Lesson #1
In this first picture you will see my Sensei, Mindy Imbuido performing a deadly shoulder punch with a chicken-wing arm lock. Very painful and very deadly...
As you can see, being a Ninja... um, I mean learning Aikido is not always easy or all about killing. It is more like marriage- you have to work at it, roll with the punches, and wait for that glorious time when it is your turn to throw, instead of being thrown across the room at a neck-breaking speed.
Lesson #2
You have to be limber and flexible because the guy you think gots your back may only have it long enough to break it. Life has sharp turns and wicked dives into depths you never imagined. You have to be prepared for anything.
Notice the guy in the background though. He was thinking "hey, I am big and tough, I don't need anyone to back me up!" He was wrong- see how blurry his foot got in the photo? That was all they found of that guy, just a blurry foot and half of his whitebelt. Like I said, be ready for anything because you just never know...
Lesson #3
Sometimes you are in a position to do either a lot of good or a lot of bad in the world. Now when I say bad, I mean bad as in beating a guy down. When you see this next picture, you may think, "Wow! Nick is such a great guy ( which might be right), he caught that guy by the arm just before he tripped and fell on his face." The again, if you look hard, it might be more of a life-and death situation with a skillful armbar maneuver that would prevent this guy from ever making fun my Hakama again. (A hakama is the traditional samurai pants. The last guy that called them a "skirt thingy" ended up like Chris here...) I ended up having to let him down easy... and remove his arm from his shoulder socket.
Life sometimes hits you like a punch in the teeth and you have to think really fast. You have to ask yourself, "Do I take it like a man?" or do I save the teeth and turn that punch into something useful. In this case, I chose the latter and turned that punch into a lesson in pain- for the other guy.
Lesson #4
This one is a clip I call the "deadly throw of death... and dying through fatal demise". You might have to watch this a few times. Notice how my hand is open the whole time. I never grabbed the guy, I didn't start the fight or instigate it or make it commense or evenbegin it, but I knew how to end it. They say "all is well that ends well" but I say "as for me and my ninja... er Aikido skills- all is well when you are the only one left standing after being attacked."
I told this guy to let go, he did not. You know, when trying to win friends and influence people, you have read them like a book. If their book says "love me and let me go" you have to do that. If the book says "punch me in the face and spin around and throw me to my death" thou must oblige. This guy's book was not a happy one, it was one of tough love. Don't worry, in the end, we became friends. What doesn't kill you only make you stronger.
Or he that is stronger, may let you be his friend... unless you die.
That's what I have learned so far. Life and Aikido are like two ends of a stick, doing one makes the other better. If you do one the other is influenced and it becomes better. Or, in other words, Aikido makes life more and life makes Aikdo more. However redundantly you say it one has a better outcome with the other one influencing it. When one is good, the other is good too but more so. I guess you could say, it become... better... when it has the other one... bettering it. I hope you get the idea!
I am going to do Aikido here in Logan too so stay tuned for the next chapter of "AIKIDO and LIFE" by NICK SIDWELL. In the mean time, check out this cool site about ninjas...
http://realultimatepower.net/
5 comments:
Your awesome Nick! We loved looking at the pics and learning lessons...
We enjoyed those pictures Nick.
Yeah that last paragraph was pretty redundant.
John wants to learn how to do the DEADLY THROW OF DEATH AND DYING THROUGH FATAL DEMISE move.
John also says "nice skirt thingy."
Did you have a good birthday?
I love the pics. I think that looks so neat to learn. I'm glad you have one in Logan. That is great.
I think I helped create a ninja. I hope you enjoyed your present from last year and that you enjoy this years's as much. We will be praying for your sucess as always.
Mom Whitehead
I think the most important lesson you've taught here is SELF IMAGE. You didn't get where you are because you dress like Peter Pan over here. Forget about it!
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