MEMBERSHIP: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
01
Do I have to bow to the kamiza and/or to others if I have strong personal and/or religious proscriptions against such actions?
Budo is not a technical endeavor. Budo is a cultural training of the body/mind. For example, one cannot separate technical matters from matters of etiquette in Budo. Such an action would kill the culture. With the culture dead, the practice dies - even at a technical level. If one cannot bow to the kamiza and/or to their fellow practitioners for deeply felt personal and/or religious reasons, one cannot practice Budo as a culture. Hence, one’s practice is dead; hence, there is nothing there for one to practice; hence, one should move on. If one cannot find within themselves, for example, the universality of God’s presence, and/or the sincerity and humility that is both at the heart of any religious practice and the act of bowing in Budo, one should move on – to a studio or a gym where Budo as culture (i.e. Budo) is not being practiced. One should seek a place where techniques or physical prowess, etc., are considered achievable ends in and of themselves. However, if you’d like to use the dojo to cultivate within yourself the insight of God’s universal presence and/or the virtues of sincerity and humility, etc., then by all means, feel free to struggle toward such goals via the dojo and its culture of Budo.
02
I have personal and/or religious proscriptions against training with members of the opposite gender, can I still train in Aikido?
There are many types of Aikido. Some Aikido interpret Osensei’s concepts of Unification and Oneness in one manner, some in another manner, and some have no relationship to either these concepts or any other concepts that are the foundation of Osensei’s art, the art of Aikido. At Senshin Center, the capacity to train with everyone, to work with and to learn from everyone, is not merely a pedagogical matter. This capacity is strongly tied to Osensei’s spiritual message of Oneness and Unification. Aikido at Senshin Center answers to the traditions of Budo and to the spiritual message of the Founder, Osensei. At Senshin Center, there is no Aikido outside of these things. What is outside of these things is not Aikido. If one wants to “train” outside of these things, one is asking to NOT train in Aikido. One does not have to ask the dojo if he/she can NOT train in Aikido. One is always free to NOT train in Aikido, anywhere. Since we instruct in and practice Aikido, one is better suited not practicing Aikido some place else. However, if you’d like to use the dojo to cultivate within yourself Osensei’s concepts of Oneness and Unification, then by all means, feel free to struggle toward such goals via the dojo and its understanding of the Founder’s spiritual message.
03
I love to practice Aikido, but I do not like to take it so seriously, can’t I train in a more jovial manner?
Seriousness is not the product of joy’s absence. Seriousness is the product of the virtue of sincerity – which is needed for one to practice Aikido according to the tradition of Budo and according to the spiritual message of the Founder, Osensei. Because sincerity brings seriousness to one’s practice, because the absence of joy is not the cause of seriousness, one can train both seriously and joyfully. A joyfulness that is supported by sincerity is a true joyfulness. A “joyfulness” that is not supported by sincerity is a defense mechanism – a defense mechanism used to hide the fact that one is still resistant toward the practice, still unable to invest themselves as they should and can, still in need of keeping their training at lesser transformative level, etc. Rather than seeking to keep training “light,” one should seek to bring sincerity to their practice – so that both their seriousness and their joyfulness increase in their vitality.
04
The dojo’s culture (e.g. its etiquette and protocols) stresses me out. I hate it. I now seem to avoid it as much as I can. What can I do?
Stress and hatred, and other such negative emotions, are the result of resistance. When it comes to matters of the spirit, resistance should always be seen as suspect. This is particularly true if one is seeking to cultivate themselves via the practice of Aikido – because Aikido is often equivalent with the Way of Non-Resistance. There are reasons behind every tenet of the dojo’s culture. These reasons are extensions of Budo’s cultivation of Awareness and Aikido’s cultivation of Love. If you look closely, you will see that your resistance is in one way or another connected to your resistance toward cultivating the skill of Awareness and the virtue of Love. That is to say, most often, when you are being resistant to the dojo’s culture, you are stuck in the habit of practicing those things that are antithetical to Awareness and Love. For example, you may stuck in the habit of practicing ignorance, inconsideration, selfishness, fear, pride, etc. Thus, when the dojo’s culture is challenging to you, so that you can move beyond the habitual reactions of ignorance, inconsideration, selfishness, fear, pride, etc., rather than seeking to change the dojo, you should seek to transform yourself. In this way, the dojo becomes a tool for transformation. It becomes a technology of the Self. The dojo’s culture is then a relatively risk-free environment that nevertheless remains highly potent in its capacity to cultivate Awareness, Love, Wisdom, Compassion, Selflessness, Courage, Humility, etc., in you.