Just to take a moment to reflect…

It’s been an eventful year. We started the year out practicing socially-distant Aikido (with respect to COVID-19 mitigation), and we’re finishing up practicing socially-engaged Aikido. By the latter, I mean that we’re back to practicing Aikido as a mechanism for both spiritual and physical growth among the participants with the goal of spreading harmony inside and outside the dojo. The current social climate is, to a great extent, one of division, rancor, and zero-sum competition. O-Sensei taught that for us to succeed we must succeed together, not at the expense of others. My hope is that Aikido can continue to be a vehicle towards this goal, but doing so requires that practitioners seek to embody those principles.

I generally try to limit my philosophizing to the occasional quotation, but I think it’s important to restate a few fundamental truths: Aikido is not done solely for oneself, but for one’s partners and for society at large. We seek to be better people, not just better martial artists. We seek to develop and refine our spirits and our characters as much as our physical skills. We seek to be the rising tide that lifts all boats, not just our own little dinghy (pun intended).

We’re entering our 33rd year of being a place for Aikido study in Colorado Springs, and I hope we have the opportunity to offer another 33 years after this one.

Regular classes will continue starting tomorrow. See you on the mat.