The Art of an Aiki Life
In this section this month, Ando Sensei talks about the meaning of obedience. The word he uses is sunao. This can be translated as obedient; dutiful; respectful; submissve; in other words someone who is not stubborn; willful or obstinate. This word has very positive connotations in Japan, especially when applied to a child, whereas in English the word may have slightly negative connotations. Certainly, when used to describe an adult it may suggest that the person is overly meek or submissive, ready to obey any command unquestioningly. In this instance, Ando Sensei is also using it in the context of being obedient to one's own best self.
He recalls that Shioda Sensei told his uchi deshi that the best way for them to learn aikido was to obey him unquestioningly. "If I tell you to eat shit, then you say 'yes sir!' and eat it." Ando Sensei thought to himself that he definitely wasn't going to eat any but Shioda Sensei had made his point about the importance of obedience.
The problem was deciding who to obey. At that time, the uchi deshi were not taught directly by Shioda Sensei but by their senior deshi. One deshi told him to do a technique in this way, while another told him to do it in another way - everyone was telling him something different. The only thing to do was listen and nod obediently at every opinion; try it once and then choose from among the various options. At the very least, the quantity of information you possess increases. If you aren't obedient in a situation like this and don't listen to what people are teaching you then you lose a little bit of information every time.
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