The Mushin Way to Peak Performance

Chapter 4 Nen: One-Point

In this chapter, we will discuss how to stay centered in a world where you're constantly being pushed and pulled in all directions. You will learn how to find your life's “one-point,” or center, by setting proper priorities for yourself, and you will learn physical and mental exercises that will help you stick to this center in good times and bad. We'll discuss how staying centered leads to integrity, why you sometimes need to step away from your day-to-day life to recenter yourself, and how sometimes you need to change something in your life to stay true to your center.

My aikido academy attracted a lot of high-powered students in Washington, DC. I had State Department employees studying with me, FBI agents and CIA officers, U.S. and foreign diplomats, all sorts of people who were part of the country's—and the world's—power structure.

One of those students worked at the Russian embassy. And one day, some FBI agents approached me. It turned out that this Russian guy was a signals intelligence officer. His job was to intercept U.S. signals and try to crack our codes. In other words, the guy was a real-life spy. The FBI was pretty interested in getting close to him and keeping tabs on how his work was going, so they'd know if they needed to change their codes.

Except there was no way to get close to this guy. He was a total creature of habit. He lived ...