Aiki-Concept competition day – Aiki-Concept

A weekend day, a Saturday, aikido and a children’s competition. Emotions, sometimes greater, sometimes further from the usual thrill of the thoughts of those dressed in white, of spring flowers, of small aikidoka.

A sea of ​​mattresses, blue, red, laid down by hundreds of generations of children, of effort and sweat, of emotions before exams, released by the gazes of parents, expectations, results, cups and medals…

And you fight a lot, but not with an opponent, with yourself – aikido. Aikido above all represents the determination not to hurt the opponent, to resist so as not to apply the fastest methods of retaliation, in fact aikido is not a retaliation, the competition is not a competition to defeat the opponents, aikido is a competition with oneself, it is a method to master oneself, to overcome oneself.

The effort of the white flowers, of the little aikidoka, to overcome himself, the struggle with the emotions, with the insistent glances of the parents, the dazzling flashes of the parents’ devices that have become paparazzi of every breathed moment, here shows the measure in aikido, first you defeat yourself, you clean yourself, and then you go your own way, make your opponent a partner, give him something with your lack of aggression…

A Saturday, a competition day, an extraordinary effort for the children, but also for the parents, they donated something, they donated their time, they chose not to be present at the fairs, at the parks with the barbecues, or at the spring festivals, all for the little flowers, with the parental emotion, running, in the crowd, in the crazy traffic – without imagining that they had already taken the first step of aikido, the defeat of their desire to be elsewhere, they remained there to learn together with the little one, to conquer if themselves.

A sensei who looks like an orchestra conductor, but under his expressionless gaze he lives with them, follows and learns, really learns, understands, really knows from that moment on what he will follow in the next lesson, other movements, other words… just a sensei, nothing more..

A Saturday with spring wreaths for children, wreaths for parents, a whole soul, the bond between parents and children and aikido. Congratulations!