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The COVID pandemic is slowly becoming something we’re all learning to live with. This is a challenge for martial art’s training as we share physical contact with one another. That said, Aikido Olympia continues to implement our safety protocols with masking, hand washing, getting vaccinated, and encouraging people to stay home and get tested even if they are feeling a little bit “off”. These behaviors have served our dojo community well for the past 21 months, and we have confidence that they will help keep our training environment safe for the foreseeable future. 

By Nate Weed

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

Training in Aikido is fundamentally about unifying our mind, body, and spirit in pursuit of our life’s ambitions (whatever they might be). In our practice we often use our bodies to better understand how to approach obstacles we face in daily life or how to comport ourselves mindfully and energetically and thereby better flow with the routine. At a recent class, with some of our more advanced students, we took an opportunity to explore this more intentionally than we often do. In this, each person considered a challenge they were personally experiencing, and then each worked to find a physical posture that provided a similar feeling. From there, we applied the principles of ukemi: finding our centers, moving intentionally to a safer posture, and then to a posture where we were again prepared to engage.  This was a slow and deliberate way of stepping through a process by which we explore both physical discomfort and the physical movements that help us transform a challenging situation into one we can more effectively address.   It was simply doing one Aikido art slowly and mindfully, or at least doing the ukemi for one art. 

Every time we take ukemi, and every time we practice an art, our bodies, minds, and sprits are learning from the experiences. When we apply greater intention to our practices and accept them as a way to learn how to transform what is uncomfortable (or even painful) into feelings of safety and confidence, we are preparing to apply this learning in our daily lives.

By Nate Weed

Every year, our dojo closes for the last two weeks of December, but before we do, we all (kids, adults, family members, get together at the dojo for a few hours to do some deep cleaning and light maintenance. The goal of these events is to build community and prepare the dojo for the new year. This year Saturday, December 18th, is the day we will do our Annual Dojo Cleaning and Maintenance! We will begin at 10:30 and all are invited to come and help for as long (or short) as they can.

Many of you have been training regularly and rigorously since we held promotional demonstrations last summer. As December is approaching, our Aikido Olympia Head Instructors have decided that we will hold promotional demonstrations in December. We will offer promotional demonstration opportunities to both kids and adults. Demonstrations will be held on Saturday, December 11, 2021, from 4:00 PM until everyone is finished (around 6:30 PM). 

It has been a little while since we’ve provided a general update on Aikido Olympia.  In short, we’re doing great.  Amy and Sierra are beginning to teach our kids class, which is growing and adding great energy to the Dojo.  We have a few new adult students and a solid group of people training regularly. This is certainly helping us maintain a strong training atmosphere and support the development of our fellow students. The teenager class is starting to grow and appears to give this group both the physicality and greater focus they seem to appreciate. Finally, Will has re-energized Monday evening Zazen training,  and that is beginning to strike a good rhythm. 

Beyond our training, the organization is also going strong. Our volunteer instructors (which is all of us) are enjoying the opportunities to share Aikido with others and see you all develop. Financially, our current dues are meeting our few obligations. And, our mats and training space are well maintained. 

Nate Weed

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

Training in the dojo is an interesting part of any martial art considered a “way” or “do”. The teaching and practice that occurs is often couched in metaphors. And, there’s rarely a clear road-map for students to follow. For most martial artists, it takes decades of studying the techniques, katas, and exercises before they begin to appreciate the fundamental lessons hidden within them. It is for this same reason that martial artist from previous ages would frame learning as “stealing the secrets”. 

There’s a famous (likely apocryphal) story of Gichin Funikoshi, the founder of Karate-Do. It goes like this… Funikoshi Sensei, advanced in years, held a seminar for his most senior students from around the world. After the seminar they all went to dinner together and the students were having fun seeing each other and catching up. Then one of the students noticed their teacher sitting quietly moving his arm in the shape of a basic block taught to all beginning students. That student asked: “Sensei, what are your doing? And Funikoshi Sensei responded “I just figured out the lesson in this movement!”…

There are no easy paths to learning how to live in harmony with the energies of the universe. It’s simply a matter of committed and disciplined repetition. However, there is one thing that’s part of committed and disciplined practice that  every student can do to make this onerous pursuit more rewarding and seem less daunting. Setting clear training goals and reflecting on them at regular intervals. For any Aikidoka at any level of practice, creating a clear idea of what they want to accomplish and then proceeding to accomplish it will keep the practice and the commitment fresh. At some points the goals may be learning a particular technique, at other points the goal may be finding deeper meaning within a technique, and there are countless points in between. As you’re pondering your training goals, never hesitate to reach out to your instructors for ideas and advice.

By Nate Weed

The COVID pandemic has created many challenges for the broader Aikido community to continue training in the way we wish we could. The same pandemic creating challenges has also pushed many of us to adapt and grow our practices in some wonderful ways. Aikido Olympia has been so lucky as many of you have continued to contribute to dojo our space and our basic expenses. One of the practices inherent in Aikido is “intoku” – good done in secret, or doing good without drawing any attention to the action. 

On behalf of the whole Aikido Olympia Board of Directors, I want to communicate our sincere gratitude. Gratitude not just for the financial support but for how you have continued training in the aspects of Aikido that are more important than learning how to throw someone! And we deeply appreciate the financial contributions that ensure we all have a dojo in which to continue our practice (including throwing people) as this global pandemic begins to wane. 

I hope to see you all on the mats soon!

Nate Weed

You may have seen or heard the latest COVID-19 news from the Governor…

Beginning Monday night at midnight, several closures will take effect. These include closing gyms and fitness facilities for the next four weeks (until December 14th). The restrictions include:

1. No indoor social gatherings with people outside one’s household.

2. No outdoor gatherings with more than five people from outside the household.

3. Gyms and fitness facilities will be closed to indoor activity. Outdoor fitness classes can happen, but they’re limited by the outdoor gathering restriction…

These latest restrictions require us to suspend Aikido Olympia classes for the next several weeks. On behalf of the board of directors, we are disappointed in this closure and also recognize it as an opportuntity to deepen our personal practices.

I’ve attached a short video that describes the situation here:

We will be communicating our intentions and providing updates regularly, and appreciate the support and ki’ai you all bring to our dojo.

Be safe and be well,

Nate Weed

Veteran’s Day – November 11, 2020

In the Japanese martial tradition that evolved into Aikido, the Samurai hold a distinct relevance. The Samurai or Bushi were the ruling class of warriors in ancient Japan. Arguably, the Bushi were the most disciplined, well trained, and well-equipped warriors in history. However, the word Bushi means ‘to serve.’ Service in the same way that all veterans have served and how our country’s own veterans have served. This service should never go unforgotten and on Veteran’s Day we have the opportunity to remind ourselves to never forget. As one now famous U.S. Navy veteran once said so well: 

“When you say ‘Never forget’ to a veteran, you are implying that, as an American, you are in it with them… connected together as grateful fellow Americans who will never forget the sacrifices made by veterans past and present.”

In our martial arts tradition we work to erode the idea of us and them. We learn that we are not separate from each other and that through our commitment to each other we become better people. So, take it from 3,000 years of martial arts tradition or take it from a modern warrior whose credentials cannot be dismissed… Never forget!

To never forget is recognizing that 3,000 innocent lives were wrongfully taken in the attacks of 9/11/2001. To never forget is taking a moment to reflect on the fact that over 1.3 million service members have lost their lives and more than 1.5 million have been wounded since the inception of our country. To never forget is acknowledging that while time marches on, memorials erected, and people move on with their lives, thousands of families, first responders, and service members continue to experience long-term medical and psychological effects that result from their experiences or the experiences of those they care about, in service to others.  To never forget is to remember what brings us together as a country and to see the good in each other. To never forget is recognizing that it’s our responsibility, as martial artists in this tradition, to dedicate ourselves to serving others. And, to never forget is remembering that we are all in this together. 

In our dojo, we have people who grew up in military homes, we have people who have served our communities as teachers, we have people who have served as first responders, we have people who have served by helping others in many ways, and we have people who have served in the military through many conflicts around the world. Our practice, like the Bushi before us, is to serve and, in service, we experience being in this together.

By Nate Weed