Aikido , and I suppose all martial arts, are painful. Mostly physically painful, depending on how skilled – or rather, how unskilled – the person on the other end of your joint is. But there is also a great deal of figurative pain. It’s the pain of letting go of your ego and the pain of emptying your cup . It’s the acceptance that someone half your size (or less) can be twice (or more) as effective as you are, disabling and throwing you around seemingly without even trying. It’s understanding that...