10 thoughts on “True Victory is Victory over the Self”

1. ” Our expressions, thoughts, and emotions are the destructive forces that the boat needs to be freed from.” This quote is perhaps one of the best ways to explain how humans are in a constant struggle with themselves. Whether it is one looking in a mirror picking out every single flaw they can notice on their face, or one seeking attention from their followers on Instagram, everyone has a certain type of battle going on within themselves that causes them continuous stress. In context to the excerpt, this stress can cause the boat to be trapped in the water for eternity unless inner peace can be obtained through practice and meditation. Only then can one be in complete harmony with their mind, body, and spirit and open themselves up to all the positive things that life has to offer.

2. The idea of self mastery is one that I can truly respect. Too many people worry and judge others without ever pausing to be introspective. I try not to beat competition or even win. I just try to be awesome and then succeed by default. This requires honesty with one’s self though. What are your strengths? Weaknesses? “Know thyself” as the greeks said. Once you know who you are, then and only then can you change that person for the better.
   As hard as it may be to believe, there are things that even I struggle with. For instance, I get distracted quite easily and since there is only so much that caffeine can do for a man, it took me a long while and much concerted effort to get to the point where I can sit down and write a 250 word blog post in one sitting. I still struggle with this problem, but I always try to stay mindful of it to lessen it and constantly create new ways to overcome it.
   To bring this post back to topic in a nice bow, The most recent technique that has helped me with my attention deficiency is Aikido or something from it at least.
   When we breath deep at the beginning of class and relax it is a great catalyst for focus in my opinion. I think if we as a class could manage more time for this preparation portion of the class, I think it would have a positive overall effect for our time not only in class but outside it as well.

3. Our expressions, thoughts, and emotions are the destructive forces that the boat needs to be freed from. I agree with this article when it said, ” I feel our expressions, thoughts, and emotions are the destructive forces that the boat needs to be freed from.” If I truly want change, growth, achievement, passion, happiness, victory – then I will have to struggle with your old self every day. I feel this goes for others as well

4. Humans struggle daily with different destructive emotions, thoughts, and expressions not just from people around them but within themselves. I believe that we are our greatest enemies. Whether someone is struggling with something such as depression, anxiety, or stress we sometimes find it difficult to just let go of all the negative things in our lives. I believe that another source of why we struggle with ourselves is because of the world that surrounds us. As humans we are always worried about the judgement that comes from others opinions. I think this is turn makes us judge ourselves harshly, therefor our internal conflict continues to grow.

   While struggling with a move one day in class, my instructor told me to “just let go”. He noticed I was overthinking and stressing out because I could not execute the move properly. He told me, ” you won’t get it until you relax and let go.”
   Practicing Aikido is an art form which helps our bodies and minds relax from the pressures of the outside world. Aikido is a way to cleanse ourselves from the world around us. Practicing the art form you learn many things about one-self and begin to overcome a lot of the fears and struggles you once had before. Even though beginning Aikido is difficult and hard to execute and master, but the practice is bigger than just defending oneself. I believe its more about teaching yourself discipline, cleansing yourself, and taking control over your mind, body, and spirit.

5. I really like the concept of victory over oneself. Voice, thought, and emotion are key elements to the self…thus it would make sense that these symbols are utilized. In my interpretation, mastering your voice, your thoughts, and your emotions leads to victory of the self. The illustration of the boat and the sea is really interesting to me, because in times of difficulty, I try to envision myself as a wave. I always hope to remain as soft as water, yet as powerful as the sea. It is a delicate balance to maintain. Control of the self is difficult in a variety of ways, people can always be “too” something, too nice, too harsh, etc. The goal is to find a balance within those extremes. Our reactions to the challenges we face in life is also fundamental to our self mastery. I have found a strong appreciation for Aikido because of the philosophy behind it. If we can apply these ideologies to our every day life, we can not only alter the dynamic of conflict, but we can also reduce it all together and cultivate a more peaceful self, which in turn will create momentum for a peaceful society. I have used Aikido to help me lessen my outward expressions of frustration and refocus that energy into a positive. Instead of getting angry I think of all the good things I’ve ever seen people do, especially the things that people do when they don’t think anyone is watching. I have found that combating my frustration with positivity has made me one step closer to mastering myself.

6. This article is more about the importance of learning ourselves and the forces that both guide us and destruct us than anything else. The only fight that we fight most in our lives is the fight within ourselves. Simply knowing who we are and being honest to direct to our weaknesses and strength, truly strengthen us and help us become more aware of our decisions and actions. I believe this article explains to us just how the forces of our emotions, expressions, and thoughts are all affected by the many things that we deal with whether it be our challenges, personal struggles and relationships. Someone said before that, “When a wave comes, go deep.” She further explained that, when a wave comes use it as an opportunity to go deep, and transform yourself to match the circumstance. I say this because I believe it’s the same meaning, but said in different words. The world often fights with rage and anger, that its judgments are clouded by the things that will defeat it. We need to realize that in order to deal with our conflicts is to go deeper within ourselves and understand the armour that we carry inside of us. Only we can change ourselves, not our circumstance. We can do this by accepting who we are or changing ourselves to match the wave. We need to move in such a way that anything that comes, we can defeat,

7. The quote “True victory, is victory over the self” really captures the essence and philosophy of Aikido. Life is not about being better than others and able to overpower them with your strength, but being at peace with yourself and victory will follow. When you are at a peace with yourself then negativity and conflict will not bring you down but instead give you the ability be brought out of it as in the illustration of the boat. Being able to control your voice, thought and emotions is what brings the boat out of the waves. When a person is at peace with their thoughts, emotions and voice, then the ocean is calm and the destructive forces do not affect the boat. The quote “Our expressions, thoughts, and emotions are the destructive forces that the boat needs to be freed from” is powerful in illustrating the internal conflicts everyone struggles with that no one knows about. This reminds me of the quote “everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about, be kind, always.” There is no reason to create more conflict in a world filled with it. Conflict is all around us, internally with ourselves and externally portrayed through the media and in our own personal relationships with other people. The ability to change our primal reflexes will lead to victory during conflicts and challenges in life.

8. Something that I’ve struggled with the most when practicing aikido is confidence. I’m worried about getting a move wrong, messing up the footwork, and looking stupid or like I don’t know what I’m doing. I also struggle with the other side of confidence though as well, feeling like I know more than others and that I’m therefore better than them because they can’t get something right.
   This quote by O’Sensei though really exemplifies that aikido there for everyone to reach a personal balance in their life. With too little confidence, one can’t raise the boat, but with too much the boat will capsize. By thinking about the goal and concentrating on it, other thoughts can disappear. I haven’t been so great myself about thinking with a clear mind either in class or in my everyday life. I will try to think about this quote to get past my fears and flaws of confidence, and try to focus on peace and harmony instead.
   Aikido though, I think if at all minor has helped with my “victory over the self.” Though I do still feel both a lack and an abundance of confidence sometimes, aikido has been a meditative experience when I’ve been able to put my heart into it. It’s rewarding to the self to feel confidence in your moves and the flow of your body, and this is what I’ve felt sometimes through aikido. In the moment, I have to concentrate on my goal of performing the technique. However small that step is, it’s another wave that will help me to lift my personal boat.

9. The world is in dire need of some sort of spiritual leader, but the earth itself could be that leader, and most don’t realize it. Around us we have many amazing things that we take for granted. Pomegranates for example, when looked at from outside, it seems like a reddish fruit, when opened it is revealed the magnitude and intricacies of the fruit inside. Hundreds of small sweet seeds, singularly not much, but together they made a beautiful and unique fruit. Similarly, humans fail to see the beauty inside of other humans and instead find differences. I believe if we focus on ourselves, true peace will come as sensei said “O’sensei believed that aikido is a way of correcting, cleansing, and healing ourselves, applied beyond physical self-defense. By changing ourselves, we alter the dynamic of conflict”
   When we reflect upon ourselves, we see we are not much different, and we realize that true content comes from peace with yourself and peace with others. Calmness requires self-reflection and constant understanding.

10. The quote alone drew me to read this article, because I completely agree with it. I enjoy the stories and beliefs of Buddha and one of his main concepts was to conquer one’s self. That concept was the best thing you can do in life, because you will then reach enlightenment. I appreciate that I am so easily able to apply Buddhism to Aikido; it’s as if one concept addresses the spiritual perspective and the other the physical. After looking over the article, I was able to observe the characteristics and calligraphy from O’sensei of the “a gatsu” and Aikido philosophical concept. We are all born with the innate ability to think, express, and be emotional; however these feelings can be destructive to our goals in life; especially in the face of conflict. The self serves as the center of the concept; displaying emotion, voice, and thought. Then, is the victory character, which ties into “Victory over Self”. Meditation is another concept that Buddha promoted in order to conquer oneself, which sounds similar to this practice. In life, we will frequently be challenged, which may throw us off of our center. However, Aikido serves as one practice to help us reestablish ourselves and recenter. As O’sensei stated, it can help cleanse, correct, and heal our wounds of life in order to maintain balance and peace within ourselves. All in all this was a great read and I enjoyed being able to see the connection to my everyday life.

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