Training the unification of Body and Spirit

Below is an excerpt from an article by the founder of Aikido, Morihei (aka Moritaka) Ueshiba. The full article may be read here.

People are cut first not by the blade of the sword, but by the sakki, the bloodthirsty wish to kill, which is thrust out from the mind of the attacker before the blade moves. The famous teacher of the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu, Yagyu Taiima no Kami was walking one day in a garden followed by a servant who was suddenly taken up with the thought, “If I were to attack him now, even such a great swordsman as my master would surely be unable to resist…” At that very instant, as if taken over by some great anxiety, Tajima no Kami hastily returned to his own quarters and spoke to his servant, “Just now while walking in the garden, I felt sakki attack me. But no one except yourself was present. What I fear is sakki where no enemy is apparent.”