When a visitor comes

Every time someone visits our dojo to practice aikido I feel a great joy, and I think the rest of the integrants of the dojo do too; because is someone willing to open a door and see what’s behind it, a potential student, another one who’ll discover everything aikido has to offer us in the personal, social, physical, mental and spiritual plane and a large list goodness only know by those who practice aikido. Now here’s the problem: to watch 90 minutes of aikido isn’t enough to comprehend its potential.

Why do I say it is a problem? Zygmund Bauman (a contemporary Polish philosopher) define current times as “liquid modernity” where everything is ephemeral and instantaneous, where even people are systematically and irreversibly devaluated, where everything has to be obtained quickly to be discarded, the consume objects, people, friendships, loves, and why not?, martial arts.

Aikido crashes with this reality because it is a traditional martial art, born with no hurry and without the current liquidity, where there weren’t dispensable things (and I’m not talking just about the material things, today even emotions are dispensable). Aikido takes about 8 to 10 years – minimum – of continuous practice to become black belt (hakama, yudansha, dan or whatever you name it), and once its reached, this is only a start point, one is very far from saying “I know aikido”.

Then, when a visitor watches 20 minutes of a class and leaves, I know that that person is probably not going to come back to the dojo and that he’s lost an opportunity to discover a fascinating world. But the saddest thing is that he came, made an effort, opened the door, saw inside but didn’t let he’s eyes get used to the light so he left with the same idea he had before coming, none.

I’ve heard Picciola Sensei saying: “In order to practice a martial art, the first thing we must have is patience” and that’s a big truth; the same way I’ve heard Raul telling me in a more colloquial way though no less right: “There isn’t an aikido delivery” and he added: “and I wish there will never be”.

Also, there has to be a respect for the sensei or master and the dojo. When a sansei allows a visitor to see a class he’s opening the doors of his class and his wisdom; one can’t, or shouldn’t stand up and leave at any time. That’s being impolite to who is opening the doors of his second home, of his dojo. One should at least, watch a whole class.

And when a sensei allows us to take part in his class he is accepting us as students and committing himself to teach us everything he knows and will learn in the future. The same way we should commit ourselves to accept his indications and corrections and assist to his classes. It isn’t a written contract; it is a tacit one, between student and master; it is a contract of respect.

For all this I think that it is better to take part in a class than to just watch it. And if a visitor is lucky enough to appreciate the potential of an exercise, a technique or a movement maybe that will start a stark that will make him come back. And with practice time it’ll transform into a fire which will never extinguish.

Juan Pablo Fava