Aikido

A Dojo Named Katsu

 

logoI’ve always been fascinated by Aikido’s motto: Masagatsu Agatsu Katsu Ayabe. 正勝 吾勝, 勝早日: The true victory is the victory over oneself, the victory here and now. There are many different literal translations of this sentence by Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. The core meaning is that our worst enemy lies within ourselves and if we defeat it we will obtain the true victory.

I experienced the fatigues of this war on my own skin and I’m also convinced I did obtain several victories. I’m not talking about martial practice but of real life (but isn’t it the same?).