Thank you so much, Aikido (essay for shodan grading)

どもありがとございます
(Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu)
合気道
(Aikidō)

The first time I heard the word Aikido, was in 1999
during my Architecture studies at the Polytechnic University
of Valencia (Spain). I had previously practised Karate and Judo
at primary school. Little though I knew it at the time, my mind
had been opened and my Aikido path had begun. The funny
thing was that I did not realise it until many years afterwards.
I can remember my first Aikido class very well, and I will
always be grateful to Ezequiel Matias Zayas Sensei, the first
teacher who brought me into contact with this art.

Life is a path, one which we have to walk. “Path” is part
of the word of Aikido. 道(Dō) can have many meanings, but
the person who showed me one very important meaning of
道(dō) was Joaquin Jimenez Puerto Sensei. He would say,
“The things which are really worth doing in life need time and
persistence in order to be able to find their true significance”.
I will always be in debt to Joaquin Jimenez Puerto Sensei and
very grateful to him, because he showed me another
perspective and point of view on the meaning of Aikido as a
martial art and life philosophy.
Along my path I have met a lot of students and masters
of Aikido, people who left part of their knowledge in me and
made me grow up as person and Aikidoka. For this reason,
one of the subjects of this essay is saying to all of them. Thank
you very much, muchisimas gracias, Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu,
どもありがとございます.

Thank you for bringing me light on the never-ending road of
my aikido path, especially in times of darkness and moments of crisis;
Thank you for showing me your picture of Aikido and give me the auxiliary lines of the shape;
Thank you for the full respect that you showed me; Thank you to all of you who shared your time
with me to explain to me things that I could not see;
Thank you for all your support when I was thinking about quitting;
Thank you for being there as uke or tori to show me both sides of the coin;

On the current mile of the road that I am on, I would like to say thank you very much to Colman
Glynn Sensei also, for giving me the opportunity to join the Greenwich dojo and for training me for
my Shodan grading.
To finish, I would like to make a very special mention to my wife, Ana, and say to her thanks for
all your unconditional support in my Aikido path, and for walking it alongside me.

Energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is in a state
of constant transformation, and as I have walked my aikido path, I have gradually becoming more sensitive to what is happening in front of me, not just in my aikido, but in all aspects of my life.
気(Ki) means spirit or essential energy. You can really notice ki when you are connected with your partner and you are balanced in your mind and body. It seems quite simple and clear but sometimes I forget or become blind to this principle, and as soon as one loses connection with this energy, one
becomes unable to direct and control thesituation.

Thanks to practising Aikido, I have improved and I am
still improving my sense of connection to all the things that are important to me in my life, and I am better able to direct and to manage and control them well.
When things are in balance, they can seem static on the surface but 気(Ki) is still in there, flowing from one side to the other side, giving harmony.

Harmony is the meaning of the beginning of the word Aikido.
The Kanji 合(Ai) is a roof set over an opening, and it can
mean “to combine”, “to join” or “to fit” (as in a lid that closes in a container). Undoubtedly, as I said, 合(Ai) also means peace and harmony, but I want to focus in this meaning of joining or combining, because for me close like a circle and connect with the whole meaning of what Aikido is about.
As I learned in Aikido, we’re not looking to block energy, just to join ourselves with it and to direct it with control to a neutral and balanced outcome.
For all the reasons I have talked about, I have found myself on the path of aikido: the art of redirecting energy, through good contact, which allows for the controlled resolution of any situation you encounter in a good and honest way.
Thank you very much Aikido for bringing me so many
wonderful things, and for improving my life in so many ways.

ども ありがと ございます 合気 道
(Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu) (Aikidō)
A. Paya Camino

初段 Shodan Grading 2020 Antonio Paya Camino