I received sad news last month, 合気道の先生が亡くなりました (aikidō no sensei ga nakunarimashita, my aikido teacher passed away).
As is the tradition with many Japanese traditional arts, we follow only one 先生 (sensei, teacher) and 沼田先生 (Numata-sensei) was also the aikido master for my French husband and both our children. He will remain our family’s 先生 for the rest of our lives.
After learning that he only had a few days left to live, we went to see 沼田先生 at his bedside. I asked him a final question: 「気」というのは何ですか (“ki” to iu no wa nan desu ka, What is “ki”?) He told me that 気 is everywhere. We can gather and use it, even though we cannot physically grab it.