What Aikido can teach us about learning plateaus

Goal achievement is important. But the true juice of life, whether sweet or sour, is not found so much in the products of our efforts as in the process of living itself, in how it feels to be alive.

~ George Leonard

Recently an Aikidoist who trains at AikiLife Dojo, Canberra Australia, James Samana, emailed me some evening reflections on his Aikido journey.

James is a black belt in Aikido and works for the Australian Public Service as an executive coach, course designer and facilitator. I couldn’t help but extend his thoughts on Aikido to how we practice, learn, and achieve mastery in any endeavor, including mastery of conflict and communication, if that ever happens.

James shared with me his admiration for George Leonard, a famous Aikidoist, writer, and educator. He quoted from Leonard’s book, Mastery: The Keys to Long-Term Success and Compliance, where he says that those who practice Aikido fall into certain categories, such as:

• The Dabbler, who leaves when the going gets tough.

• The obsessive one, with passionate bursts of energy that don’t last.

• The Hacker, who stops trying on the first plateau, thinking that’s it.

Learning plateaus

However, like me, James aspires to Leonard’s fourth category: a student on the path to Mastery, willing to turn the art of coaching into practice, where learning is the primary goal. As James told me, these students learn to “more than endure” the learning plateaus, they accept them. And in this acceptance, they find that Real Love arises.

According to James:

… I have seen many Aikidoka in our dojos that are of this fourth type, Masters in training! They know that there is real joy in regular formation, in sharing our lives together, within our community. When I come to our Dojo … I leave behind all the problems in my life. I feel like I am entering the “flow” and I am being given the tools not only for my Aikido Master, but also for my Life Master.

As George Leonard said in “Mastery”, sometimes those who fight the hardest are better able to achieve the ultimate goal of Mastery, as they have learned to accept the fight and go from learning about “techniques” to learning about “how … -am “when I’m on a learning plateau … and most importantly, how to keep training!

These guys are the ones who do not “compete” to get to the top, but are constantly progressing in their art for the love of travel. They, more than those who pick things up easily, are the ones who can “go all the way”, since they are the ones who have learned to learn when learning is difficult!

The practice it is the art

I had the opportunity to attend a George Leonard training once a few years ago. In my experience, he practiced what he taught. As he says, practice is art.

When I push my way and I forget to listen; when I lose my center in rush hour traffic; When I forget to think before I speak, the ability to stay present during the plateaus and see them as another step in my learning is the path of Aikido.

Our conscience is always in formation. It is a life skill to be able to see ourselves, appreciate the struggle, and carry on even when learning is difficult.

Thank you, James, for your evening meditations. And for your willingness to share them.