The first time I really thought about and spoke about "aiki soku seikatsu" was during a January Kan Geiko (Winter Training) training in the early 1990's when I was either a brown belt or shodan, at the Shindokan Dojo in Huntington Beach, California with Geordan Reynolds sensei.
You have to remember, January in California is great compared to Minnesota, temperature wise that is. A nice 60 to 80 degree difference will cause one to break out t-shirts and shorts any day!
After training one morning we went to a nearby park with a little restaurant and enjoyed breakfast with a great Aikido conversation.
Geordan sensei shared his 'philo-fuel' thoughts of training with Kancho sensei in Tokyo and Kushida sensei in Ann Arbor.
The notes I captured can't do justice to the energy that he exuded of the trainings, learnings (some of which I cannot share!) and general friendship building he went through and anyone who has had the great opportunity of training or enjoying a beverage with him knows what I mean!
My notebook says:
"'soku' = 'equals,' 'seikatsu' = 'life' such that 'so for aiki, so is life.' This of course means that in terms of the human condition, all that we suffer or enjoy in the dojo and on the mat can be found reciprocally in daily life. Bumping into things we can't change: trauma, drama or joy!
He concluded with the thought "as one trains regularly and performs shugyo, one forges their spirit and come to realize THEY CAN DO ANYTHING!"
To me the quote “aiki soku seikatsu = Aikido and life are one” really means that I have met wonderful friends, gone on many trips around the world, trained with some of the most famous Aikidoka to ever step foot onto a mat and after class, sat down and had something to eat and drink with them and learned about their families and lives, that is the true treasure!
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