What Does It All Mean? Onegai Shimasu

By Marjorie Motooka, Shodan

Onegai Shimasu (pronounced o-ne-ga-e shi-mas) is a phrase that is exchanged at the beginning of class between students to teacher.  It is also uttered to your partner before the start of any technique.  The phrase is also accompanied by a bow (seated or standing), which is a symbol of respect.

Loosely translated onegai shimasu means “Will you do me the honor.”

What? You’re asking someone for the honor of being thrown to the ground and pinned?  If you have any understanding of the Japanese culture, you know that we (yes, I am a third generation Japanese) are a  polite, considerate, and non-confrontational group.

The honor that we see and that we appreciate during training, is having someone to practice with who will make our skills, knowledge and understanding of aikido deeper and better.  Without a partner, we would be left with doing Ukemi practice by ourselves.  What fun is that? Therefore, it is an honor to have a partner to be able to train with and for which the least we can do is express appreciation before inflicting corporal pain. 

As between teacher (Sensei) and students (Gakusei), it is an honor for a student to be able to train in a Dojo with a teacher who imparts the knowledge that she has learned from years of training from her Sensei.  Without her, we would be left with trying to learn techniques through YouTube videos. Again, what fun is that? The honor of having a Sensei to train with and learn from is expressed with a seated bow to the Sensei before the start of class and the words Onegai Shimasu.

See you on the mat … I look forward to the honor!

Our Dojo: A Sacred Place

by Reza Haghshenas, 4th Kyu

 What is Aikido? And what is this martial art going to bring into my life? I don't know the answer. But I feel that Aikido is a manifestation of love, as it lights up something special in my heart, to see my true self, to recognize my real path.

How do I know this is true? I look inside myself and see.

It has been many days, I have come to Aikido class while my physical body was exhausted, my mind was unrestful and my level of consciousness was in a low mode. 

Aikido heals you, it cures you; Once you enter the mat at our dojo the healing process of aikido begins. It is not your choice, you can not stop it; It touches something deep in your heart, bring it up to your physical and conscious levels and pulls you up to a higher level. Our dojo is a sacred place; You just need to enter it, once you do that, it makes you a better person, sheds light on your true nature to explore the way to better yourself.      

I don't know what is aikido or what this martial art is going to bring into my life. But I feel that when you enter the mat, it helps you become a better person. 

Your Face is Pressed Against the Mat

by Vincent John, 5th Kyu

Your face is pressed against the mat. This serves to relieve the pressure derived from whoever is stretching your right arm up towards your spine, firmly into your back. At first nothing is felt. Not a shred of discomfort. You quietly think to yourself, “Is this the correct technique? Am I situated wrong? Should I alter my position or shift my weight?” You lay there considering these frivolous notions, neglecting to observe a rapid pulsation and heat stemming from your body. 

As in all matters, the body can sense trouble before the mind.

In an instant swirling and surging, what you callously thought wouldn’t happen, does. Pain. Wet hot, sticky pain. Being lost in your surroundings, the mind you were so dependent on forgets to tap the mat. Provoking your sparring partner to add a little more pressure, I.e. pain, to the moment.

Finally, you tap and are released. You stand up, brush yourself off, say thank you, and do it again. Now on your left arm.

A quick Google search on Aikido will bring you this:

Way of Adapting the Spirit. That is Aikido. Fluidly adapting movement for a better outcome. Which useful during an actual attack against an aggressor of bigger stature.

But is it not the teachings of Aikido to avoid fighting at all cost? A teacher of my mine once said, “If you allowed the fight to happen you have already lost.” I am paraphrasing, but that is the basic jest. Which is unquestionably true. If someone comes up to you out of the blue, calls you a demeaning name, the genuine best defense for that is, smile, nod, and walk away.

So why train?

Why put your body through being pulled and prodded. Why be bruised and exhausted upon entering your home after an extra rigorous class? Why waste your free time for something that will lead to nothing?Instead, could not each Aikido class be a thirty-minute discussion on how to diffuse violent bullies through peaceful negotiation?

The answer to that is no. Not because some would-be-attacker is a capable fighter easily dealing out hordes of anguish. Sure that is part of it. Every individual should be prepared with the basic knowledge on defending himself or herself.

But the true reason for training in hot weather, or cold, with bruises and none existent personal time, is not for the cardio. It is for the mind. Yeah remember that overtly confident element of cognition I spoke of earlier? And how I thought either my partner or I got the technique wrong before the pain hit?

Well, in a sense I did get the technique wrong.

The mind tells us what it needs. When it calls for it, and whom it requires it from. Never ceasing, never wavering. Neither in our sleep nor in reflection.

Most of all the mind tells us our approach is correct. That there is no other perspective. We are all destined to one point perspectives since humans do not share the connected consciousness as Ants. Obviously thank goodness for that. But, the tricky part is how does one bend to the will of someone else without breaking.

Do not believe me? Then try this fun little game!

I do not want you to picture pink elephants dancing in a disco. Seriously stop!

I told you stop! Stop thinking about it.

So what were you just thinking about? Y eah...

I challenged you to stop thinking of cute pink elephants and try as you might, it was tough wasn’t it?

You tell me no, my mind will somehow discover a yes. Which if you are human, and I have a suspicion that you are, 95% of the time that is excellent news. It is how as a species we built towers and flown planes and sailed to the moon.

But there is a certain mischievous 5% that when occurs no mind in human existence can find a yes. Where the only answer is no.

One day it will attack you; and I do not mean physically. Metaphorically, you will be cornered against a wall. Surrounded. Got. No where to flee.

It is in those moments when A Way of Adapting the Spirit comes into fruition. The fluid nature of being able to bend but not break.

It is the inner balance, a core strength that comes through preparation for the mental fight. That in truth, has already made you victorious.

Training is not for the purpose of the physical fight, but to anticipate the fight within.