Up until now, I’ve tried to either write some decent pieces of work or find related stories or blogs that might bring some value to the readers and post those instead. I have avoided writing about local stuff because I see the blog as being bigger than our region. But, I also see some benefit in writing about some of our daily experiences since we are always referring to the principles of Aikido being utilized in daily life.

My most recent opportunity involves another local Aikido dojo here in Grand Rapids. I wont post any names because they aren’t important. What is important are the scenarios encountered over the years and how they have been handled, what we learn along the way, the questions we can ask ourselves later, and the opportunities to really practice the Aikido we promote to our students. The ultimate question will be : Are we applying the Aikido principles we teach others, to our own issues and conflicts, or is it all just lip service?  I will also attempt to reconstruct a brief history of Aikido in Grand Rapids from my vantage as I go along.

As the owner of a martial arts school teaching the principles and techniques of Aikido, which, by the way, involve ‘resolution of conflict’ as a primary motivating factor in ones training in the art, I do my best to live by the principles that I express on the mat. That is, of course, based only on my personal understanding of the greater message of training in Aikido, which I believe is predicated on one having at least a cursory understanding of the concept of “harmony”, or at least some idea of “harmonious interaction”, even in the midst of a conflict.

I haven’t always been that way and there are many things in the past that I would like to have the opportunity to re-do, however, without the benefit of a time machine, all one can do is move forward, possibly right some wrongs, and continue to move closer to being the change one seeks in the world.

Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to experience a whole bunch of dojo related, non-physical conflicts first hand due primarily to a uchi deshi program that has been running at the Toyoda Center since its opening in 2002. With 3 men and 1 woman participating in a somewhat intensive Aikido instructor training and leadership program, there were bound to be some conflicts between individuals. I got to be part of many an issue between them. My stance was almost always one of , “work it out using the principles Aikido” and “the dojo is just a microcosm of the real world, so resolve it as you would in the real world”.

Aikido in Grand Rapids today is offered by 3 different schools: my dojo the Toyoda Center, the school that I first started Aikido at back in 1990, and the one run by one of my former uchideshi. Check back again soon to hear more about how Aikido has evolved in Grand Rapids over the past 20 years.