Grow Flowers From Your Fingertips

This was originally published in my Aiki eLetter (Aikido Newsletter) on September 13, 2004.

I've been hobbling around for two weeks with a badly sprained ankle; but it's much better now, and things are returning to normal. How did I do it? Inattention. I was dashing round a corner, and I was distracted by a pretty girl who walked in front of me!

Anyway, that's why I'm a few days late with this issue. :-)

"Grow flowers from your fingertips". That's a quote from Virginia Mayhew, my first Aikido teacher who introduced me to Aikido in Hong Kong.

I'm not sure if she got the "flowers" image from O'Sensei himself, for she learned at the Uyeshiba's Honbu Dojo before it was even named Aiki-Kai. And Morihei Uyeshiba still taught regularly.

Of course, Virginia may have got the phrase from Koichi Tohei, as well. Because he was the manager of the Uyeshiba family dojo at that time - the early to mid 1960s.

I've heard many Aikido teachers talk about extending Ki as releasing a jet of water from your fingertips... a jet that extends out to infinity.

But "growing flowers" is a much more gentle and beautiful image. (If you're tensed up, you can't extend Ki. And neither can you imagine that you can "grow flowers" from your fingers.)

I mention it here as a reminder. Aikido should be relaxed and joyful. Never angry, frightened or tense. If you have any of those negative feelings, your Ki is not centered. You have lost your Ki.

So relax. Center your Ki once again, two inches below your navel. And "grow flowers from your fingertips".

In the past few days, I've had a couple of Dojo List submissions from foreign countries. One from Quebec, Canada, and the other from Bosnia/Herzegovina. Gentlemen, your sites are excellent. But I'm trying to concentrate on Australian Listings at the moment.

I do the sorting and adding manually, so I think it will be too much for me to take on at the moment. So later, maybe. But not yet. Sorry.

If you've been to Gedanate.com recently, you will notice I have added Google advertisements to my pages. The ads are all Aikido or martial arts related.

Some people who bought the Aikido ebook by Nick Lowry have been kind enough to send in testimonials. They all rated it either 4 or 5 stars (out of 5 maximum). I have added their comments to the ebook page.

If you haven't purchased the ebook yet, you really should see what you're missing. Testimonials Page. I also give a 90-day no-quibble satisfaction guarantee.

It's spring now in Australia, and the chilly mornings are becoming pleasant once again. I am reminded that we are very blessed in this country. Others are less fortunate in many ways.

O Sensei, Morihei Uyeshiba knew war and death and struggle from first-hand experience. But after his "enlightenment", he came to view violence as a form of temporary insanity.

More of us need to relax, smile, and grow flowers from our fingertips!

Make the world a better place.