Finding a place of peace within the turmoil

The practice of Aikido is not to overcome an attacker nor to try to avoid them.
Rather it is to find that point of connection where the attacker cannot affect you.

Zen Story#2

A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger chasing after him.
Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge.

The tiger sniffed and pawed at him from above.
Trembling, the man looked down the one thousand foot sheer drop below him.

Only the vine sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, started to gnaw away at the vine.

The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

From Zen flesh, Zen bones compiled by Paul Reps