If you have not
Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace
Linked yourself
To true emptiness,
You will never understand
The Art of Peace.
This one of you, O human beings, is wisest, who, like Socrates, recognizes that he is in truth of no account in respect to wisdom.
Plato, Apology
As martial arts aimed at resolving conflict, both aikido and rhetoric pivot around a central paradox: you must train rigorously for years in specific forms and techniques that you must then put absolutely out of mind when you enter into an actual situation of conflict. If you are thinking, “I must step here, I must turn like this,” or “I must say this,” you have already exited the kairos, the moment in which you can engage the other person. If you think, “Ah, I know what to do here,” or “This will win the argument,” you have stopped watching and listening to the other person. You have lost your connection. And if you are disconnected, you can do nothing with the other person. All you are doing is shadow training, going through the motions by yourself. To genuinely engage, to progress through conflict, you must first empty yourself of what you think you know about yourself and about the other person.
The Rookery 