CHANGES

2018 rapidly comes to a close. Looking back, this has been a transformative year.  Thanks to new leadership and new ideas, Portland Aikikai found a new home, became a non-profit organization, and elected a board of directors. These are all positive changes: growth.

Growth is a powerful metaphor. We grow from children to adults. Expanding skills and knowledge is growth in potential. Membership growth leads to a stable base. But the most heartening growth is watching the transition in leadership. The growth of those individuals committed to ensuring and guiding the future of the dojo.[1]

Many years ago, Okamoto sensei told me “a dojo is not a democracy,” indicating that there must be a unified vision for what the dojo should be. Not a pluralistic amalgam of compromises, but rather a normative declaration to ensure growth along a path.

道

Do: a way, a path, a road. There needs to be a clear vision of a direction a road to follow. And following any path is to travel the exact same route that others before you blazed. In Aikido, Dōshu (道主) is the “Master of the Way” and denotes the lineal path of descent from O’Sensei. An etymological emphasis on a traditional way.

Change leading to growth bounded by the deep ruts of tradition. In an earlier >post< I outlined the lineage of the dojo because it shows the connections we all have to the foundation of the art – and to those who walked the path before us.

When Mulligan and Okamoto sensei founded the dojo there was a unified goal to make it a premier training hall for Aikido, producing high-caliber Aikidoka. To guide their vision, they had exemplars of Aikido that inspired them, those teachers who provided the ‘spark’ or inspiration to train seriously: Yamaguchi, Chiba , Tissier , Shibata sensei to name only a few.  And both Mulligan and Okamoto sensei continue to inspire the next generation(s) of Aikidoists to follow our lineage.

Because of Portland Aikikai’s lineage there is a definite style to the Aikido we practice.  The set of core techniques and means to practice them defines the dojo. At its essence, these stylistic differences serve as distinguishing markers but also remind us of the traditional aspects of the art. Therefore they are important to maintain.[2]

Although I have not succeeded in working my way systematically through the kihon waza – the goal I outlined for myself in January 2018 – over the course of the past month I started to demonstrate those key features of gyaku hanmi katate dori ikkyo through yonkyo that constitute foundational techniques.  Polemical and rhetorical style notwithstanding, these posts attempt to capture and synthesize the essential lessons from my teachers and my teachers’ teachers that I believe constitute the key stylistic markers that are the kuden of Portland Aikikai. Traditional presentations remain critical as a means to develop a solid base from which students can grow and to ensure there is a common understanding of the goals and methods in training. This is not a dictum of conformity, rather the kihon is where we all can grow in depth.

The transmission of correct basic forms is the primary responsibility of the teaching staff. The foundation must be solid before any complexities or refinements can be added. Building a foundation is tiring work. It means paying attention to the myriad details that we all assume we do correctly but often do not: is your fundament low, shoulders relaxed, spine straight, positional relationship correct, footwork and hand work precise and clearly articulated?

Presenting and training the basic forms and excercises is the single most important duty we as sempai have to cultivate kohai. It often means sacrificing what sempai think they want to work on – variations or individual expression. Trust me, there is plenty of room for individuated expression within the basic forms and exercises because everyone has a different body. There are universal lines (based on physiology and physics) but because we each have unique abilities and limitations, each one of us will need to execute and move along those universal lines differently. Trust the form but learn to make it work for you: that is training. Look for the expression of the art. The irony is that in walking a path blazed by others, you would think there was a prescriptive way, but the better teachers are really sources of inspiration in addition to being good coaches.

Looking forward into 2019, I am excited to see how Portland Aikikai will grow as a dojo with new leadership.

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[1] Christian Tissier makes the very important observation that to revitalize Aikido younger practitioners must be given the opportunity to lead.

[2] Iwama Dojo has long considered itself the keeper of the Aikido’s true waza (takemusu Aikido) as developed post WW2. Saito sensei’s multi-volume series is well worth owning in your reference library.

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