There’d be blood everywhere!

Last weekend I was at an aikido seminar where Mr. Kenneth Cottier was teaching. He's remarkable in the world of aikido because he is one of the few Englishmen (and, indeed, non-Japanese) to have trained at the hombu, or headquarters, dojo in Tokyo while the founder of aikido was still alive and teaching — in fact Mr. Cottier was there from the early 1960s. He currently holds the rank of 7th dan shihan from the Aikikai headquarters.

During the class, he addressed a common question. I'm quoting this as closely as I can recall to his actual words, although I didn't take written notes at the time.