Читать книгу Complete Aikido. Aikido Kyohan: The Definitive Guide to the Way of Harmony онлайн

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“We walked across the street—the beach was right across the street from the country home. So we were walking along the beach on the sand, and I was on the outside, the road side, and O’Sensei was walking on the inside. We walked probably a half-mile or so down the beach. We were walking in silence—I couldn’t converse with him, because I didn’t speak very good Japanese then. So we walked, and it was enjoyable because just standing next to O’Sensei gave one the feeling of exhilaration. Just being next to him, the energy coming from him made my hair stand up! He was right beside me, brushing arms as we were walking, and that’s when I felt it, like a high-voltage transformer . . . that kind of energy. And that’s when I looked at him and thought to myself, ‘My God, such a little man—I bet I could really hit him and knock him out.”

What happened next shook Suenaka to his very core:

“As soon as I thought that, he stopped me and said, ‘Thinking thoughts like that is not good for you. You always have to think positively.’ Well, I just collapsed right there, my legs turned to rubber and I just fell down on my knees, right there on the beach. I thought he was going to kill me! I began to apologize, over and over, and he said something to the effect that, ‘One apology is enough—more apologies make you look more like a fool. . . . There’s no need to apologize more than one time for any mistake; therefore, make one mistake at a time.’ I thought that was a wonderful philosophy.