Aikido World Family

The world is so small. Rob came to San Leandro for a few days from his non-Iwama style dojo in Canada. As soon as he heard I was from Finland, he said, “I have a student who went to Finland to study.” I asked for the student’s name. “You wouldn’t know her,” Rob said. “Try me,” I replied. So Rob told me her name and showed me a photo of her.

Turned out I do know her. I trained with her over the summer.

This gave rise to the idea of an aikido world family. When you go somewhere as an aikidoka, you can find someone who knows someone you know. You can get help if you need it. You can find a place to stay, a local guide or a dojo to train at. You won’t get lonely. 

But being part of the aikido world family is not self-evident. I am grateful to have been accepted at every dojo where I’ve trained. It hasn’t mattered that I’ve come from a different style or that I’ve followed a different teacher. I was allowed to keep wearing my hakama and white belt in a dojo where hakama was for black belts only and even adults used colour belts. I’ve heard about a dojo where they don’t bow even to each other let alone to a picture of O'Sensei - in order to accommodate Muslim aikidoka. At seminars in Sweden, I’ve had people doggedly speak Swedish to me, which has allowed me to overcome my fear of speaking a language I’m not fluent in. That feeling of acceptance and inclusion is the key to aikido world family. It’s unfortunate when aikido politics gets in the way of aikido or aikido world family. 

Once when I had just switched styles I complained how hard it was to do the teacher’s aikido. Another aikidoka told me to just “do your own aikido”. But then I would never learn anything new. I can only learn by attempting to absorb what I’m being taught. The aikido world family that Rob was thinking of consists of such aikidoka: those who respect each others’ styles and who try to learn what they’re being taught rather than stubbornly sticking with the things they already know. This applies within styles as well as between them; during my time as uchideshi sensei told me that I was making her nostalgic because I was doing “old style” Iwama form. I came to San Leandro to learn as much of the new style as I could absorb in a month.

It has certainly been an intense month. But it has also been inspiring, both in terms of the “form” of aikido and the “social organisation” of aikido. I’ve learnt or relearnt Iwama form and got new ideas for teaching methods. I’ve seen how a permanent dojo functions and the challenges and delights that accompany that. In a permanent dojo such as Aikido of San Leandro, the personal relationships between the sensei, the sempai (highly ranked students) and other students are a gateway to aikido. Making sure those relationships are good takes huge effort and determination. As I said in my first post, there are plenty of horror stories about uchideshi life. I’ve heard one where uchideshis had to wash the tatami - with toothbrushes. In San Leandro, the feeling is more of wanting to do things in the dojo and for sensei. The uchideshi get a lot from sensei, both within and outside the dojo, as well as from the sotodeshi, who are welcoming and appreciative of the uchideshi's efforts. Dusting altars, making coffee for sensei and patching sensei’s gi trousers (pants, if you’re American) is not even “repayment” - it is a pleasure.

I went to San Leandro because I had a feeling that trying out uchideshi life would be the right thing to do. And I was right.