As a group of new students join the dojoPlace of the way; a place for strengthening and refinement body, mind and spirit; training hall, I look for those who see something in this practice beyond what is initially evident. I make no judgment of those who are not inspired and wish them well. For those who do find something, I wait to see if they can commit to a serious practice.

George Lyons SenseiTeacher; anyone who gives guidance along the way; literally "born before" (front row, second from right), Patti Meisenbach-Lyons, Ben Bowles and Paul Fricker with members of the Intro Class

What I always find difficult to accept is the loss of so many interested people because they could not live up to their idea of commitment as they define it. Their departure begins… “I like to throw myself into things, so if I can’t do that with my current life circumstances, I’m not going to do it at all.” I’m sorry to hear it, as there is nothing I can do to help with their schedule, but perhaps a redefinition of terms would be enough to reframe their predicament.

For me, connecting time with the idea of commitment sets up a fantasy of what real training is. The only way to commit to anything is right now, in this moment. Of course, we know that over time we will be faced with many hurdles: physical soreness, emotional agitation, spiritual loss of faith… We can overcome these challenges by being truly engaged in our training moment by moment. This is a serious practice and one worth taking with us into all areas of our lives.

Many times it’s our idea of what’s to come that is the problem. Bowing in, you sometimes wonder how you will survive the class. Now by now, of course, there is no other way. Doing battle with frustration, confusion and exhaustion, we bow out surprised, relieved, invigorated.

Admittedly, modern life is complicated. It feels as though our commitments to our families, jobs, careers, etc. pull us in other directions. The teachings of 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." say, “Blend with it, don’t fight the moment, accept it.” Nice wisdom.

There is no end to the obstacles encountered along the path. Schedul¬ing conflicts are just the beginning. We imagine that this has nothing to do with our training, but our Aikido practice continues off the mat. Overcoming obstacles to training is part of training. There is no separation. Working out conflicts is what we do.

We must face ourselves clearly and recognize that it’s natural to look for ways out of situations that chal¬lenge our status quo. Rationalizing is a centuries-old practice, too. It’s comforting to have a clever escape mechanism at hand when things get difficult. ZenA school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition. masters caution us that the mind is as dangerous as a pit of snakes, that we can hide our real mo¬tives even from ourselves.

So commit and throw yourself into this. Get to the dojoPlace of the way; a place for strengthening and refinement body, mind and spirit; training hall tonight and don’t worry about tomorrow. Commit to this class. Commit to this uke. Commit to this moment. What more can you do?

My dictionary defines “commit” as “to turn over for safe keeping.” Nice wisdom.