Sharing the FB Post of my friend and fellow Aikidoka Mel Camus
March 2016
"No keiko in observance of holy week"
This was the message passed on to us last week and so today we find ourselves free from the physical requirement of being at the dojo but engaged intellectually, reflecting on lessons learned while doing keiko and being reminded of the life of the greatest martial artist that lived among men and who altered the course of our lives and as well as the next generations.
In aikido and in any other martial arts, there are three elements that determine the success of our actions namely:
1. Blending - the ability to avoid being hit by the opponent and move from 2 contrasting bodies into 1 single flowing body such that the opponent does not know whom he is attacking nor the direction he is going;
2. Set-up - the situation/ status wherein the opponent is made to believe that he is still in control while making him vulnerable or in a position that takes away his balance and puts him at a disadvantage:
3. Take down - and lastly when proper blending and set-up has been executed, the take down is but a natural consequence wherein the opponent is thrown off balance and the threat is eliminated.
These 3 elements have and continue to be the building blocks that martial artist practice their skills and pass onto the next generation. These 3 elements was perfectly demonstrated by Jesus Christ when He lived like a man, hang and died on the cross for men, and lived once again declaring that death has been conquered so that men can live life to the full!
Even before Christ came into the world, his arrival was already foretold (Isaiah 9:6) and yet when it did come to pass (Luke 2:7), the enemy did not know of it! Blending was done perfectly well such that those who were meant to know of the news of His birth were informed yet those who should not, could not find Him! (Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 2:1-21).
For the next 30 years, he lived a "normal life" - that of a carpenter's son. Now little is written about this period and all I have is pure speculation but it would not be far fetched to think that He Himself would have had well built muscles due to the work He did around the shop and that the kind of people He would have worked with wouldn't have the purest of mouth, nor finest of character, and yet amidst all these, He did not sin! (Hebrews 4:15) He continued to blend well until the time was right!
Now the set up: after living plainly in site for 30 years, His ministry began. He preached the word, healed the sick, restored those who are lost, made alive those who have died. All these was done to fulfill The Father's will (John 5:19) And when the time came, and in obedience to The Father's will, He allowed Himself to be captured, brought forth before men who falsely accused Him, called for His torture and eventually asked for and carried out His murder! (John 18:28-19:42)
From all angles, it appeared that the enemy was in control and that Christ had lost:
- exhausted from sleepless night starting from the time before His capture, to the time He was tortured;
- battered and bruised with flesh hanging from His body due to the tearing and slicing action of the whip used on him when he was flogged and which He endured in silence;
- experiencing the agony of having nails tearing through nerves as He was nailed to the cross;
- and then hanging naked and exposed, humiliated and pain searing through the body as He gasped for breath
The enemy thought that Christ was defeated and that the hope of men was extinguished yet little did the enemy know that it was the perfect set-up!
As Christ suffered and hung on that cross, while the enemy though that he was in control and that he had won, Christ was really in control and had shifted our fate from punishment to salvation! He endured all these for you and me!
When Christ uttered, "It is finished" (John 19:30), the fulfilment of the law for the need for blood to be shed for our sins was met and that our redemption through Christ by His Grace became certain! We have indeed been ransomed, fully redeemed, restored and now have access to The Father through Christ!
But it does not end here!
On the third day, Christ demonstrated the greatest take down - one that destroyed forever the last enemy of men which is death (Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:26)!
On the 3rd day, death could not hold Him down! Marked with the running away of the legionnaires designated to guard His tomb, the finding of the stone cover having been rolled open and the empty tomb found by women, Christ showed that He was in control once and for all! (Luke 24:1-12) HE HAS RISEN!
And this is what brings hope to us and allows us to live life to the full - it is NEVER about what we can do for Christ but what CHRIST DID FOR US!
