marți, 22 octombrie 2013

Eseurile pentru examinarea din 25.10.2013

Daniela Donciu -  20.10.2013

Acum multi ani, admiratia mea fata de simplitatea si eleganta filozofiei Zen mi-a trasat un drum pe parcursul caruia, destul de curand, am intalnit si multe informatii despre Aikido, care imbina paradoxal arta martiala cu arta pacii si care, prin armonie si fluiditate, ofera o modalitate superioara de dizolvare a conflictelor.
Principiile luptei nonviolente, ale capacitatii de a intelege adversarul si de a intra in rezonanta cu acesta pot face din Aikido un stil de viata, chiar si fara practicarea efectiva a antrenamentului intr-un dojo. Incercarea aplicarii acestor principii ale armoniei in viata cotidiana reprezinta, de fapt, incercarea noastra de a gasi Calea de Mijloc si, implicit, adevarul despre noi insine si despre universul din care facem parte.
Dar trebuie sa marturisesc faptul ca oricat de mult as fi citit pe marginea acestui subiect nu m-ar fi pregatit suficient pentru momentul inceperii practicii de Aikido!

Cand am intrat pentru prima data intr-un dojo, am fost automat transportata intr-un spatiu cu totul nou pentru mine, in care oamenii se miscau mai bine, mai rapid, mai elegant, mai eficient, intr-un ritm dictat de o eticheta specifica, dar si de dorinta de explorare si depasire a propriilor limite.
Primul meu contact cu antrenamentul de Aikido a avut loc intr-un dojo cu un numar mare de practicanti, multi dintre ei avansati, extrem de talentati si care, ulterior, si-au deschis propriile dojo-uri si au avut amabilitatea de a ma primi si pe mine la antrenamentele tinute de ei. Le multumesc din suflet profesorilor mei care mi-au daruit cu generozitate din timpul si cunoasterea lor si, de asemenea, le multumesc pentru ajutor tuturor colegilor alaturi de care am avut placerea sa practic Aikido si de la care am invatat intotdeauna.

Am inceput, desigur, cu scoala caderii, au urmat diverse tehnici de Aikido, foarte multa munca dar, dupa atatia ani petrecuti pe tatami, ma simt in continuare ca un aikidoka incepator. Pentru ca, pe masura ce inaintez pe acest drum de-a lungul caruia raspunsurile genereaza noi intrebari, imi dau seama cat de putin stiu despre spatiul pe care il am de explorat, cat de putin stiu despre mine si despre cei din jur. Si atunci procesul de cautare continua si deschide noi spatii interesante de cercetat, ceea ce face ca, pentru mine, timpul petrecut in dojo sa fie intotdeauna la momentul prezent. Gandurile si grijile cotidiene nu prea au loc pe tatami. Este o experienta placuta care ma ajuta in incercarea de a-mi gasi echilibrul (interior si exterior deopotriva) si imi deschide accesul catre zona gandirii pozitive – atat de valoroasa pentru evolutia noastra.

Desigur, de multe ori nu reusesc sa imi depasesc limitele si conditionarile sau nu reusesc sa ma armonizez cu anumite situatii. Dar voi continua sa incerc. Pentru ca aceasta cautare a echilibrului, a Caii de Mijloc, ne face sa dorim sa fim mai buni cu noi insine si cu tot ceea ce ne inconjoara, sa incercam sa ne depasim temerile, sa cautam solutii armonioase, sa construim si sa fim creativi.

English version
 
Many years ago, my admiration for the elegance and simplicity of Zen made me to walk on a path that, very soon, revealed to me a lot of information regarding Aikido that paradoxically combines the art of war and the art of peace, and offers a superior way of solving conflicts by using harmony and continuous flow of energy.
The principles of non-violent fight, the capacity of understanding the opponent and deal harmoniously with a situation can turn Aikido into a lifestyle without being necessary an actual dojo training. Trying to apply these principles in the day-to-day life represents, in fact, our endeavour of finding the Middle Way and therefore finding the truth about ourselves and about the univers we live in.

But I have to confess that no matter how much I would have read on this topic it wouldn't have prepared me for the experience of the actual Aikido training!

When I entered the dojo for the first time I instantly found myself in a space where everything was completely new for me, where people used to move better, faster, in a more elegant and efficient way, in a rhythm influenced by a certain etiquette but also by the need of exploration and overcoming their own limits.
My first contact with Aikido training took place in a dojo with a large number of practitioners, many of them very talented, advanced students which, over the next years, established their own dojo and after that had the kindness of allowing me to attend their seminaries. I am deeply grateful to all my teachers for their time and for shearing their knowledge and I am also grateful to all my collegues with whom I practiced Aikido for helping me in my training.

I started, of course, with the ukemi lessons, then the Aikido techniques followed and also a lot of work but, after all these years spent on tatami I still feel that I am only at the beginning. Because the more I advance on this path along which any answer brings new questions the more I realize how little I know about this environment I am exploring, how little I know about myself and about the others around me. Therefore my searching process goes on and opens new interesting areas for study so in the dojo I live always in the present. Other thoughts and daily worries have no place on the tatami. It is a pleasant experience that helps in my endeavour of finding my inner and outer balance and opens the access to the positive thinking which is so important in our evolution.

Of course, on so many occasions I don't succeed in overcoming my limitations and conditioning or cannot harmonize with certain situations. But I will keep trying. Because this search for balance, for the Middle Path, makes us wish to improve our behaviour, to try overcoming our fears, to look for better solutions, to build and to be creative.
 



Adrian Ciomaga - 21.10.2013

 
“Cel ce nu poate sa iti inteleaga tacerea nu iti va putea intelege nici cuvintele”
Elbert Hubbard
Dincolo de cuvinte
Imi aduc aminte cu bucurie de discutiile pe care le aveam cu bunica mea, Dumnezeu sa o odihneasca, despre lucruri care mi se pareau, la acea data, greu de imaginat. Educat intr-un sistem care excludea trairea sufleteasca si punea accent pe "devenirea omului nou" si pe cauterizarea eu-ului interior, credinta bunicii mele imi parea un lucru desprins din povestile cu zane. Usurinta cu care accepta drumul credintei in lipsa, dupa parerea copilului de atunci, dovezilor palpabile si a unei argumentari "stiintifice" era dezarmanta.
Acceptarea acestui dat mi se parea injositoare si umilitoare iar eternul "pentru ca asa a vrut El", care aparea la sfarsitul tuturor incercarilor mele de a demola teoria creationista, era greu de acceptat de creierul meu care avea nevoie de certitudini.
Bucuria acestei amintiri este insotita si de tristetea despartirii dar si de tristetea de a nu fi fost capabil la acea data sa inteleg semnificatia cuvintelor si energia pozitiva care le insotea. Nevoia de a avea o explicatie pe care creierul meu sa o inteleaga m-a indepartat de multe ori de la esenta lucrurilor.
As vrea sa pot spune ca Aikido a venit intr-un moment in care eram pregatit... Nu pot spune ca fost o intamplare - am invatat, de-a lungul timpului, ca nu exista intamplari. Jung spunea ca “Atunci cand o stare interioara nu poate fi constientizata, este prezentata in exterior drept soarta”.
Orgoliul meu a tratat aceasta noua aparitie ca pe o noua provocare si perfectionistul din mine a incercat sa imbunatateasca in fiecare zi forma. In mod sigur, uitandu-ma in trecut, nu am fost pregatit pentru acest drum si am privit aceasta experienta ca pe (inca) un “sport” pe care urmeaza sa il practic.
Dincolo de cuvintele care sunau intr-un mod interesant si de vestimentatia ciudata, imi amintesc de frustrarile resimtite in fata incapacitatii de a intelege mecanica miscarii si de izbucnirile de orgoliu care derivau din aceste situatii.
Cu fiecare nou grad si examen de centura am incercat sa imi evaluez starea de spirit: cum m-am simtit atunci cand am facut ceva gresit, cum m-am simtit cand am fost apreciat si am incercat sa limitez interventia creierului si a orgoliului in timpul practicii. Am incercat si inca incerc sa las la intrarea in dojo gandurile preconcepute si barierele pe care singur mi le impun.
Ma uitam zilele trecute la inregistrarile video cu examinarile anterioare si am remarcat uneori stangacia miscarilor. M-a bucurat ca aceasta analiza a venit in liniste, fara ca orgoliul sa intervina si sa aduca energia negativa a frustrarilor.
Ce inseamna Aikido pentru mine? Imi dau seama ca nu prea mi-am intrerupt sirul gandurilor pentru a gasi un raspuns si, paradoxal, ma bucura acest lucru. Faptul ca practicile de Aikido au intrat in normalul existentei mele si fac parte din firesc inseamna pentru mine mai mult decat o serie de cuvinte care ar putea sa fie frumos colorate si expuse cititorului. Energia pozitiva si bucuria pe care le simt la fiecare antrenament sunt cele mai bune motive pentru care continui pe aceasta cale.
Aikido este in existenta mea aici si acum. Nu exista trecut si nu exista viitor.

English version 

He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” 

Albert Hubbard
Beyond the words
I remember the talks I had with my grandmother, may God rest her soul, about the things I felt very difficult to understand at that time. Educated in a system that excluded the inner experience and underlined the “new you achievement” and the exclusion of the spirituality, my grandmother's faith seemed to me a spark of a fairly tale. The easiness of accepting the path of faith without having a concrete touchable proof and a scientific foundation seemed very strange for the child I was.
To obey to something you have never seen seemed that time humiliating and the eternal “because that was His will”, that ended all my quests to dismount the creationist theory was very hard to be accepted by my brain, that wanted all the time not to deal with uncertainty.
The joy of this remembrance comes together with the sadness of parting and with the sadness of not being able to understand at that time the meaning of her words and positive energy that came from them. The need of a “touchable” experience moved me away from the essence of the things.
I would like to say Aikido appeared in my life in a moment when I was prepared... I couldn't say it was an accident – I've learned over time there is no such thing. Jung said: “When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.
My ego handled this “new entry” as a new challange and the inner perfectionist tried to improve every day the way I was moving. Looking back I am sure I was not prepeared for this path and I took this new experience as a new sport I will practice.
Beyond the fancy words and the strange clothing, I remember the frustrations I had in front of the innability of understanding the body mechanics and the burst of my ego derived from these situations.
With every new step and belt exam I tried to evaluate the state of mind: how did I felt when I did something wrong, how did I felt when I was appreciated and I tried to limit the interference of my brain and my ego throughout the practice. I tried to let the preconcieved thought and the self-imposed barries at the very entrance of the dojo.
On the digital recordings I have I happen to notice time to time the cluminess of some moves. I feel good when this comes in quiet, without the negative energy my ego would induce.
What means Aikido to me? I realise I didn't interrupt my train of thoughts to find a definite answer and this makes me feel good in a strange way. The fact the Aikido entered in the daily schedule means to me more than a series of nice shiny words to be exposed to the reader. The positive energy and the joy I feel during each practice are the best reason to follow on this path.
Aikido is in my life here and now. There is no past and no future.





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