Relationship: The Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
This weekend was my Aikido dojo’s annual memorial for one of my teacher’s teachers, Seiichi Sugano. That alone would have made this an important weekend as we all spent time training together and remembering the lessons of Sugano Sensei. For me, however, this was just one of the pillars of realization this weekend.

The seminar itself was meant to bring our dojo together, enhancing our understanding of our lineage and in helping us forge our way forward as a community. My Sensei talks about Sugano Sensei’s message that Aikido’s physical practice is only part of its way. There is also a mental and a spiritual component to it. Those who only focus on the techniques are missing key aspects to the art. The mental and spiritual practices are part of what creates the practice and the community. O’Sensei, the founder of Aikido talked about the art being the bridge between Heaven and Earth. We train physically on the mat to find ways to blend our energies with one another. To find connection between us and something greater.
Secondly, I started attending a new church this weekend, and at this church we started a new study together. In that study someone mentioned that for them Jesus is the bridge between us and God. His physical presence on Earth represents, for those of us who practice Christianity, a link between us here and God in Heaven. He showed us how to build relationships with each other and with God.
Thirdly, I have an injury that is slowing me down. I am struggling to get on the mat right now. I want to be learning the techniques and practicing my throws and physical ukemi (receiving of techniques), but I can’t. Not without harming myself. Which means I have more time.
Fourth, the Integral Dojo is starting a master class that for the next three months will examine topics related to the deeper philosophy and use of Aikido in life. Taking my training a step deeper than what I do on the mat.
All of this is opening up a space for me to take a deeper look at my relationship to Aikido and what it means for me. Perhaps it is helping me to find my larger ukemi, and helping me learn how to receive life in a new and more adaptable way. Aikido has been my spiritual practice for the past three years without me really being able to acknowledge that. It has given me a physical way to connect to something deeper. Now, I have the chance to take the physical learning and apply it internally and to my relationship with God and with others.
How? Well, I have the time now to really examine how the quality of the relationships in my life drives my choices. It is time to learn how to meet people where they are at, rather than where I think they should be. And that includes my relationships with God and myself.

On the mat, when we get nervous or even angry, our ukemi tends to become overly resistant and strong. We lose connection to each other and get overly focused on the doing rather than the connection. We can also find times when we are disassociated or spaced out and our ukemi becomes limp and random. Only when we are mindful and connected with our partner is the ukemi a strong blend. I am seeing how life does the same thing.
If I connect with someone and am overly aggressive or too strong then I push away relationship; the same happens if I am just not connected at all. No relationship forms. If however I am connected and listen. If I care about the quality of the interaction, then something bigger can happen. Aikido is most beautiful when we authentically connect… life is the same.

Perhaps I can find a way to hang on to this lesson as I slow down to heal. Rather than simply trying to get stronger/faster/more clear in my physical technique, in my skill sets, (or maybe my political beliefs) perhaps I can practice connection. That connection does not only happen on the mat. It happens at Church, it happens at a craw dad cookout, it happens in an online course, it happens when someone reaches out by phone or text, it happens when I look at a pretty flower that is part of God’s creation, it happens in social media. The bridge between Heaven and Earth isn’t Aikido, or a building, or a book, or facebook. It is our connection to each other. Real relationship.
I don’t know how to move forward yet. But I know that the pieces are here. I just have to keep taking one step at a time to get to the greater answer. One relationship at a time.
