Sunday, November 30, 2008
How to Find a Dojo
When you check out a restaurant, do not look at the menu or the food. Instead, look at the other patrons. Are they thin and healthy? Or overweight and sedentary? If you eat there, you will grow to look like them.
The same way, when you are searching for a dojo, do not look at the teacher or the building or the mats. Instead, look at the students training there; if you train there, you will become like them.
As I have traveled around the country and have trained in different schools, some have an open and friendly vibe, while others are serious, or shy, or, unfortunately, rude sometimes. That's all OK. As a visitor I can train almost anywhere once. And if I feel in danger or that my training isn't productive in at least some small way, then I simply bow out. No big deal.
One thing I don't mind is when my training partners tell me "do this, do that, no you're not doing this right, etc." Sometimes they have a valid point, and sometimes they are just reflecting the energy in their dojo as a whole. Either way, it's good information for me, and I don't see their attitude as a reason to get upset and reactive.
So, when you go to check out an aikido school, see whether students there greet you (and not just the designated greeter), see whether your questions are answered, whether you are made to feel welcome. If so, then you will know that that dojo will engender those qualities in you. Remember, one very important part of aikido is "extending ki (energy)," and those aikidoists who extend their hand to you when you walk in the door are probably training extending ki on the mat. In my experience, those who don't probably aren't.
The same way, when you are searching for a dojo, do not look at the teacher or the building or the mats. Instead, look at the students training there; if you train there, you will become like them.
As I have traveled around the country and have trained in different schools, some have an open and friendly vibe, while others are serious, or shy, or, unfortunately, rude sometimes. That's all OK. As a visitor I can train almost anywhere once. And if I feel in danger or that my training isn't productive in at least some small way, then I simply bow out. No big deal.
One thing I don't mind is when my training partners tell me "do this, do that, no you're not doing this right, etc." Sometimes they have a valid point, and sometimes they are just reflecting the energy in their dojo as a whole. Either way, it's good information for me, and I don't see their attitude as a reason to get upset and reactive.
So, when you go to check out an aikido school, see whether students there greet you (and not just the designated greeter), see whether your questions are answered, whether you are made to feel welcome. If so, then you will know that that dojo will engender those qualities in you. Remember, one very important part of aikido is "extending ki (energy)," and those aikidoists who extend their hand to you when you walk in the door are probably training extending ki on the mat. In my experience, those who don't probably aren't.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Aikido Decatur Blog - Yonkyo.com
Welcome to Yonkyo.com, a blog about training, teaching, and exploring aikido.
Why "Yonkyo?" Yonkyo - literally "fourth technique," is one of the basic aikido techniques created by O Sensei. As a beginner, yonkyo can be frightening, for it is painful (but doesn't injure). Over time, though, a student learns to tolerate the initial discomfort of yonkyo, and soon learns that the pain it causes is not a substitute for a properly applied technique.
When you try to apply yonkyo to a very senior student, the pain points that worked so well on another beginner suddenly have no effect at all! You realize that you have so much more to learn about this technique. Even after years of practice, one's experience of yonkyo continues to evolve, both as nage and as uke.
I hope that this blog will chronicle the evolution of my own growth in aikido, in teaching, in running a dojo, and in forming and nurturing a community.
Why "Yonkyo?" Yonkyo - literally "fourth technique," is one of the basic aikido techniques created by O Sensei. As a beginner, yonkyo can be frightening, for it is painful (but doesn't injure). Over time, though, a student learns to tolerate the initial discomfort of yonkyo, and soon learns that the pain it causes is not a substitute for a properly applied technique.
When you try to apply yonkyo to a very senior student, the pain points that worked so well on another beginner suddenly have no effect at all! You realize that you have so much more to learn about this technique. Even after years of practice, one's experience of yonkyo continues to evolve, both as nage and as uke.
I hope that this blog will chronicle the evolution of my own growth in aikido, in teaching, in running a dojo, and in forming and nurturing a community.
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