Mustard Sensei

Just now, I saw a new video of an Aikido demonstration by Robert Mustard. I mentioned in my last post that I was careless at the end of class. Part of the reason was that I was getting ready to go up to Vancouver for a few days and train with him.

My mind was already in Vancouver, even though my body was in Washington. That is very dangerous. If you are your desk daydreaming, it might not be hazardous to your health. But if you are being thrown, it is bad news! The throw I received was not so hard. But I got hurt because my mind was not focused on what I was doing. That is why physical training, like martial arts, is good for your mind. You have to learn to calm your mind and focus on this moment. We all know that reading books is important for our minds. But I think some kind of physical training is also important. Your mind and your body are not separate. We learn and improve ourselves by uniting the stillness of our minds in movement with the stillness of out bodies at rest.

Anyway, check out this demo. He is truly amazing and scary on the mat, but really funny and kind off the mat. Although it looks tough, the people who he throws can handle it. Like any qualified teacher, he teaches you at your level. A beginner like me would not be thrown harder than I could handle.

Oh, and if you are ever in Vancouver, here is his website: Aikido Burnaby.