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Aikido in Everyday Life
Issue 3   Autumn 2000 - Winter 2001

Inside... Washing Leeks by Ben Pincus Sensei, Chief Instructor, Aikido of Champlain Valley An Aikido Vacation by Andre Messier On Testing for Shodan by Heidi Albright Bruises by David Mendenhall Lessons on the Lawn by Maria Hazen ACV Kids! Contributors: Germaine Persinger, Nicholas Hutt

Editor's Note The call came from our next door neighbor. It was the same tired story I'd heard many times before. "Your calves are out again and they're chewing up our lawn." As I was pulling on boots and a coat to head out after them, our two horses passed by the window, prancing, through our back field, a full quarter mile from where they should be. This was going to be a project. A few sweet MacIntosh apples helped me corral the horses, and several minutes later I had Birch saddled and was out after the calves. Black Angus are known for their skittishness and lack of respect for fences, and this group of six seemed out to add to the breed's reputation. At once defiant and fearful, they possessed the timing of a san dan, standing their ground until the last second before a surprising bolt to safety. Time and again I rounded them up, only to have them escape just a few feet from the pasture gate. And, of course, I was getting angry. After my seventh try, I sat trembling with frustration at the gate as the calves huddled a few hundred yards away. Birch had been acting differently with me, turning unexpectedly and slower to respond, and my inclination was to blame him. And then I noticed my own scrunched shoulders, shallow breaths, and contracted muscles, and remember my aggressive attempts to direct the calves. I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and let the tension drain from me, stroking Birch's neck. Five minutes later, the calves were in the pasture, accomplished not with a whoop and holler, but with subtle, relaxed, proactive movement. It was a lesson I've had to learn and re-learn many times on the mat: to let go of tension and tap into the power of relaxed awareness. Similar lessons applied to real life abound in this issue, from Benjamin Pincus Sensei's exploration of aikido and farming in Washing Leeks to Maria Hazen's Lessons on the Lawn with her 18-month-old nephew. A life of peaks and valleys, both at work and on the mat, are described in David Mendenhall's Bruises, while Andre Messier recalls the intensity of summer camp in An Aikido Vacation. Heidi Albright reflects on a lifelong philosophical journey in On Testing For Shodan. Germaine Persinger and Nicholas Hutt, both in the children's class, tell us why they like aikido, and illustrations by Nicholas Hutt and Heidi Albright grace our pages this issue. (Art work not available in online version at this time --ed.) Thanks to all who contributed! Best Wishes, Bruce Hennessey