A dojo is ” a place to practice the way.” This is a picture from Aikido of Northampton which is a unique dojo in that it is truly a safe place. Being there is about practicing Aikido beyond the barriers we normally feel in everyday life. Being welcomed only requires that you recognize your role in contributing to having a safe place. Now that sounds like Aikido.
You never know who might walk into your dojo next. Small talk in many places can lead to the days latest controversy, your rough day at work, or how a certain kind of food always upsets your stomach. The best question is are you here to practice Aikido. If so, that is what we should go do. Aikido is a unique practice that starts with an agreement of respect, a shared action, trusted roles, and an agreed outcome.
We all can benefit from that opportunity in our day and we can all practice doing a better job of providing that experience to others. Issues of politics, religion, history, identity can make any of us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome; ideally a dojo is the place where we don’t have to be ready to be uncomfortable. Think of any group that only gets to feel comfortable with others from that group. I think of the ways I feel like that it my life and the energy it takes. Make your dojo a place where we can feel safe in our diversity and connected through the practice of Aikido.
If that still sounds weird, visit Aikido of Northampton to see what it looks like.
When entering a dojo I do in fact feel safe. Everyone should feel safe when doing so. As stated above “at anytime anyone can enter the dojo,” I feel like this could be directed to wards harmful people. It is an open environment and anyone with stress, anger, anxiety, and even depression could enter the room. As a group practicing the art of Aikido, there should be no judgement only allowance. Throwing differences aside, everyone should be there for the same purpose. I agree to this. No one should feel secluded when walking into that dojo and onto the mat. Everyone should feel the same, the only difference should be the sex, skin color, and age, and even with all of those everyone is still the same. You are all there to practice the art and friendship that Aikido provides and nothing more. So when you enter the dojo, drop all that weight off your shoulders and join your fellow practicers on the mat, and be relaxed.
THE DOJO AND THE MAKING OF A SAFE PLACE.
I truly agree with the title of this blog. I couldn’t agree more with this blog. I defiantly feel that being in dojo is a safe place for me. I feel that it is a safe place and way to practice aikido. When I go to aikido class I feel welcomed by the students and the instructor. In the begin of the week after all classes are over I feel stressed, closed in, and to myself at times. But by the end of the week after aikido class, I feel more free and comfortable around my soundings and within myself. There is no judgment and the outside world is closed in. It’s like I am on a journey to another place to be a greater and stronger version of myself. My mind feels so free. This class takes some tensions of my mind and body. It’s a safe place to escape and let everything go. I think it makes it safe because Aikido is a unique practice that starts respect, a shared action, trusted roles, and an agreed outcome. Yes, I know we all can benefit from this opportunity in our day and we can all practice doing a better job with everything. I do feel that everyone should feel safe when doing in dojo or doing aikido. This is a really good class I took so far.
In response to The Dojo and the making of a safe place. I agree with that the Dojo should be one of the places you feel most secure and safe, comfortable. In order to practice Aikido, you have to relax and let all your frustrations be a distance away from you, and in order to learn and maintain this center is to have a safe place to learn it in. to be able to trust your instructor is number one priority. I want to know that when we practice break falls my arms isn’t going to break. I feel absolutely comfortable in my dojo, everyone there has become a joy to work with, and while we are there we feel very close. We trust each other like we have been friends for a while, even though we have no idea what life is like for the other outside of the dojo. We don’t judge or disrespect anyone that walks in the dojo. The instructor accepts everyone and everyone follows suite. This is what we need, we are a class full of college students trying to make ends meet, while studying for finals, and trying to have a life at some point. The dojo for me is a nice retreat from the real world, but also on the days I have aikido I remember to breathe and center myself before I go to class, or work. My day after aikido always seems slightly better than the rest, my mind feels more clear.