Aiki Institute Of Spokane

There are many reasons that we come to train in Aikido. Below is a list of some of the more common reasons that I have heard.

• Fitness
• Centeredness
• Increased Awareness
• Self-Defense
• Social Network
• Creative Problem Solving
• Increased Flexibility
• Increased Energy
• Stress Reduction
• Mental and Physical Challenge
• Fun
• Spirituality
• Better Breathing
• Keeps Me Out of Jail (yes that came from a student)

No doubt you have seen similar lists elsewhere. I encourage you to send me the reasons that you train. The number of reasons are only limited by the number of practitioners.

PPCO

I would like to introduce you to a tool called PPCO. Positive, Potential, Concern, Overcome. This is a tool introduced to me through Creative Problem Solving. It is a great way to debrief an event, or project, or way to run a meeting. In this case I would like to use it to further explore why we train and the true substance, and power of our training.

First step is to list the positives. What good things have happened in your day?…The moon setting during sunrise was a beautiful sight ….Ben made a particularly good esspresso this morning….Answered all my emails by 10:00am…. Steadily checked off items on the to do list…Had a nice stretch before Aikido class…

What good things have happened during the event? …I met new contacts… I saw a new product I can use…I learned a new way of using a tool …

What good things are happening in your department at work? …Hired a great new staff member… Had an informative new training… Surpassed our sales goals… Found a new market…

What good things happened in your training?…I learned a new application of ikkyo… Finally did a break-fall that did not hurt…Shikko across the mat without falling…Step forward, tenkan, pivot, step forward… You get the point?

Think about it, why do you train? What good things come about in your training? Send them to me and we will explore the potential of those good things in part two of this article.

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Don’t like it?  Delete and start over.  Yes computers are wonderful.  Add a little contrast to a photo, don’t like it change it, do it over.   Write a new business plan. Don’t like the way the numbers work out?  Do it over and adjust the numbers.  A problem with the web site?  Do over!

In today’s world it is particularly easy to have do overs.  Just like when we played as children.  Miss the ball just call “do overs”!  In Aikido, don’t like the way that technique turned out or the way that kata looked, do it over. Make it better.

Does the idea of “do overs” relieve us of some of the pressure to do it right?  While it is nice to have do overs there are no undo’s.  This is particularly important in our relationships.  When meeting someone for the first time, if we fail to make the impression we want we can always do it over but we can not ever undo that first impression. We will not ever have that moment again.  When trying to make our point we can try again, do over, but we can not undo that which we said.  There are no undo’s.

In our training, this moment can never be experienced again.  The attack, the throw, the pin, can not be undone, we can only do over.  This is the nature of training, of practice.  So do it over, and over, and over.  Make each time the best that you can at that moment for that moment will never be again and there are no undo’s.

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