We were deeply struck by a passage from the first speech of the new Pope, Leo XIV:
A phrase that challenges us on many levels -including those of us who practice a discipline like Aikido.
Years and years spent attacking and receiving. Evading and responding. Unbalancing and throwing. Falling and making others fall.
Learning, with effort and dedication, to handle weapons -even if made of wood- becoming able to efficiently strike.
Sometimes we should take a moment to look at ourselves in the mirror. In the Dojos where we train, there are beautiful mirrors meant to help us correct the geometry of our posture.
But that’s not the kind of reflection we’re talking about. We should ask ourselves: what are we really doing? Sometimes it feels like we believe we could go off to fight… with sticks. Just picture it -us on the front lines, repelling an infantry assault with a shomenuchi using a bokken.
And yet.
It’s rightly said that all of Aikido derives from sword techniques. So, in the face of aggression, one possible response is to study how to disarm the opponent.
Which eventually becomes a way of applying the same principle with empty hands: first by immobilizing, and then, with greater skill, by projecting -always with the intent to avoid harm and not to dominate.
In the face of an attack’s madness, roles are reversed so that the attacker, in turn, may experience the absurdity of investing time and energy in aggression.
And the one who thought they were in control now understands what it means to have to escape a threat.
Through the humble perseverance of continuous practice, we come to experience the essential elements of true peace -which, ultimately, do not depend on technical knowledge or physical readiness.
But rather, on the ability to stand in front of the mirror that is our training partner and recognize, in each other, a common origin.
It’s no coincidence that Aikido has been called the Art of Peace. Not a naïve or utopian peace.
But a disarmed and disarming peace.
Disclaimer: Picture by Maria Lysenko from Unsplash