I never walk off the mat with exactly the same state of mind that I walked on.

How’s this for a training question to ponder: “who” are you when you step onto the mat?

When I started aikidoThe word "Aikido" is made up of three japanese characters: ai - harmony, ki - spirit, mind, or universal energy, do - the way. Thus Aikido is "the way of harmony with universal energy." it was for all the wrong reasons.

Many years ago, while studying philosophy in college I came across a book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, written by Nietzsche.  Although there are very limited parallels between Nietzsche's existentialism and Buddhism, this book became to me an introduction to Buddhist's philosophy, as East and West met.

I remember hearing once that there are three conditions that go into making a mature person; cold, loneliness and hard training.  Sounds harsh but sometimes the best advice is the hardest to take.