There is No Armor Like Perseverance

Rick Stickles (Aikido Schools of New Jersey)
rms0100@hotmail.com

It was such a long time ago that it's difficult to remember exact specifics, but the overall effect of that weekend will never be forgotten.

On or about August 14, 1969 my friends and I had heard about a rock festival that was going to be happening in upstate New York. We had secured some tickets and despite strong objections from our parents, decided to make the effort to attend. We set out in my friend's VW bus for the Woodstock Rock Festival about 9pm Friday night. As we approached the festival site, slight traffic got heavier and heavier. Soon it was at a standstill and even the major roads had turned into parking lots. Cars were abandoned everywhere; on streets, lawns, and sidewalks. People just left their cars where they were and started walking.

We had a decision to make. Should we turn around and go home or should we join the march into the unknown that lay ahead? We left the VW bus and started walking. In the beginning, there were only a few of us. As the minutes grew into hours, our numbers grew and grew. After a while the walk became tedious as each bend in the road or hill led to another and yet another. More than once we decided that enough was enough and it was time to turn back. Each time we were encouraged by our then large group to continue just a little longer - one more bend, one more hill. After a couple of hours we still weren't where we wanted to be; where was this place called Woodstock anyway? We continued for several more hours; the sun had come up and it was Saturday morning. We were now in a remote area covered with abandoned vehicles and streams of people. I decided to go over one last hill before I would quit; this trek was just too much to bear any longer!

We arrived at the top of that final hill and looked down into an open field. The view was one of the most incredible sights I had ever seen! We made it!! The rolling fields of Yazgur's Farm had been magically transformed. The Woodstock Rock Festival lay before us, the stage, tents, and over 250,000 people. Helicopters were flying the performers in and out. What happened that weekend would become history; a generation had unconsciously come together to make a very conscious statement, and I was part of it. By persevering, by challenging myself to go one more turn in the road and take that last hill, my life was profoundly changed.

The years that followed, 1969-1972, were spent as a student at NYU sorting out my direction and my life. These years were a traumatic time for our country overall, as President Nixon presided over our unpopular involvement in Vietnam. It was through this sorting out period that I discovered Aikido.

Thinking back today, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had turned back before reaching the peak of that last hill, if I had quit and returned home. Would the doors that opened as a result of my perseverance been shut forever? I'll never know. But I do realize that my experience at Woodstock was a significant contributor to my personal journey in life.

Each of our journeys' has its own unique twists and turns and we have all chosen to travel down this path called Aikido. There are still many hills to climb and bends in the road along this path. I promise you it won't always be easy to continue. More than once, you may feel like quitting. Having gone over that last hill, it always makes me sad to see an Aikido student quit his or her practice. Those students become the people who turned and walked away from the Woodstock experience. I sometimes wish I could take them by the hand, bypass the hurdles, and show them the joy and fulfillment that could be theirs. In the end, this is not possible, nor would it be truly fair. You have to travel the path yourself in order to have the complete experience. You need to endure the hardships, as well as the exhilarating joy Aikido offers.

I assure you, however, that at the end of the path a stage does exist, and the bands are playing; The Who, The Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Sly, Santana, Hendrix and more - what a concert it was!!!

Keep on practicing!!