No Strength in Aikido!

The power of softness, the effectiveness of removing strength... these are the things that my students find hardest to understand. And they are the things which, in my view, are the most important to understand. I sometimes talk about "following the path of least resistance". For example, if someone is holding you strongly, by removing your own strength you will be able to let the person who is holding you find a path of movement that is simple and effortless. If you use strength against strength you will never find this path. Here's a short clip in which Endo Sensei illustrates this idea...