Kykeon [Greek horchata] is not itself when it is not in motion.
Heraclitus, fragment 84
Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly.
Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace, 72
When we think of being attacked, we think of ourselves as stationary and of our opponents as coming at us. But we’re moving all the time in the flow of our lives. Heraclitus and O-sensei encourage us to entertain a thought experiment in which all of us are in motion, and the flow of life brings us within reach of each other. Some people flow along with us, some try to resist the flow, some swim upstream against it. No matter what, viewing ourselves as *always* in motion, as *already* possessing power and control in any situation, changes everything. First, it takes off the table the options of “flight” or “freeze” because we’re always already flowing. Secondly, it fundamentally changes the nature of “fight” because the nature of water is to embrace and to move (even if forcefully). Knowing that we will come out of conflict a more beautiful and dynamic version of ourselves—like a river after a boulder or waterfall—changes everything about our attitude going into it. It removes fear, increases empathy and gratitude, encourages relaxation and better performance. O-sensei wrote elsewhere that the true warrior has no opponent. If nothing can stop us, and being stirred up only makes us the best version of ourselves, what is there to fear in conflict?
The Rookery 