Moving on

"If you find a path with no obstacles,
it probably doesn't lead anywhere" .
~anonymous


I believe that having a student-teacher relationship is essential in the study of Aikido. There may be a variety of occurrences and different reasons for a student to be looking for a new teacher. I remember the first time I saw my teacher. I had a strong gut feeling that I must become his student. For a long time I brushed this idea off, because it didn't make sense logistically. Sensei was teaching in Northern California, while I was running a printing company in Los Angeles. The chances of this to happen did not seem realistic at all.

Sometimes, we need to make a commitment first, and then deal with the logistics and consequences. It took many months of envisioning and debating with my logical side before I made my commitment. Eventually, I joined the Berkeley Dojo in 1995, and all the details (though somewhat complex) fell in place; I took a flight every Thursday to Northern California, and flew back on Mondays. This routine lasted for almost six years, in which I practiced in Berkeley as a Kenshusei (apprentice).

I remember that on the third week of my membership there, one of my classmates asked me: "So, why are you doing this?", I answered: "Because I want to be Sensei's student". He smiled and said he understands. Even though I didn't know what I got myself into at that time, I am glad I followed my heart, and did not listen to my friends who thought I was out of my mind. Nowadays, I look back and it makes me happy that all this was possible for me. This was indeed a profound accord in my life.

If we follow our gut feeling and make a commitment, the clarity brings a relief to the uncertainty of "sitting on the fence". Moving on is not always easy to do, but at the very least, it provides a direction on the path that was not revealed to us before. Moving on, trusting the Way, it is always wiser than we are.