Tag: create peace

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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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Weapons in Aikido

Marcel Practicing Jyo Tori

In Aikido, the way of living in harmony with the universal energy, students are sometimes a little surprised that there is a curriculum of weapons instruction. The weapons we learn to use include the bokken (a wooden sword), the jyo (a short staff), the tanto (a wooden training knife), and I’m going to include the suzu bell (I’ll get back to that one). The surprise about weapons practice seems to involve the idea that weapons and peace are mutually exclusive. In our current culture, this is understandable but if we consider the concept of Budo (traditional Japanese martial ways), weapons and peace are much more intertwined.

At Aikido Olympia, our practice uses weapons for several purposes. First, training with weapons helps us develop our centers (nothing like trying to move around with a heavy bokken counterweighting each movement). Second, weapons training builds adaptability as we adjust our ma’ai (spacing and timing), our techniques, and our ukemi. Finally, weapons increase the kiai of our practice. It’s one thing to get hit by your partner’s hand, but it’s a bit more concerning when it’s a jyo instead.

Through the month of April, our Tuesday evening General Aikido Instructors will be focusing on weapons practice. This is open to everyone in our dojo and is intended to support students across a range of abilities.

 

By Nate Weed

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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.