Tag: Aikido in the community

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Aikido Olympia in the Community

In the same way that Aikido students grow and develop, Aikido Olympia as an organization is continuing to evolve and develop. In the past month, our dojo has made some exciting progress in expanding access to training in our community.

First, Aikido Olympia has worked with the City of Olympia to include our Monthly Introduction to Aikido classes, in the summer edition of the Olympia Parks and Recreation “Experience It” catalog. https://apm.activecommunities.com/olyparksartsrec/?# . If you have friends or family who want to learn more about Aikido, these classes are a great way to start. These classes are on the third Saturday of each month from 10:00 to 12:00.

Second, our instructors have been working with Senior Service for the South Sound to start an Aikido for Elders class. One of the leading causes of injuries as we age is falling. The intention of this class is to focus on improving balance, reducing stress, and handling physical and mental conflicts. These classes will be taught on Thursdays evenings through May 31st, from 4:30 – 6:15 pm at the Olympia Senior Center (just down the street).

http://www.southsoundseniors.org/images/LifeLongLearning/Life-Long-Learning-Catalog-Spring-2018-single-reduced.pdf

Third, Community Resources, a group that supports adults with developmental disabilities has asked Aikido Olympia for a workshop for this organization’s staff. These are professionals in a complicated situation where they may be faced with physical aggression from the people they are committed to supporting and keeping safe. 

www.community-resources.com

These community opportunities are intended to add to the existing classes we teach at Aikido Olympia. And, we hope these outreach efforts will increase the number of people practicing the fundamentals of our art and making our community more resilient. We also expect that as more people are exposed to the practices of Aikido, our dojo will see some new members. 

 

By Nate Weed

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Aikido in Daily Life: April 2018

We come to our dojo to train so that we’re better able to apply the principles of aikido in our daily lives…

Have you ever heard the phrase: “the right thing is not always the easy thing?” On many different levels, this is something that seems to be a theme that’s swirling around in public discourse lately. Whether it’s in politics, business, education, family life, or at the dojo, doing the right thing when it’s the harder thing is challenging. In a recent Aikido class, the instructors were talking about bushido- the samurai code of conduct which includes a principle of doing the right thing no matter how hard it is (and seriously they were harsh about this). In our practice, we undertake Aikido training to become accustomed to making the harder choice so that it’s easier for us to do in daily life. Consider, for a moment, making the choice to attack someone when you know they’ll hurl you to the ground…

Building a solid martial practice in our lives requires us to push ourselves to do hard things in the dojo and to do those hard things with awareness and presence. This training helps us all do a better job of this when we’re outside the dojo. By engaging in activities that push us physically, mentally, and maybe socially in daily life in Olympia, we begin to get more in touch with our community – we begin to see who is living in their cars, we begin to see who’s trying to make ends meet in the subsidized housing, we begin to see who’s packing their kids and groceries onto a public bus.

We see more of these things because we are becoming more comfortable with our own discomfort and better able to set aside the defenses that protect us from our reality. This is important because if we are going to conduct our lives in harmony with others, we have to be able to view the world around us without self-deception. We all recognize that there is a lot of suffering in the world and we have a great deal of privilege. By taking ukemi and approaching Aikido as a way to polish our spirit we can become models of doing the right thing especially when it’s the harder thing.

 

By Nate Weed

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Aikido for Elders Coming Soon to Olympia

With Aikido Olympia’s new commitment to greater community partnerships, we are beginning to work with area parks departments and the Olympia Senior Center to explore how we might be able to mutually support one another. One path that is starting to form is an opportunity to offer classes for elders, initially at the Olympia Senior Center, beginning as one of the spring offerings. Since Aikido teaches self-awareness and respect, both for oneself and for others with whom one is privileged to practice, one can begin practice at any age beyond six or seven, and with any range of physical abilities, even if one currently is more comfortable sitting than walking. Tim Sensei and I have been exploring this in our teaching and practice over the past year and are excited to create space for this in our community.

By Chuck Pailthorp