Don't Stop- by Mike Van Ruth

Many students,in their practice, fall into the trap of stopping the technique at the instant they think they have done something wrong. There can be many reasons for this. They may think the technique was botched and there is no reason to continue. Others may stop performing the technique in order to evaluate the cause at the point of the mistake. In cutting the techinique short, the student misses out on fundemental lessons and if this stopping is done often enough, the student can develop a bad habit.

Unless the nage senses that he or his uke may be harmed by continuing, the student shouldn't stop performing the technique. The lesson may have been hidden in the remainder of the technique that wasn't explored. The opportunity has been lost. Aikido practice is physical training more than it is a mental endeavor. Stopping to take metal notes has its place, but the body needs to make adjustments. Corrections don't happen instantaneously. Corrections come slowly through repetitive practice with each technique performed building upon the next. Trust me when I say that you may correct one fault, but another will come along to take its place. Technique is in a continual state of improvement. This is what makes Aikido such a wonderful life long pursuit.

Another problem I see in stopping the technique because of a perceived mistake is that is becomes a behavioral problem or a bad habit. We are not only training to develop physical technique but also to develop proper attitude and behaviors. What we do and how we practice in the dojo is how we will perform in the real world. Developing a behavior of stopping our technique when something goes wrong will transfer itself to the street with detrimental consequences. Aikido is meant to be a fluid art that is open to transition into other techniques based on the evolving conditions. The concept of continous fluid movement can't be developed if the student is continously stopping his technique when mistakes are made. Because as most of us know, nothing even goes as planned.

There are also occasions when a dojo does a public demonstration. This may not be a life threatening situation as being attacked out on the street, but it draws parallels due to the fact that we are subjected to psychological stresses that we don't normally experience in the dojo. Many people have a fear of speaking or performing in front of an audience. The heart beats harder and faster. The nage and uke become nervous. The mind can't be entirley relied upon. The body's wisdom must take the lead. It doesn't look good during the demonstration when the nage makes a mistake and stops in the middle of the technique. Worst yet is when the nage does this in conjunction with a verbal expletive like "oh sh#t". That is a bad day at the office. If the nage just continued with the technique or just blended seamlessly into another technique without pause, the spectators wouldn't know the difference.

Furuya Sensei told a story of watching a performance by a classical Japanese dancer. During the performance she failed to catch her fan when she threw up into the air. She continued dancing without missing a beat. A moment later she gracefully picked up the fan and continued the dance. Her movements were so perfect that if you didn't know the dance, you would have thought the dropping of the fan was part of the performance.

I believe it is important not to think too much about the technique. I don't want the training to become too much of a cerebral experience. I believe it is more important to feel the technique. Many times the lessons within the technique can't be taught entirely through words alone but must also be discovered by the body's slow and continuous absorption of the movement. Let us try not to cut our training short.

Thoughts on Student's Development- by Mike Van Ruth

It is rewarding to see the continued development of students in the dojo. As I teach class, I observe a student practicing a particular technique. I have a flash back to the past when that student was practicing that same technique. I complimented them on the strides they have made, but I have noticed they don't recognize the improvements themselves. Although their technique is improving, they still have the same puzzled and slightly frustrated looks on their faces. It is as though they have forgotten where they started out.

It is then that I remember a comment Furuya Sensei had on the subject. Forgive me for para-phasing too much, but each class is like putting a drop of water into a bucket. It may seem impossible to fill that bucket or even to see any significant increase in it's level. Over time that bucket will eventually fill up one drop at a time.

This is one reason we must all focus on just training. If the focus is on training, everything else will take care of itself. The idea of focusing on filling the bucket or chasing a goal can lead only to disappointment. Many times people set unrealistic expectations for themselves. They may say, "I want to reach black belt in so many years". Furuya Sensei told a story about a student that asked his teacher how many years it would take to master the sword. The teacher responded that it would take 10 years. Then the student asked, if I train twice as hard, how long would it take? The teacher's response was 20 years. The student, not happy with his teacher's answer said, "I will train night and day without rest, then how long would it take? The teacher then said it would take him a life time.

This story has a couple purposes. One is to explain the fact that the goal of mastery is not the purpose of training. The student's eyes are so focused on the prize that he will not find the true understanding of the art. Secondly, the teacher uses this explanation to try to break the student of focusing on something that brings no benefit but only harm to his training. The proper attitude toward our practice is to train with no regard to reward, but only to train for the sake of training.

Failure and obstacles in our practice are part of training in this endeavor we call the martial arts. Don't allow them to frustrate you. All practitioners have dealt, are dealing, and will continue to deal with set backs, obstacles, and failures. The only question is how a person reacts to them. One can become overly frustrate, quit training all together, or just accept it as a normal phase of training and move on, growing with the experience and becoming a better person for it.

Maintaining our Focus- by Mike Van Ruth

In our busy lives, many lose sight of our focus in regards to our personal development goals. The time we have available each day gets stretched thin with work and our families. We try to do so much in as little time as possible. I have found this true in my own life as well. New projects are taken on and now they all suffer due to the fact that they are not given the appropriate amount of time to accomplish.


The best way to start is to sit down with pen and paper, listing those goals and the means and tasks to accomplish them. Prioritize those goals and appropriate adequate time to each. This allows us to see exactly what is on our plate. It may be realized that there is too much too take on all at once. Some goals may have to be put off until others are accomplished. Enlisting the help of others may also be an option so to free up time to accomplish those tasks only you can do. Let others know about your goals. They can be seen as an accountablity coach.


Once the goals are written down on paper, the next step is to see how time is being utilize throughout the day. Are there things being done that are not a priority? Can time be used more wisely. How much television is being watched? Are video game eating up too much time? It may be only a couple hours a day. But add up that time over a year period. It is a considerable amount of time. What valuable goal could have been accomplished with that time?


In these economic times, many have really focused on their monetary expenditures. Now there is a realization that money is limited and must be used wisely. When we spend our money, we want the biggest bang for our buck. No one has unlimited time either. Many don't focus on that until a close relative passes away and we begin to contemplate life and how short it really is. As we get older, we look back and see how quickly it all goes by. It is important to use our time wisely as our money. Just as many have a financial plan, we must also have a time management plan and get the biggest tic for our tock.