East Bay Aikido - Oakland, California

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The Secret of Aikido

Tom Gambell (Originally published in 1995)

Ah, I remember it well... The place, the time, the very moment that I was given the secret of aikido by my first teacher, Stan Pranin. It was late one night back in Monterey, CA at the Del Monte Avenue dojo. A few of us were relaxing in the hot tub (yes, we had a hot tub in the dojo in those days) after a particularly grueling and intense training session (all training sessions in the “old days” were particularly grueling and intense) when we heard the front door open.

I got out of the tub to investigate. Who was coming into the dojo so late in the evening? It was Stan coming back to get something from the office. The next thing I remember, he and I were deep into one of those conversations about aikido that a student always wants to have with the teacher. The meaning of the art, the history of the art, the legend, the gore, the glory, the past, the present and the future... we touched on every subject and he answered every question. I was in student heaven.

Then. Somewhere in the middle of all this he looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you want to know the secret of aikido?”

Whoa! Of course, I wanted to know! I always knew there was a secret. Lots of them, I suspected. But his was deep! I wasn’t even a black belt yet and he was going to pass on the secret of aikido to me.

“Sure,” I heard myself say as casually as one can, standing in the glare of florescent light, wrapped in a wet towel, waiting to receive the secret of aikido.

Stan reached over to the desk, picked up a pencil and wrote something on as sheet of paper. Then, without a word, he handed it to me.

It had all happened so quickly. No secret ceremony, no arduous test of strength and character, nothing. Suddenly I was standing there with the secret of aikido right in my hand.

I looked down and read what he had written. I laughed out loud. There on the sheet before me in block letter were the words “MAI NICHI NO KEIKO.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had no idea what it meant. There I was, holding the secret of aikido in my hands, looking right at it, and still had no idea what it was. The universe definitely has a sense of humor.

The next words out of my mouth were predictable. “What does it mean?”

“Daily training,” Stan answered.

Something in me relaxed. Something in me really knew that this was the answer.

It was simple. Daily training. Just keep training and don’t stop. Like a journey. Keep walking and see where it leads you.

This “secret” became my guide.

Stan gave this gift to me and now I give it to you.