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Where am I now, and where am I going? |
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The following questions and answers were part of my travels this summer and I thought it would be okay just to leave them the way they were asked and the way that I answered them for this newsletter. I travelled to South Africa this summer and once again found this country to be full of surprises, but none so great as their vision for the future and their willingness to be the teachings in the face of tremendous financial depression and political pressure. |
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Uke ka Nage ka: Violent Compassion ... |
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My stomach twists as Sensei’s eyes fall on me. It’s undeniable, today I am uke. My forehead touches the mat before me as I bow, “Hai”. It is the eve of nage’s 3rd Kyu testing. Up to this point I have only observed, being nervous for my peer and nearly dreading the knowledge that some day I will be in their shoes all eyes on me as I work through techniques. For now I push that to the back of my mind – today I am uke.
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My previous job had me traveling almost every week. Don Holtgrieve, our dojo cho, suggested that I carry my dogi and belt with me and train as a guest if my destination had an Aikido dojo. One trip sent me to Silicon Valley. I was especially interested in training at Aikido of Mountain View, as its leader, Robert Nadeau Sensei, had trained with O’Sensei and written about Aikido. I had a book with one of Nadeau Sensei’s essays and took it with me, hoping to have him autograph it.
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Reflections along the path... |
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In the two years that I have been a member of the Makoto Aikido Kyokai and have trained at Makoto Dojo I have often heard Sensei Reynosa encouraging and requesting his students to travel with him to his international seminars. I always felt it would be an exciting experience and looked forward to following him to any of the wonderful locations where the MAK has member dojos. Sensei often remarked, “You are all a part of a global family of aikidoka through the MAK.” He also related the importance of the impact the MAK and its teachings have in the world. He explained that we could not truly understand or appreciate the magnitude of this influence and effect until we travel away from our home dojo and witness first hand the large and diverse international community, which has come together under these teachings. As I sat with my fellow students and listened to Sensei I believed, rather arrogantly, that I did understand the importance of the MAK and the magnitude of our aikido family and that the other students of the dojo did not. Having trained in a different Aikido dojo before finding Sensei and Makoto Dojo, I felt I had seen the other side and truly understood the depth and importance of what the MAK had to offer on a global scale. Despite my misguided belief that I already had an understanding of the MAK’s importance I felt a deep desire to travel with Sensei and experience the international family of the MAK. |
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