looking at me.”
Then, when you meet others, think “I am looking at you.”

2. When you work, think “Others are forcing you to work.”
Then, when you work, think “I do this work.”

The point of validation is:

1. When you meet others, in which of these ways was your mind more calm?
2. When you work, which way were you more comfortable?

Using the Subconscious

This is a story that I had heard while I was a student.

A master sword smith had accepted a new apprentice.
On the very first day, the sword smith showed the apprentice his very best sword.

Some people might say, “How could a novice understand that it is the best sword? He would probably not be able to tell whether it is good or bad.” This may be true, but none the less, day after day the sword smith showed the apprentice the sword.

As time went on, the apprentice became able to picture the sword even if he closed his eyes. After years of hard training, the apprentice eventually became another great master.

When we try to achieve something, we will evolve in the shape of our own imagining. If the shape is predictable, we will develop into that shape. If the shape is brilliant, then we will develop into that shape.
By imagining the very highest level for the beginning, we are able to create what is to become. The important thing is to feel and know the very best until it gets into your subconscious.
That is what the sword smith’s story tells us.

Now, what can be the best sword in our Ki-Aikido? That is the movement of Koichi Tohei Sensei. We are fortunate, because the treasured image of Tohei Sensei at the age of 49, titled “Aikido shijyouenbu”, is in the video “Souden(Ten No Maki).”

In the training hall where I teach, I always recommend that the students see this film. When we see the movement of Tohei Sensei again and again, it gets into our subconscious. Then, our the movement starts to become closer to Tohei Sensei’s.

If the instructors do not appreciate and recommend this, the movement of student will become inappropriate, or it will become closer to the instructor’s movement. If the student gains the good habits of the instructor, that is good, but usually they also gain some of the bad habits of the instructor.
When I watch the examinees in the dan examinations, I often find them performing with the bad habits of their instructors.
The essential point here is that you do your daily practice with the “best sword” in your subconscious.

From an instructor’s point of view, it is important to actually show the students. So I show my movements to my students many times. But do not be blind, as an instructor; know your limitations.
To those who would like to gain the deepest level of () Ki-Aikido movement, or for those who would like to give the best results in the dan examinations and Taigi Competition, I strongly recommend to watch Tohei Sensei’s movement again and again.

I shall explain the way to watch the movements in another article.

The Instructor’s Responsibility

I’m going to talk you as an instructor.

Recently, I saw a TV program about the training of a soccer club for kids.
In the game, a boy fell down on the ground and injured his ankle. At that time, the coach of the soccer club spoke to him anxiously:

“Injuries come with playing soccer.”

Of course the coach wanted to encourage the boy, but there is some problem in what he said.
What do you think of it?
Please think before you go on.

・・・・・
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The first thing is, it is not natural to be injured.
Even though other players may be careless, if you extend Ki while playing soccer, you can foresee the danger, and react in time to avoid injury. In this way, if Ki is extending, you will never be injured by accident.

And if you should be injured, then your important task is to think if you used your mind and body correctly, and what you could have done to avoid injury.

From the beginning, instructors are responsible not to allow a student to be injured.
There is a problem here that comes from the subconscious mind.
If the coach says to the boy, “Injuries come with playing soccer”, he will imagine himself injured unconsciously, and he will really have a serious injury someday.

That’s very terrible, isn’t it?

Koichi Tohei sensei teaches us hints, strictly for leaders:

”Instructors are responsible if anyone is injured in their class.”
If the instructor extends Ki, he can take care of everything.
He will be able to notice if there is a problem, because Ki is extending.
For example, he may notice a person moving unnaturally.
This person who moves unnaturally may hurt themselves or others if they keep training in this way. This is not always because of the person’s physical problem, but the movement was simply a bad habit.
The most important point here is to notice each student’s movement and understand their condition.
In order for this to happen, the instructor must be extending Ki.

If Ki is extended, then the instructor will see when there is danger. For instance, someone may lose concentration because of bad health, or be training at a short ma-ai (proper distance) each other.

The first time I was taught by Koichi Tohei Sensei about how to teach, he repeated only two things for two hours again and again; 1) How to chant KI SAYINGS, and 2) How to count while doing calisthenics.

Koichi Tohei Sensei feels that the beginning of the training session is the most important.

To approach the training session while extending Ki is the one of the most important points of teaching, don’t you think?

For all of instructors and other members, please practice while extending Ki.

Keep our body limber(1)

I would like to ask you a question. Do you have a pliant body or a stiff body?

Try bending your head to the side while you look straight forward.

Did your ears touch your shoulder? By the way, it is wrong if you bring your shoulder to touch your ears!

If your ears touch your shoulders, you are okay.

Next, let’s turn your head right and left while your body faces to the front.
Can you turn your head to your back?

If your back comes into your sight line, you are okay.

How was your body? Was your body limber or tight?

When you have health problems, the part which you have a problem with will become sore or stiff in most cases.

When people feel pain in their body, they realize they have some health problems. However, when people feel only stiffness, most do not recognize this as a health problem.

My friend recently said that he would like to experience Kiatsu therapy. Therefore, I did Kiatsu therapy on his neck and shoulders.

I was amazed to find that his neck and shoulders were as stiff as an iron plate.

I asked him, “You must be in a great deal of pain because you have such stiff shoulders”. My friend answered, “No, I do not feel any pain.”!

Again, I was amazed. I realized that he must have been so stiff that he actually could not realize pain.

We do not press too hard or massage the body in Kiatsu therapy. We place fingers with Ki extending to the shoulder or neck calmly, and just send Ki.

Then, the stiff part gets soft similar to ice thawing. There is no adverse effect such as tiredness or soreness.

Well, I had to help my friend to realize his stiffness. First I asked my friend to bend his head right and left.

As I imagined, he could bend only about 2 inches.

I bent my neck to the shoulder to show him.
He immediately asked, “How do I relax?”

So, I did Kiatsu on his shoulders for about fifteen minutes. Gradually, his shoulders became soft and he could touch each ear to each shoulder at last.

Next, I did Kiatsu on his neck. His neck was also very stiff. I did Kiatsu fifteen minutes again. Then, he was able to move his head turning right and left, all the way to see his back .

My friend’s job is computer programming. He works over ten hours in front of the computer everyday.

My friend said, “My body is very light just like I have wings!”.

Why it is not good for our body to be stiff?

When your body is stiff, those stiff parts contract blood vessels, causing poor blood circulation.

When blood circulation is bad, blood cannot carry enough oxygen and nutrition to your body. Then, your life power becomes weak.

Especially, when you have an extremely stiff shoulder, that stiffness can cut off blood vessels to the brain, and blood flow is decreased.

This can cause headache, chronic sleepiness or bad feeling. It might even trigger cerebral-vascular disease in some very extreme cases.

Stiff shoulders may lead to all kinds of diseases. This is often discussed in the news these days.

Therefore, it is important to keep your neck and shoulders limber through Kiatsu therapy for prevention of diseases.

A good point to consider is that you can do it by yourself, and not only receive Kiatsu therapy from others.

Sometimes, fatigue builds up in my body. Then, my shoulders and neck become stiff.

I can do Kiatsu therapy by myself, I can get rid of stiff shoulders in a short time.

I can do self-Kiatsu any time any place. This helps me a lot.

However, the prevention of stiffness is the most important. How can we keep our body limber?

I will tell you this next time.

The Practice of Self Control: Ki and Education

In Buddhism, there is the idea called “in-en-ka (cause-ties-result)”. Things have a result not only due to a cause, but it is necessary to have ties as well. The role of education is what we call “ties”.

Even if a person has very fine personal qualities, if his education is not good, he cannot grow. Just as with cultivating crops, you cannot get fruit just by sowing seed. Before you sow the seed, you need to cultivate the field. Then, you need water and fertilizer, and you must take care of the crops everyday. All this is required to get good fruit.

Education is necessary to live as a human being. Many people think, “I have never been an educator”. However, in reality, most of the people provide some form of education to others. If you are a father or mother, you educate your children. If you are an executive or manager, you educate your employees.

Education means to show the way and then allow others to grow on their own. If you expect to mold others exactly as you want, this is not education but enforcement. Many people confuse “education” and “enforcement”.

Also, some people want to get fruit just after sowing the seed. This is ignoring nature. You need patience to wait for growth and development to occur.

Anyone feel stress when things do not go in the way they would like. At your work place, if your employee does not improve no matter how you helped him to grow and develop, you might want to get angry, “Why should I repeat the same things again and again to you!”.

However, it is impossible to educate people if you have a short temper or emotionally impatient. When you explode at someone, you may thing those words are for the other person. However, in truth, you did it to satisfy yourself.

When you are an educator you must have patience.

When you need to speak to someone, before speaking, first calm your mind and then say the words which others need, not what you want to say.

It seems very easy. However, it is difficult to do it anytime, with anyone, any place. You need to train.

To control yourself, you must train to keep your breath calm.

When your breath is rough? When you are nervous, anxious, angry, which causes you to loose your mental stability. This state of your mind shows up as rough breath.

By doing Ki breathing everyday, you can master calm breathing. When you do Ki breathing, your breath is calm. But your breath is not only calm during Ki breathing but also becomes calm in your daily life. Your mind will not be disturbed by small things.

By doing this, you will be able to have a breadth of mind to accept others and wait for other’s growth. Therefore there is no stress.

The reason why I can say this is that I had made this kind of mistake many times. I used to have a bad temper and it was easy for me to be emotional. Everyone who knows me now says, “I can’t believe it!”. My family and old staff know my personality well.

By training self-control through Ki breathing, I have been able to wait for other’s development with plus mind. There is no stress, therefore, my body remains very comfortable. This is one of the greatest realizations in my learning.

At Ki forum 2006, I will teach Ki breathing as the way of self-control in the afternoon seminar. Please join us!

Start the New year with a plus mind

A Happy New Year!

Today is New year’s day.

Do you know of the priest Ikkyu who flourished during the Muromachi period (about 600 years ago) ?

Ikkyu was a free-spirited priest and he did not cling to the rules or the system.

He composed the following poem:

“Kadomatsu ha meido no tabi no ichirizuka medetakumoari medetakumonashi” (from Kyounshu)
Meaning: Kadomatsu(Japanese traditional New Year decoration) is an important milestone throughout life. It is auspicious, and yet also not auspicious.

This is a famous poem. Therefore, you might know it.

Everyone celebrates New Year’s holiday. However, this means you are a step closer to the end of your life.

A “milestone” is a landmark for tourists along the way. The priest Ikkyu likened life to the way, and liken New Year’s holiday to a milestone.

Therefore, you can say New year’s holiday as auspicious and not auspicious.

It is said that Ikkyu read this poem to satirize people who are festive. However, does this poem really mean that?

Originally, there is no New year’s day or New year’s eve in the Universe itself. Human beings have divided up time by using a calendar.

Therefore you might think, “New year’s day has no meaning.” However, that’s not it.

It is easy for human beings to be overwhelmed by inertia if we do not draw a line, by creating an ending and a beginning. By having a New Year, we can start our life on a new note.

It is good chance to set or check our personal goals.

Koichi Tohei sensei taught us; “It is important to forget everything that has happened during the previous year, whether good or bad.”

You might think, “Isn’t it okay to remember the good things, while setting the bad things aside?”
You will not repeat same mistake if you remember a bad thing.
But you will be encouraged, if you remember a good thing, yes?

However, the problem is “clinging to the past.”

For example, if you look back and think, “I had bad things happen last year, so I am sure that this year will be bad too.” or “Last year’s business performance was good, so this year should also be all right”, then you cannot move forward.

“Forget everything that has happened during the previous year, whether good or bad.” means “Do not cling to the past, and extend Ki to move forward.”

This is one of the purposes of Senshin no gyo (clearing the mind). As the meaning suggests, you can clear the mind thoroughly.

Let’s go back to the story of the priest Ikkyu.

Koichi Tohei sensei talked about the priest Ikkyu’s poem in the following way:

”The priest Ikkyu would like to tell people that it is up to your own mind whether you look on New Year in a plus way or a minus way."

It seems that the priest Ikkyu’s poem does not have a negative meaning.

It is important not to just celebrate the New Year, but to think of the meaning of the New Year, and to start the New Year with a plus mind.

Let’s study Ki principles together with a plus mind.

Ki no sato

This is Kadomatsu.

Enjoy Your Life

I heard two young ladies having a conversation on the train the other day.

Lady A: “There has been nothing fun lately.”

Lady B: “No, nothing fun.”

When I heard this conversation, suddenly I wondered.

It is good when you can feel happiness about something. However, if the happiness is a result of someone or something outside of you, then the happiness may disappear very soon after you get used to the “fun”.

You can get true fun, or happiness, only by enjoying things from within yourself.

For example, when you have a meal, you can rush to eat the meal just to take in nourishment. Or you can taste and enjoy each aspect of the meal.

Even if there is a wonderful dinner, if you do not appreciate each flavor, the dinner will not seem delicious to you.

In the same way, you can perceive your work as just routine work. Or you can enjoy your work by setting up a goal and clearly using your mind to achieve that goal.

Even if it is wonderful job, if you are not using your mind in this way, it will not be fun and challenging.

This simple approach makes you enjoy everything positively. By changing your way of perceiving things, your life can become fruitful.

This is the best use of your mind.

It is a good thing to find enjoyment in others, however, if we get used to having fun only through others, our ability to enjoy things positively degenerates. We will be dependent upon others, and won’t be able to enjoy life alone.

It is important to consider “what you can enjoy”, not “what you do”. I think if you can enjoy everything, this has great value.

It is also very important to enjoy yourself when you study something.

I teach over 1,000 people a year.

There are some people who are always growing. On the other hand, there are other people who stop growing at some level. This is true, even if I teach them the same contents at the same time.

I think the difference comes from whether a person can enjoy the teaching positively. People who are growing always know how to enjoy everything.

A clever person grows fast in the beginning. However, if the person does not know how to enjoy positively, they will soon become bored and lose interest.

Even if you are a slow learner, if you know how to enjoy things positively, you can realize many things and never stop growing.

“To enjoy” is one of the most important factors of studying.

This is just an aside:
My wife and I were waiting at the train platform. We had to wait over 20 minutes for next train.
As a result, I was slightly irritated, and said, “Why there is not an earlier train?”
My wife heard it and she said to me, “Why can’t you enjoy waiting for the train together?”

It seems that I have to train how to “enjoy positively”:)
When I look back, I realize that I lost my breadth of mind because of an overbooked schedule.

This was very important realization for me.

This is the time that we set our personal goals for next year.

One of my goals is to “enjoy everything”!

Let’s practice together.

To Look, Not to be Seen

Many people say to me, “I get very nervous in public. What should I do?”

The results will be different whether you view your nervousness as plus, or whether you view it as minus.
The question above is asking about nervousness with a minus mind

Being nervous while maintaining a plus mind develops your concentration, and you can perform to the best of your ability. However, being nervous with a minus mind prohibits you from completing your work.

If you are not one of those people who are used to standing in front of many people, or one of those people who just love to stand in public, then if you want to act with a calm mind in public, you need to practice Ki.

I am comfortable giving lectures in front of a few hundred people now, but when I was small, I used to get very nervous in public.

At my graduation ceremony in elementary school, I received the diploma from the principal. On the way to get the diploma, my right hand and right foot moved same time!

My mother says, “I was so embarrassed at that time.” :-)

First of all, I will talk about the basics of Ki.

If you send Ki to others or to the surrounding environment, this condition is called “Ki is extending”.

On the other hand, if you pay attention only to yourself, this condition is called “Pulling Ki (toward you)”.

When you appear in public, if you think to yourself “They are looking at me”, you receive Ki from all people. For example, if there are 10 people, you receive 10 people’s Ki., If there are 100 people, you receive 100 people’s ki.

Try this with your partner.

If you think, “You are looking at me”, you are disturbed by your partner’s line of vision.
If you think, “I am looking at you”, you do not mind your partner’s line of vision.

If you pull Ki, you come under the influence of others Ki. Your Ki goes to only yourself, therefore, you cannot realize anything.

In this time, let’s say to yourself, “I am looking at others”.
The point is to send Ki in a positive way from yourself to others.

Then, you do not come under the influence of others’ Ki, no matter how many people are in front of you.

By extending Ki to the outside, you do not come under the influence of others’ Ki.
When you are extending Ki, you also can realize others condition.

For instance, if you extend Ki when you give a lecture, you can adjust your topic by seeing how the audience reacts.

Since I know this and send Ki to others in a positive way, I can talk to others without excitement.

“To be seen (pull Ki)” and “To look(extend Ki)” are completely different.

In addition to the above, if state of your mind is “I show you”, this is different.

If you try to show others intentionally, your action will be unnatural in most of the cases. Then, this creates nervousness again.

If you try to show something, you cannot move anothers heart.
Actors particularly understand this difference.

I feel that this theme is very deep.

Let's practice together.

The correct image

Let’s think about the image which we have of ourselves.

We all have a self-image which we build up by ourselves, and also an image placed upon us by others, which we have unconsciously accepted.

The important thing is that human beings be sure their image they adopt is natural and true.
“Mind moves body” Therefore, it is natural that our image controls our actions.

“Mind moves body” is Ki principle.

Let me give you an example:

When I talked with one of the staff the other day, I had a realization.

This staff person started to have followers since last year. That means this staff person is not just a senior worker but a boss.

This staff person works very hard. However, he does not have a very good reputation, especially from other staff members.

I heard about this and so I had a talk with this particular staff person who has recently become a boss.

I found that his image of “boss” and mine were very much different.

What do you think the difference was?

The staff person thought that the boss should manage his followers’ work. Therefore, he tried his best to do this.

Certainly, managing others work is one of the jobs of a boss. However, a boss’s work is not only the management of followers.

The boss has a responsibility to create an environment for the workers, provide fair assessment, work together when followers have trouble, and judge things which followers cannot judge.

There are many other roles for boss, as well.

If the boss is hung up on only managing his followers, then he cannot perform the rest of his job.

In this case, the rest of the staff said, “He does not work but just gives instruction.”

His image which he has adopted, “boss should manage followers work”, is incomplete.

In the real world, many people have this partial image and still become the boss.

In this case, I did not pass on to him the correct image of the boss. Therefore, this kind of thing (happened.

Now this person has changed his image of what a boss is, and he is much more successful at being the boss.

Beside the image of boss, each of us has different images, such as “parent” “Children” “husband” “wife” “teacher” “business people” “leader”.

Each of us has a different image of “Men” and “Women”, too.

The problem is those images are just adopted unconsciously and not build up positively by ourselves.

Before we start something, we have to check own image of what that is, and then check if the image is really the correct one.

Also, it is important to know the difference between your image and others’ image.

I am sure you will find that, in many cases, there are significant differences, and you will get a big realization. By sharing our images, we can achieve smooth human relationships.

Let’s practice together.

Remember to Extend Ki!

What is necessary for realization?

Even if a group of people live under the same conditions, some of those people will realize something, and others will not. What is the difference between these people?

One of the differences is if they send Ki clearly to that which they wish to understand.

You might feel, “Oh, that’s simple!”

However, this difference is everything when we are speaking of realization.

Here are some examples:

When you listen the teacher telling a story that you have heard before, if you listen thinking “I have heard this story before”, you do not send Ki clearly to the speaker and you cannot get any realization.

Even if it is the same story which you have heard, if you send Ki clearly to the speaker, you can get a new and deeper realization each time.

When you read a book, if you read the book thinking, “This book is just the same as the book I read before”, you are not sending enough Ki to the book, and this will limit your understanding.

No matter what, if you read a book with Ki, you will get new realization.

This is very simple. However in reality, we often do not send Ki in our daily life.

There are many people who have trouble in face-to-face conversations. I receive inquiries about this from many people.

In Japan, people are taught “When you talk with others, look at them.” However, even if you try to look into others eyes, sometimes it is very hard to do.

It is said that “The eyes are the window of the mind”. The eyes show the state of mind clearly. If you look at a person’s eyes whose Ki is very strong, it is easy to receive the person’s Ki.

However, if you stare into someone’s eyes, you may not be able to remain aware of other conditions around you.

As a result, many people look away when talking face to face. This gives others distrust and makes it difficult to realize their state of mind.

If this is a business negotiation or some kind of trouble that needs to be solved, it could be detrimental.

Then, try looking around the other person’s nose, instead of their eyes.

If you do this, the other person will feel that you are looking at their face in a straightforward manner.

The most important thing is that you can recognize others small changes in facial expression or attitude because you are sending Ki to others well.

It is not until you have true understanding of what the other is saying, that it has value.

I often meet higher ranking people. But I extend Ki and look at them in the way described above, and I do not get nervous now.

This way helps me a lot.

Please try to put it into practice in your daily life.

If you always remember to send Ki, then you will realize much more.

Let’s practice together.

How to study Ki?

To master something, first, you need to copy what a good model does.

To copy a good model, it is important to watch it very carefully.

It is necessary to take notes and listen to the explanation. However, the most important thing is to watch carefully.

The person who watches things well will improve quickly.

There are many people who start things without studying the model thoroughly. In this case, there cannot be much improvement.

However, here is the important point:

We begin by watching the shape of the model. Once we understand the shape, we should move beyond the shape.

”Mind moves body”. Therefore, not only does the shape matter, but if you master the state of mind of the model, you will be able to master the essence of what the model shows.

For example, let's say you try to master Ki Breathing.

First, you will be taught a natural posture and how to exhale naturally. You will watch and copy what your instructor does.

Once you understand correct posture and how to exhale, next, it is important to watch the state of mind of the instructor and what he thinks.

To tell the truth, I had difficulty with Ki Breathing in the beginning. Even if I tried to do it the same way as my teacher did, I had difficulty in breathing.

However, one day I had a change to be taught by Koichi Tohei Sensei directly. At that time, I was interested in what Tohei Sensei is thinking when he does Ki Breathing.

I realized that Tohei sensei did not think “breath out longer”, “breath out well” or “look good”.

”Without thinking any unnecessary thing at all, just do Ki breathing with a peaceful feeling.” Since I began practicing it this way, I have been able to do Ki Breathing very comfortably.

I am still developing, therefore it is too early to say I have mastered Ki Breathing. However, it was a precious experience for me that I could at least do Ki Breathing comfortably, which I had not been able to do by just copying the form or shape of Ki Breathing.

For those studying Ki-Aikido, Kiatsu therapy, etc. it is important to watch the state of mind, not only watch the shape of the movement, or listen to the explanation.

Let’s practice together.

Accept perception gap

We experience the Universe through five (or six) senses.

Therefore, even if we see the same thing or hear the same sound, each of us experiences it in a different way in the strictest sense. Everyone knows this - even small children. However, in reality, we forget about it in our daily life.

Let’s say the food tastes bad.

It is possible to think that the food itself tastes bad. However, sometimes we feel the food tastes because of our own poor physical condition.

Or if we eat a meal with someone with whom we do not feel joy, we cannot taste the food.

If we doubt our five (or six) senses, we cannot utilise our daily life.

However, we need to know that we cannot say our own feelings are fact .

For your information, if you understand this principle about food, your home becomes very peaceful. :-)

I got an invitation to dinner the other day. At that exclusive restaurant, a lady who was sitting at another table made a complaint about the dish.

The lady said, “I cannot have dinner in such a yucky restaurant.”

When the other guests heard her complaint, they looked displeased.

It might be true that the lady felt that the cooking was yucky. However, her feeling is not true for everyone.

She was not considerate to the others.

If we think, “My own feeling is fact ”, we tend to think like this.

The cause of bad human relationships is that each of us insists own feeling is absolute and correct.
I saw “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the theater the other day.

After the movie, I saw a couple who were arguing about the content of the movie.

It seemed that the man’s viewpoint and the woman’s viewpoint were different and each of them held their ground. Therefore, their argument escalated into a big fight.

If they accepted their partner’s feelings such as “Oh, there is another point of view”, they could watch movie with enjoyment…

I felt sorry for them.

However, it was not about the movie, we tend to do same thing as this case in other situations too.

When I visited a company, I heard such a conversation between a boss and a worker.

Boss: “Why do you cower under me so much? Are you afraid me?”

Worker: “(answers fearfully) Yes, I am afraid of you.”

Boss: “I am not such a scary person. Why do you feel that way?”

Worker: “…”

How do you feel about this conversation? (:-)

It is important to realize that your own feelings and others’ feelings are different. And it is also important to accept others’ feelings first.

Sometimes, you need to correct others’ feelings but still it is important to accept others’ feeling first.

Let’s practice together.

The Exchange of Ki

Many people ask, “What is the condition of extending Ki?”

Koichi Tohei sensei said “Ki extension is the condition of exchanging Ki with the Universe. “

Welive by exchanging Ki with the Universe.

For example, breathing.

We breathe air into our lungs, and our blood system carries oxygen throughout the body. In our cells, the oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide, which is then brought to the lungs to be exhaled.

This is also an exchange of Ki with the Universe.

Once this exchange stops, there will be big trouble.

We cannot live only by ourselves. We can say, “We are living.” However, the truth is “The Universe allows us to live”.

If we think this way, we can say everything is an exchange of Ki of the Universe, such as eating, communication, economy etc.

Exchange of the Ki with mind is also the same thing.

For example, when we have selfish mind or when we are thinking only of ourselves, we hold Ki only within ourselves and we do not extend Ki to the outside.

This condition is called, “Ki is not extending” or “Pulling Ki.”

When we extend Ki positively, Ki is extending.

Here is an example of this in daily life:

When we say something negative and have a minus facial expression, we are trying to pull others Ki to ourselves.

For example, let’s take a person who says, “I am tired.” many times.

It may seem that this person’s purpose is merely to report, “I am tired.” However, actually the person wants others to extend Ki to him and say, “Are you all right?”

That is, the person is trying to pull others’ Ki to him in a unilateral way.

If you pull Ki in a unilateral way, there can be no exchange of Ki. To exchange Ki, it is necessary to exchange Ki with each other.

It is important to extend Ki to others positively.

When we hold Ki only inside of ourselves and do not extend Ki to the outside, this prevents us from exchanging Ki with the Universe, and places our mind and body in a poor state of health.

When we extend Ki to the outside, new Ki will come inside us.

If we extend Ki, new Ki comes to us. This is the principle of the Universe.

When we are unwell, if we think about only ourselves, we will get worse.

If we do our best for someone, no matter how we feel, our health condition usually improves.
This is an example of when you extend Ki, new Ki will come to you.

“Ki training” is the process of changing from the condition which we hold Ki within ourselves, to the condition which we extend Ki to the outside.

That is the condition of extending Ki always.

Let's practice together.

Ideal Expectations

Let’s characterize the appropriate attitude towards others.

For example, a husband and wife; a husband has and ideal image of his wife. And a wife has an ideal image of her husband.

Similarly, in a company’ the executive officer has an expectation of his workers, and the workers have expectation of him.

This is the same as between parents and children, teachers and students, friends and team mates.

However, we do not share this ideal each other in many cases. We just keep it in our mind. Especially, in Japan, it is virtue to understand each other without words. This virtue is important, but sometimes it becomes a cause of bad human relationships.

This is an example.

A husband considers the role that he should play in home. If his ideal and his wife's expectation are different, the more the husband tries, the more the wife will be discontent with her husband's attitude.

As a result, the husband begins to think that even if he does his best, his wife will not appreciate his efforts and he developes a grievance against his wife. This means both the husband and the wife do not understand each other even if each of them do their best. And there will a be bad relationship between husband and wife.

The only solution is for the husband to share his ideal with his wife and for the wife to similarly share with her husband. Some people think the husband’s role is to work hard at his office, some people think it is to spend time with his family as much as he can. The balance of those is up to each couple.

I often receive marriage counseling questions from my friends. Since I am still young, I do not have much experiences. However, I always tell them to share their ideals with each other. If their ideals are different, they should not fool themselves into believing they are automatically compatible, just because they have romantic feelings.

Many people tend to think that if they get married, their differences will be solved naturally. However, this is difficult if their fundamental thinking is different. On the other hand, if the couple’s thinking is fundamentally the same, other minor problems can be easily overcome.

This is the same as in team work.

A team leader has his ideal expectation of the team members. The team members have their ideal expectation of their leader. Let’s assume that the team leader thinks his role is to show his ability to take action. And the team members think that leader should communicate well with the members. In this case, the more the leader makes an effort, the less the team members appreciate their leader.

The key to success is to share each other's ideal.

Mind moves body. In another words, the state of mind decides the quality of the action. Therefore, it is difficult to change only action. It is important to share your concepts of value with each other, first.

Do you share your ideals with others around you?

Let's practice it together.

To know yourself

We cannot see ourselves directly with our own eyes.

We need to be very aware of our own weak points, because we tend to see others’ weak points easier than own.

There are two ways that we can know ourselves: to ask others to tell us, or to look in the mirror.

Koichi Tohei sensei has told me that the most important thing is to be humble.

Some people misunderstood that to be humble means to be obedient to someone. However, this is not the true meaning of humility.

There are many books which tell us to be humble. However, the definition of humility is wrong in the most of those cases

Meaning of humility is not “show a humble attitude toward people” but “accept the Universe humbly”.

For example, let’s say that someone makes a big mistake.

Some people do not accept the reality of things and think “I am unfortunate!” “Why me…?”. Then they try to find an excuse outside of themselves.

In this way, the person ignores the cause of the mistake, and the same mistake will happen again in the same situation.

If the person is humble, he or she thinks “Something is wrong in my thinking or behavior”. Then, they will accept the mistake and try to find the cause inside of themselves.

As a result, we grow by not repeating the same mistakes.

To be humble is necessary to our growth.

To be humble is important in our communication also.

A humble person may get unpleasant but wholesome advice from others. Others let him know his own nature, which he may not be able to see for himself.

If we do not have a friend who can give unpleasant but wholesome advice, this is very serious situation. Because we cannot get any feedback, and therefore we cannot realize our own mistake or weak point.

If you have someone who gives unpleasant but wholesome advice, this person is a treasure.

If you think how many people who give unpleasant but wholesome advice you have, this will be a good measure of your level of humility.

How about you?

A practical way to know yourself is to do Ki breathing.

When your breath becomes calm, your mind also becomes calm.

If your mind becomes calm, you can see things as they are. Your bias, delusion and excuses will dissolve away.

If you get angry with someone, you can find your mistake during Ki breathing.

Ki breathing lets you know the shape of your mind. This is like you are reflected in the mirror.

The essence of learning Ki is to know yourself well.

When you know yourself correctly, you will gain confidence and correct your mistake or weak points.

Let’s try to know ourselves together.

Breadth of mind to wait for a second

Recently, I often see people who cannot wait for a second in Japan.

For example, at a red light. Even when the light is still red, many people start to cross at the crosswalk. I watch them carefully. And usually, after one or two seconds, the signal turns green. If they are not in hurry, this shows that they do not have breadth of mind.

When you feel the urge to pass someone on a narrow road, if you stop for a second and let the traffic work itself out, you will not feel the need to overtake others. However, people cannot wait for a second, and try to go through first and overtake others.

As people board the train (especially in Tokyo and Osaka), many people cannot wait a few minutes and rush to get on the train. Then, they may find themselves warned by station attendant.

When driving, if there is a car that wants to merge with the main line of traffic, you can wait for a second and let them in. However, many people cannot wait for a second and follow the car in front very closely, thereby preventing anyone from merging.

When listening to others talk, you should just listen, before you say what you want to say. But if you find others’ talk pointless, you often can’t wait for them to finish, cut them short, and then start to talk about yourself.

Have you ever seen people who cannot wait for a second in daily life? How about yourself?

Everyone has their own rhythm. And we act on our own rhythm unconsciously. If things do not go smoothly in tune with our own rhythm, we feel stress.

"Wait for a second" means to change our own rhythm. If we cannot control our mind by ourselves, we chafe, and then demand that others act according to our own rhythm. Sometimes, even when we try to fall into step with others, the others' mind resists this and things do not go well.

If we calm our mind in our one point, we can be up to the conditions even if we have to change own rhythm. In other words, we can have breadth of mind a little. This breadth of mind is very important. And it changes communication dramatically.

Some people are naturally placid. So when we deal with these people, we may not have breadth of mind that we would like. Sometimes, I do not have breadth of mind. Therefore, I check my state of my mind first to see if I can wait for a second or not in my daily life.

I will talk about what I experienced last week.

Last week, the super express train was very late because of a signal failure. I was standing in line to buy a train ticket from the automatic ticket machine. A man who was behind me seemed in a rush. Therefore, I asked the man, “Are you in hurry?”

He said that his train was leaving in five minutes. I realized that I had some time, so I let him go first. This is one of the good examples.

On the other hand, I had to warn a person on my staff because the person was careless in their work.

The staff person started to make an excuse. I yelled at the person immediately to stop making excuses. As a result, the person turned his back, and it took much more effort for him to realize his mistake.

When I first gave him the warning, if I had breadth of mind and listened his full response, it would not have required such an effort on both of our parts. This is bad example of how to be emotional and without breadth of mind.

Mind itself has no color or shape. We cannot see mind. However, “Mind moves body”. Therefore, our state of mind reflects the state of our body. We can know the state of mind through our body.

Let’s check our own state of mind in our daily life.

The Method of Realization

It is easy to lose knowledge or information without real experiences.

However, when knowledge and information become firsthand experiences, then we can realize. And this will be a treasure of our life.

I think many people know that “realization” is important.

However, even if we have a great deal of knowledge and information, if this does not connect to real experiences, we may not realize a thing.

When do we get realization?

Please think of your most recent realization. When and what was the situation that allowed you to realize something new?

One thing is certain; whenever we realize something, we are extending Ki. In other words, we are using our mind positively.

When we realize something, we are extending Ki to the object of our realization. If you are not interested in the object at all, and you do not extend Ki, there is no realization.

Similarly, when we pull our Ki, or use our mind in a negative way, there is no realization.

This “pulling of Ki” is a very risky thing to do.

When we fail in something and feel down, we pull our Ki and so cannot realize the cause of failure. This then causes the next failure. And this can become a vicious circle that goes on and on.

We cannot realize without extending Ki.

Another aid to true understanding is relaxation.

Once again, please remember your experience of realization in daily life. When your mind and body are nervous, can you realize something?

When we relax both mind and body, we become calm and free of stress, and using our mind freely, we always tend towards realization. In this way, we can receive true understanding with even the slightest of opportunities in our daily life.

When we study a thing, it is essential to study it seriously. However, this seriousness does not mean that we must be nervous. When our mind and body are nervous, we cannot realize.

It is important to understand the meaning of relaxing correctly. If we misunderstand the meaning of relaxing, we lose our Ki.

When we relax correctly, this is a mine of realization.

What it comes down to is that when we realize something, we are extending ki and relaxing mind and body.

”Ki is extending” and “to relax” sound different, however, these are the same.

Koichi Tohei sensei has resolved these as “Four major principles to unify mind and body” and teaches specifically how to unify mind body through them.

Four major principles to unify mind and body:

1. Keep one point
2. Relax completely
3. Keep weight underside
4. Extend Ki

”Ki is extending” means “4. Extend Ki” in the four major principles.
“To relax” means “2. Relax completely” in the four major principles.

These four major principles are likened to four different routes to climb mountain. In the same way that we can climb to the top of the mountain from any of those four routes, by performing one of these four principles, anyone can experience oneness of mind and body.

You do not have to do those four principles at once. If we perform one of these principles, we have accomplished the others naturally.

These four principles sounds quite different, but actually, they are one thing. This may be difficult to understand through mere words. You can experience those four principles being actually one in our various seminars and workshops.

Let’s study together.

Educating a Child

Koichi Tohei sensei is my master and also my father. I would like to tell you about Koichi Tohei sensei from a son’s point of view.

I remembered an experience from my childhood the other day.

My father often played five-in-a-row or played the card game of the one hundred famous poems (Hyakunin-isshu; Japanese game) with me. He played with me very seriously.

I played five-in-a-row ten times in a row. And I lost ten games in a row. He knocked me down without any hesitation :-)

Since I was small, I was always very chagrined at loosing this kind of game. My father noticed this and so he made me think about why it was that I had lost the game.

One time, I could not win at all, so, I cried and said, “I cannot win.” In the next game, my father purposely lost the game.

Can you imagine what he said after that?

He said with anger, “This is called ‘making someone look good’.”
I felt the sting of defeat more. So I said to my father, “I will not cry even if I loose the game. So, please play with me seriously.”
He said, “I understand.” Then, we played the game again. And he won five times in a row

Again, he gave me time to think about why it was that I lost the game. When I realized the cause of loosing the game, he praised me very much.

I think back now, and I think he believed in a child’s ability and led me to have more incentive by not giving me fake satisfaction.

I learned that when things do not go well, I consider the reason why, and continue to play the game. Without turning my back on the problem and not stopping Ki. This is my habit now.

Of course, the way to lead children is to depend on each child’s character. At least this was my father’s way, and it was the best for me.

When we played the card game of the one hundred famous poems, the situation was worse. Father got 94 cards and I got 6 cards.

I was very unhappy at loosing so many games. My father again noticed this and so he wrote each poem on a piece of paper and put these papers inside the house where I would see them.

I tried to memorize three poems a day. Therefore, I was able to memorize all poems within about a month or so. After that, I played again with my father. At that time, father got 70 cards, I got 30 cards.

I remember that I was so happy.

Once again, he did not just satisfy the child, but let me know how to play. And he played with me seriously.

Eventually, I would have a fifty-fifty chance of winning when we played five-in-a-row or played the card game of the one hundred famous poems. I think there is not so much ability difference between us now. (But I have still never been able to win! )

I focus on applying Ki to education. Because I would like to share Koichi Tohei sensei’s intangible teachings with as many people as possible.

It is the most basic thing to utilize Ki principles in helping people grow in education in the home, school education, worker education and leader education.

If you are interested in this, let’s study together.

Reserve the option to “wait” until others change

When we face a problem, we try to find a solution as soon as possible. This may seem necessary, but sometimes this is not the best way to solve your problem.

For example, let’s say you have a problem in a relationship. If you are desperate to perform fence-mending at any cost, the relationship often becomes worse.

Or, let’s say you make a blunder in your work, and as a result, trust and recognition of your ability was reduced. If you are desperate to regain that trust and recognition, you might fall even further.

Let’s say your children, students, or followers have an attitude problem. If you are desperate to solve the problem, the situation may become even worse.

We human beings always feel the need to do something right away when something bad happens. This is because we want to escape from being in the negative situation. We want to remove this unwanted situation as soon as possible. This state of mind causes impatience. And impatience causes us to misjudge what is the correct course of action.

We have all had this kind of experience.

There is an ultimate way to solve a problem, and that is “to wait”. When the situation will just get worse by forcing the action, it is important to step back, look at the situation, and just wait.

However, “wait” does not mean to walk out on a problem. Always extend Ki to the problem, giving it your attention as much as possible, and wait calmly. Usually the situation will change naturally. “Time is on your side in many cases”.

To be able to wait, we need a strong mind, that is, the state of calmness in our mind. If ()our mind becomes even a little weak, then we will feel we need to do something to feel at ease.

As stated in the above example, when you have a problem in human relationship, not only apologize to other person, but be sure to change what you have done wrong. Then it is important to wait until other person’s state of mind changes. If you want the other person to forgive you first, and forget to correct yourself, the relationship will be worse.

When you make a blunder in your work and you feel that the trust and recognition of your ability has come down, it is important to change your wrong attitude, and not just through words. It is useless to exert yourself to please others around you in an effort to correct their bad impression of you . Instead, just wait. It might take some time, but this is actually the fastest way to recover your trust and recognition.

When your children, students, or followers have an attitude problem, it is important for you to treat them with positive mind and wait until they realize their mistake by themselves. We need some time to realize things. Therefore, it is important to await their realization. If you try to change others as you wish, the situation will always get worse.

Some people may be worried, “Even if I wait and wait, if other person does not change, what should I do?” This way of thinking is the biggest reason why it is difficult for you to wait.

I will repeat, because this is important; “wait” does not mean to walk out on a problem. You should not try to change others first, but you do whatever you can, and wait until other person’s realization changes. Just as with your state of mind, others state of mind also need some time to change.

By learning to calm your mind in your daily life, you will be able to control your mind, and you will always have the option to wait.

Let’s study together.

Define meaning of the words clearly

The other day, a kindly member told me that one of our staff had a bad attitude. I confirmed the truth and I found that as the member had told me, the staff did have a bad attitude. I apologized to the member and then I spoke with the staff.

However, the staff could not understand his mistake and he could not accept his fault. Finally, he realized his fault, but I realized a very important thing through this experience.

What I realized was that my definition of the word "respond" and his were different.

First, the staff said "I always do my best to meet a wide variety of member' demands." Even if he did his best, if his attitude