Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Kangeiko

It’s the time of year when Aikido Olympia practices Kangeiko. Kangeiko literally means “cold training” and each year we try to pick a time when early morning temperatures are about as low as they get in the Olympia area. Last year, there were two weeks where temperatures were in the 20’s, the first week of January and the second week of February. Since we already do water misogi the first week in January, we chose to host Kangeiko in the second week of February with hopes of cold weather.

But what is Kangieiko you ask?

In almost every martial arts tradition, there is an emphasis on austere training to develop grit, spirit, hara, or kokoro (as in the calligraphy we hang on the front wall of the dojo). The goal is pretty simple, to test ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually so that we can become more self-aware, learn where we need to develop further, and to build confidence in our ability to thrive in adversity. For our practice, Kangeiko provides the opportunity to wake up earlier than some of us think is normal, to accept the world around us even if its cold and rainy, to remain undistracted by the feeling of our bare feet on the freezing cold mats, and to intentionally practice vigorously.

From kangeiko, we elevate our own practices, nourish the kiai of our dojo, and hopefully develop greater perspective- “If I can participate in kangeiko and enjoy it, then what else am I capable of doing?”

Posted on

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

Posted on

Aikido Olympia Non-Profit Status Update

Throughout 2017 (and maybe a little of 2016), several members of our dojo have been working on officially establishing Aikido Olympia as a non-profit organization. Aikido Olympia has operated for many years as a 100% volunteer organization where dues and donations go toward mats, rent, utilities, and the occasional new fan, but we weren’t actually incorporated as a non-profit organization.

Well, we recently received our letter from the State of Washington recognizing our organization in this new status. This change in our organizational status won’t change the fact that we are a member supported, volunteer organization but we hope that it will help open up new relationships and opportunities.

Posted on

2018 Aikido Olympia Class Schedule Changes

Coming in 2018, we are implementing some changes to our weekly class schedule:

Some of you may recall filling out a survey where you were asked about your preferences for class times. The dojo leadership used that information to create a new schedule for 2018 that should benefit both students and the instructors.

Changed: Youth classes to Tuesday/Thursday beginning at 5:30 instead of 5:00
Added: Adult general class on Tuesday/Thursday following youth class. Class begins at 6:30.
Removed: Classes at 5:30 AM on Tuesday/Thursday and no regularly scheduled classes on Friday.

We will begin this new schedule on January 3rd, 2018.

Respectfully,

Nate

Posted on

Shugyo

Shugyo is a term used to describe activities, usually arduous, used to train the spirit. This isn’t really the same thing as spiritual training but rather developing one’s hara, grit, ability to “take it.”

At the beginning of this month’s Adult Basic class we, as typical, discussed how Aikido helps us develop the ability to thrive in many of life’s most difficult circumstances. Part of the training designed to develop this ability is focused on the spirit. Our bodies are great, they help us move around, and interface with other things in our environment. However, our bodies also have some limitations. There is only a certain amount of pain, fatigue, hunger, and oxygen deprivation that they can endure. A well trained spirit can help us change our relationship to these factors. These experiences are all sensations that we experience and that everyone else experiences in their lives. These are not things that stop us from accomplishing our goals but rather signs that tell us we are in the process of accomplishing our goals.

Throughout the first week of December (12/4 – 12/8) our dojo will provide an opportunity for training our spirits. At 5:15-6:30 each morning we will do breathing exercises as a group. This training, combined with our regular evening classes, will lead to strong development in our practice.

By Nate Weed

Posted on

Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics- Martial Arts

November brings several cultural opportunities to be thankful. (Even though we can actually choose to be thankful every day.) One of those opportunities is Veterans Day on November 11th when we can demonstrate our appreciation of our veterans. Within the martial ways, there is a connection among the concepts, mindsets, training objectives, and approaches to combat and warfare. As 21st century Americans, it’s common to look at these concepts and automatically turn our mind to violence and destruction. However, we, as martial artists, apply the perspective of budo and armistice – both words meaning peace, setting aside arms, and restoring harmony.

Within any martial endeavor, doctrine shapes how those involved will behave. Commanders use doctrine and turn it into leader’s intent – a description of what what success will look like. From the leader’s intent, officers select strategies that can be applied to meet the leader’s intent. Finally, the martial practitioners develop tactics to implement those strategies.

In every martial art and every martial discipline this logic establishes a decentralized and empowering path. The Aikido doctrine is to maintain peace and restore harmony where it is missing. Senior sensei’s craft clear leader’s intent describing how aikidoka will develop awareness to a level that they can recognize conflict early and resolve it without injuring any party. Senior students, informed by the leader’s intent, select strategies for teaching, enabling, and reinforcing key principles among their fellow students. Finally, as individual martial artists, we apply the techniques in the dojo and struggle to apply the principles behind those techniques in our relationships and our lives. And, through this process each of us is doing our part to help our communities realize the doctrine of Aikido – creating peace.

Posted on

Biochemistry and Aikido

In September, I read a book called Leader’s Eat Last, by Simon Sinek. I had heard his TED Talk about the biochemistry of meeting goals, being rewarded, and building trust. It seemed interesting and when he released his new book, I decided to check it out.

This was an interesting book and it certainly illuminated several key elements of leadership and how they play off of our own human biochemistry. For example, when we reach a goal our bodies often release dopamine. This hormone makes us feel good but it’s also a chemical closely related to addiction. If our bodies and actions are in harmony, this works out great because as we do things for others, our bodies release serotonin which fills us with feelings of wellbeing. Finally, there is oxytocin which is the key hormone related to trust and is released with positive physical contact.

This could also be the biochemistry of Aikido, or perhaps an aim of Aikido is to better help us maintain harmony among these chemicals. In the pursuit of any martial art, one must set goals, identify milestones, and so forth. This keeps us motivated and keeps us training hard. On the other hand, our training partners are essential to our practice and when we focus on helping them improve and excel, we have the opportunity to balance dopamine with seratonin. Best of all, Aikido encourages the release of one of the most powerful hormones, oxytocin. This trust-creating hormone allows us to further our practice as individuals and as a dojo. So whether we’re seeking to improve our leadership or deepen our practice of aikido, if we dig to the foundation of human biochemistry, Aikido and leadership might be the same thing.

 

Posted on

What’s with the baggy pants?

Aikido is one of a few martial arts where practitioners wear a hakama. When O Sensei taught Aikido, he required students to wear hakama during practice. Many of his students didn’t have a lot of money and would take old futon covers, dye them blue/black and convince someone to sew the salvaged fabric into a hakama. The story is that over time the dye would wear away and the original futon prints would start to show through.
Since that time, Aikido dojos have adopted various policies on wearing the hakama ranging from “everybody wears them”, through “only the head instructor wears one”. The Aikido Olympia approach is that people shodan (first dan blackbelt) and above wear the hakama. Our rationale is that it’s easier to help students work out their footwork and movement with techniques when a bolt of black fabric is not hiding their feet and legs.

Finally, the folding a hakama. The pleats and the long straps of these pants make them difficult to maintain, and difficult to fold into a portable package. There is a practical reason you’ll see yudansha folding their hakama on the edge of the mat after practice- they don’t want to iron it and if they can fold it in a way that protects the pleats, they don’t have to. You might also notice that senior students will ask to fold the instructor’s hakama. This demonstrates respect, helps people learn how to fold the hakama, and creates a game where everyone is demonstrating how they’re still applying martial awareness after the class has ended.

Posted on

Advice for Washing Your Gi

Funkiness!

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to join us on Thursday mornings at 5:30, there is something special about the smell of our dojo in the morning after a vigorous summertime Wednesday evening double feature. And by special, I mean funky!
Harmony can take many forms and sometimes it takes the form of a clean gi. Among martial artists, cleaning methods are a mix of voodoo and chemistry. If you search the internet you’ll find suggestions ranging from “only dry your gi under moonlight” to “bleach it till it glows”.

A middle of the road method that many aikidoka recommend is to first soak your gi in warm water with some Borax or Oxyclean. I have a “gi bucket” (a plastic 3 gallon bucket I picked up at Oly Hardware a few years ago). Fill it up with enough water that your gi can be covered with water and mix in the detergent. The sooner after using your gi that you can start the soaking the better. Use your judgement about the soaking but soaking it longer than overnight is probably not useful.

After you feel that it’s soaked long enough, run it through a sturdy wash cycle using your regular laundry detergent. Once it’s washed, air drying it is the best approach. This avoids shrinking, saves energy, and if it’s sunny out can add some ultraviolet light to reduce some of the bacteria that create the questionable gi funkiness described above.

Posted on

Budo

Budo is known to most American martial artists as “the Way of the Warrior”. For many Aikidoka, reconciling the ideas of warriors and promoting peace can be a struggle. By taking a step back we can reframe these seemingly opposed ideas. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido began developing a martial art that built on a rich martial tradition while reorienting the techniques and purpose of the previous martial practices to build peace and harmony. As the practice that became Aikido emerged, O Sensei initially called it “Aiki-Budo” and in 1938 published a book titled “Budo”.
Budo is an interesting choice of brands for an emerging martial art. The specific word translates to english as “to set the spear aside” or “stop the fighting”, perhaps even to “create peace”. Bringing this to the point, Budo also meant something particular to O Sensei. Something different then other terms for fighting arts that he could have chosen. In his descriptions, this term conveyed a way of being and acting. In his words Budo is “a way of life dedicated to peace and enlightened action”. As students of Aikido, we have many reasons that we enjoy our practice. These are all good and valid reasons for showing up and participating in this art and while we all move down our path it is sometimes useful to reflect on the values that our practice is built on.