spiralofhope

Aikido >

https://web.archive.org/web/20030501044530/http://ki-aikido.com.sg/Ki-Aikido-Contri07.html

“What has Ki-Aikido done for you?” That was a question posed to me by one of the beginners during the first day of the beginner’s class months ago. For a moment, I was stunned. Not because I did not learn anything in Ki-Aikido but rather, I didn’t really take the time to stop and ponder. It’s been more than a year since I first join the class and yet, I feel as though I just started my training yesterday.

I’d gotten to know about Aikido in my secondary school days and had wanted to try it out. But I just simply couldn’t find time for it until one free day, I stumbled across the website. Not knowing which website to choose from, I went through one by one till I came across ‘Ki-Aikido’. What is ‘Ki’-Aikido? The word ‘Ki’ arouse my curiosity, so I signed up for the preview and waited for the day to come. Finally the day came and I went on my way, not knowing what to expect from the whole thing. Finding the place wasn’t that difficult and the first thing that crosses my mind was “Okay, the place doesn’t look much but what do they have in there?”

Since I was the first to reach the place, I had a good chance catching a glimpse, as they happened to be conducting the black belt class then. The first thing that caught my attention was “Hey! They have a female instructor here and she looked so tiny among the black belts whom she was instructing.” Next, I realized they seemed to be enjoying themselves even when they were being pinned down. I remembered the training was about defending yourself when someone attacks you with a dagger (of course, they were just practicing with a wooden dagger which later I got to know it as tanto). Now that was a surprise to me for my idea of martial arts was discipline, stern atmosphere, tough training…

After the preview, I decided to give it a try. Well, if it doesn’t work I can always drop out anytime. But after a year, I’m still here. During this one year, I’ve not only learnt martial arts but the art of harmony as well. This is the first time I’ve learnt martial arts and the training over here is unique (to me) in the sense that everyone is trying to help everybody. From Chief Instructor to instructors, seniors to juniors. And the most important thing to me – they did not give up on me; I’m one person who has a serious problem of focusing and coordinating my mind with my body. And that means whoever trains with me must be very patient as there would plenty of frustrating moments (not only for him/her but for me as well).

More than a year has passed and during this period, I have come to realize one important thing – learning about Ki is difficult (what I’m learning now is only the tip of an iceberg) but with the ongoing love, care, concern and patience that everyone shows, the road will be a much smoother one.

And the answer for that question about what Ki-Aikido has done for me – Practising Ki-Aikido has not only taught me how to be more patient, focus and calm (not to mention healthier life) but also how to strive to be a better person – learn to help and help to learn.

Dated 7th Sep’01 – Alice Chng, 3rd Kyu