All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside you. Life itself is the truth, and this will never change. Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together. When the myriad variations in the universal breath can be sensed, the individual techniques of the Art of Peace are born.

Breath.  The universal process of exchanging energy by transforming a thing into its opposite.  Inhale, exhale.  In, out.  Rise, fall.  Hot, cold.  Active, passive.  Front, back.   Feed, consume.  The ancient symbol of the T’ai Chi embodies this duality of exchange.  Without this interplay all would be static and stagnant.  It is the very mechanism of creation.  Aikido gives us a way to understand that dynamic, to agree with it, and to benefit from its power.  From the simple principles of irimi (entering) and tenkan (turning), omote (in front) and ura (behind), to extending and contracting, and advancing and retreating, Aikido explores the concept of breath at the physical level.  In practice we learn to deal with the varying emotional levels of our partners, and ourselves, and we learn breath on the mental level.  Practicing, and thinking on our practice between classes, keeping a deep commitment to a path, allows us to see the play of breath on the spiritual level.  During the execution of a technique our aim is often to take our partner’s balance, and this is equatable to interrupting the breath.  We also focus on filling our technique with power, timing it with inhale and exhale, and we float in the dance of our own breath.

Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself.

Solitude. And, taking a break from the normal peace of your life to rest temporarily in another rythm, a rythm dictated by the design of nature rather than the design of modern city life. Life at a modern pace, at a cities pace, offers many advantages for us as individuals and as a species, but this style of living is not the one we evolved under. Every now, and again, we need to restore our link to a more basic style of living and reset our internal clocks to their given rythms. Doing this is a kind of prayer where we commune with the most basic forces that shape our beings. It re-establishes our understanding of how things work at the fundamental levels.

Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead. The Art of Peace is a celebration of the bonding of heaven, earth, and humankind. It is all that is true, good, and beautiful.

I have heard, and I believe, that you are either improving in life, or degrading, you are never static.  Aikido is a study of resolving conflicts not only so that we are safe and kept whole, but so that everyone is safe and kept whole and the world is made a better place.   As we practice with that thought in mind, the thought of peace for the world, we improve our health and our spirit and ready ourselves to be useful for the service of peace.  Aikido is a worship of the beauty and wholeness of the world.

Eight forces sustain creation:
Movement and stillness,
Solidification and fluidity,
Extension and contraction,
Unification and division.

In many ways Aikido is a study of opposites. Each of the above forces are employed at different times in Aikido practice. One key that has been useful to me is to break down a motion into the above pairings and to contrast the attack being dealt with rather than complementing it. In other words, if the attack in question is an attempt to divide my energy, then I unify. If the attack is one that intends to contract my stance, I extend. In this way the energy of an attack is completed, and can be brought to a peaceful conclusion.

Another way to look at these pairs is to see how each can contain the element of its opposite.  By embracing stillness in movement we achieve grace.  Movement contained in stillness is power.  Contraction within extension leads to balance.  Extension within contraction is readiness.   Solidification within fluidity is focus, fluidity within solidification is adaptability.  Unification within division is wholeness, and division within unification is possibility.

Lastly we can look at complementing these energies to attain their opposites.  By matching a motion we attain a relative stillness.  By dividing with our partners we unify.  And so on..