Aiki Dojo Message - Honest Effort

[@user-sg8kq7ii3y]

I feel you made some undeserved criticisms of Uta Abe in your newsletter. In this video you talk about "Honest Effort". Well, Uta Abe gave much more than an honest effort. She gave her life to judo training. You wrote as if she had poor sportsmanship and displayed embarrassing behavior. She did not. She bowed to her opponent, walked off the mat, then broke down in her coach's arms. She cried uncontrollably because she was immensely disappointed in HERSELF. She felt like she let down her coaches, her teammates, her country. That high expectation that she has for herself is precisely why she's one of the best judokas in the entire world. She's an Olympic champion and a multiple-time world champion. You do not have to use Uta Abe as an example, during one of the most vulnerable times of her life, in order to try and make a point about Aikido. However, I do not blame you for misinterpreting her actions after she lost. This is because you are not Japanese. Racially you are Japanese, but culturally you are not. In addition, you are not an elite-level judoka, so it's impossible for you to comprehend the amount of pressure she places on herself. She trains for her entire life just for that one moment when she steps onto the mat at the Olympic Games.