Aikido is the way of harmony. And to harmonize the world, the usage of the techniques alone will not help, the development of human values and addition of virtues and wisdom will also not be enough for the way of harmony. To totally harmonize with the world, we must not only harmonize with our own mind, soul and body, but also everyone, nature, the world and the cosmos.
Tao or the way is the concept of Taoism, and to gain the world, it is through acceptance and open-mindedness. To win over people's hearts, we must put our disagreement and dislike aside and accept all reasons of everyone. When O' Sensei was creating his own martial art, he studied many ancient text, not only his own religion, Shinto, but he also studied Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and even Christianity. All these religions have a similar and whole concept, it is virtue, harmony and unity.
In O'Sensei's quotation, Aikido is not just a self defense martial art, it is also a philosophy. Harmony is open-mindedness and acceptance. All martial art have a common goal, sharing, accept and enlightment. Arrogance or Discrimnation shuold not exist. Different schools have different cultures, they have disadvantages and benefits. Putting ourselves in other people's shoes, we are able to understand the feelings and the reason behind their very actions.
Aikido is not to correct others, but to correct ourselves and then share the different experiences to the world.
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