TAE Journal, Edition 12, Vision and Skills: A Model for Aikido Organisations. By Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros

FROM EDITION 12 OF THE TRADITIONAL AIKIDO EUROPE JOURNAL – JANUARY 2025

The vision of an organisation such as Traditional Aikido Europe (TAE - https://traditionalaikido.eu/) could be stated as follows:

To serve the practice, development and dissemination of O-Sensei’s Aikido as transmitted to Morihiro Saito Sensei.

This, simple as it may seem, needs to be kept in mind through all levels of organisation and decision making with the question at each juncture as to whether the basic vision of the association is being served or not by the choices and decisions available.

Beyond the foundational vision, the organisation is basically composed of two levels: level one sets the ground rules for the organisation and creates the space for the second level where the activities of the organisation take place. 

Level One

The first foundational level, is the formal set-up of the organisation (beyond the legal and administrative requirements involved in setting up an association) as regards three cardinal points as detailed below.

·       Accountability

·       Financial transparency

·       Grades awarded on merit outside of financial gain for the examining body

Accountability: As ability and skill in Aikido develops so does the responsibility that goes with these positions. No one is infallible and mistakes can and will be made. The important point is that a corrective mechanism be built in which keeps everyone accountable and on track. We [Western Aikdo organisations] have inherited a hierarchical system in which senior grades and senior teachers can avoid challenge and can at times behave in ways that serve themselves rather than the organisation. At these times dysfunctional or irresponsible behaviour needs to be called out and corrections made.

Financial transparency: Whether the organisation is set up as non-profit or for-profit, annual general meetings and professional level auditing of the accounts visible to all members is a must. If not, then mistrust is generated within the membership with all its negative consequences.

Grades awarded on merit outside of financial gain for the examination body: Examiners should not benefit financially from examinations beyond a reasonable examination fee to cover the costs of organising such events, as this can become an obvious conflict of interest. If it is allowed that individuals fund themselves from grades then this can easily become a business model rather than a merit model for the quality assessment that is the original intention behind the grades. This can result in a rapid degradation of the quality and meaning of the grades as financial benefit overrides quality concerns.

Level Two

The second level consists of five Aikido skills that are pooled from the membership and pertain to the actual practice itself (except skillset 5). The Board, which is a democratically elected body, needs all five skills represented amongst its members. It is very rare that any one individual is competent in all of them, hence the direction of an association is a collaborative effort.

·       Skill in Aikido.

·       Skill in teaching at the Dojo level.

·       Skill in teaching at the seminar level.

·       Skill in conducting examinations.

·       Skill in managing the organisation.

1. Training. In an association dedicated to Aikido, skill 1 is in a way the most important. The reason for the organisation, for the statutes, the teacher certifications, the examination system, the seminars etc is to serve in different ways the training that takes place on a weekly basis in the Dojos. Everything should serve and support this: learning and developing skill and ability in Aikido through regular practice. This is the basic vision behind our organisation.

2. Teaching. Although there are useful courses and training in didactics and various pedagogical methods, the teachers emerge from the Dojos as their ability, knowledge and experience develops. The primary model most emerging teachers will adopt will be the one they experienced from their own instructors and as they mature they will add or subtract from that model to find a system that suits their outlook on the art and temperament. Teachers need to continue learning through teaching and appreciate that in terms of pedagogical intervention with students, the approach should in general be minimal. They give a clear example with a breakdown on how to work with the material taught. Interventions should be on the basis of clarification where necessary and correction where students are engaged in dead ends. Regular teaching in Dojos involves much repetition of basics (repetition being ‘the mother of skill’) and patience as students work their way into techniques and practices which are not just about learning new moves and techniques but correcting patterns of structural holding and movement that impede functional ability. In addition to technical ability Aikido, as all traditional Budos, is a training of the mind. The state of consciousness we seek to develop is one of calm open awareness where perception is unclouded by affective issues to the extent that we can move from blind reactivity to conscious responsiveness. Furthermore, teachers need to take on their own teaching and realise that to teach is to learn. Training is endless and does not stop once one becomes a teacher. Practice and learning in Aikido is endless.

3. Teaching seminars. This is a step beyond the experience of teaching regular classes at one’s own dojo. Seminars can be of all different sizes from a few dozen to a few hundred participants. Locations can be ample or restrictive. Levels vary from participants with a few months training to veterans of 50 years experience. Participants can come from different styles of Aikido with not only different basic techniques but very different philosophical ideas as to what the basic techniques and defining principles are in fact about. All that plus different countries (with different languages) and cultural influences really make things interesting and challenging. The teacher needs to be able to ‘listen’ to all the above factors and ‘hold’ the mat teaching in such a way that the majority of the group is able to work with the material in different ways. And when the ‘music’ on the mat shifts from harmony into cacophony they must be able to change course accordingly to reestablish harmony and direction.

4. Conducting examinations. The examination system should act as a system of milestones and feedback on one’s level of development. Contrary as it may seem, it is not strictly speaking a system of attainment. One trains and grows in the art and the exam system is mapped out to give guidance in the journey and to act as a road map to the system as a whole. An examination should be a positive experience (whether as a pass or fail) which confirms the student in terms of where they are now and what needs to be worked on from here on. Examiners need to be able to conduct an exam with both sensitivity and impartiality.

5. Management. Being a competent practitioner or accomplished teacher does not in itself guarantee management skills. These include listening, communication and problem solving skills, being able to think strategically, the ability to empathise and understand other points of view plus being able to engage in healthy debates and discussions with other parties in conflict situations. In particular, the Board needs to be composed of individuals who can work well together and have different reinforcing skill sets. They are responsible for the overall direction and vision of the organisation. Beyond running the organisation on all levels necessary and making sure member Dojos are able to function as they should, the Board and senior teachers also maintain and cultivate relationships with other organisations and with Aikikai Hombu Dojo.

Whilst skills 1 and 2 are the organisation’s ‘raison d'etre’ at the Dojo level, skills 3 through 5 in particular decide whether the organisation can actually fulfil its role in a healthy dynamic way (in addition to clarity of vision and level 1 as detailed above).

Seminars have become an important way of exposing students to different points of view and getting them to train with different people other than their habitual dojo members. This gets them to test themselves beyond their comfort zones and learn from a wider variety of partners and instructors. Examinations are also held at these events and are open thereby establishing clear and transparent standards across the organisation as a whole.

The traditional Japanese hierarchical model where the senior teacher at the top manages the organisation in a top down manner has some advantages but to me the drawbacks outweigh them. These become obvious when the senior teacher passes away without having prepared the next generation of teachers adequately, ceases teaching through unexpected circumstances or behaves in less than commendable ways. In most cases when any of these occur the organisation either dissolves, diminishes or splits into differing factions as senior students strike out in different directions.

In my opinion Aikidokas in the west face two principal challenges: first adapting Aikido to western society and culture. This involves asking the hard questions as to how relevant this traditional discipline is for us today and how the teaching needs to be adapted while not losing sight of the essence of the art which transcends cultural and temporal differences.

The second challenge is at the organisational level. Even though hierarchical organisation and outright ‘dictatorships’ are not uniquely eastern in any way, the traditional hierarchical organisational model we have inherited from Japan for the modelling of martial art organisations does not in my opinion work very well in our western culture. If one way of understanding Aikido is as an infinite adaptability to circumstances through inspired and creative solutions (Takemusu Aiki) then surely this also needs to be the case at the organisational level as Aikido takes roots and develops far beyond its native origin?

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