Time for change

I and a few other dedicated Aikidokas have been discussing the turns and twists that Aikido has taken through time. Aikido has become too commercialized and academic for our taste. For this reason I have decided to reach out. We would like to reach out to all Aikidokas that have been alienated, left without backup, representation, support and have the same mind set as we do.
I would like to know if there is anyone out there located in the vicinity of Aurora, Colorado that is willing out of the goodness of his/her heart to cede some space for the creation of and the continued growth of an Aikido Club dedicated to true free practice and study of Aikido.
The intent is to have a place to enjoy Aiki keiko without the stress to have to pay for something that was intended to be free for the enjoyment of everyone that would be interested in this God given art. Also, people that would like to contribute in any way.
Anyone living in the area/vicinity, visiting or passing through would be able to have a place to practice without the worry of having to pay those high tuitions or monthly fees.
For us, rank and grade is not of interest. Any fellow Yudansha (fukushidoin, Shidoin, Shihan) could come and impart there knowledge and teachings. It would be an honor.
Promotions if so desired would be through merit of time and dedication and knowledge. And would be done as established by Hombu. Through a Fukushidoin, Shidoin or Shihan.

Premises:
Free keiko
No monetary or financial gain
No politics
No fiscallizing or associations
True AIKI

comments and/or ideas are welcomed.

Julio Ruiz wrote: Premises: Free keiko No monetary or financial gain No politics No fiscallizing or associations True AIKI

Free lunch? Is there such a thing? Operating as a not-for-profit is fine and a respectable model, but there are still expenses that have to be paid by someone - a fact that not-for-profits generally acknowledge.

Mary Malmros wrote: Free lunch? Is there such a thing? Operating as a not-for-profit is fine and a respectable model, but there are still expenses that have to be paid by someone - a fact that not-for-profits generally acknowledge.

Like I said, also other people that would like to contribute. Can you cook?
I heard of an Aikido Ranch somewhere. I wonder how it's doing.
In the event of a large EVENT, I'm pretty sure arrangements can be made. let's hope for sponsors.

How are you going to achieve your goals? They seem pretty much mutually exclusive and contradictory. How are you going to not be interested in rank while soliciting yudansha? How are you going to avoid politics while promoting (which you dont care about) through "Hombu"? Which Hombu and why? Why do you think aikido was/is intended to be free? What recommends your group over the fully functional, tremendously successful established schools that are so close to you?

It's funny how people think and perceive.

Cede some space? Irimi ... take the space. Get thee to a local park or open public space. Problem solved.

I think it is funny how people don't think.

yeah....have tried that. still funny how people think.

Robert M Watson Jr wrote: Get thee to a local park or open public space. Problem solved.

Agree. Here's a photo of our dojo in Honolulu:

Krystal Locke wrote: How are you going to not be interested in rank while soliciting yudansha? How are you going to avoid politics while promoting (which you dont care about) through "Hombu"? Which Hombu and why?

Pretty much my thought: you are either part of the system or you are not. How can you have it both ways?
If you want a place for free and open practice, either via a public park for free or via folks pooling money to use space at a gym or dance studio that can be rented by the hour for set hours is an option.

The concept noted above sounds very much like what Nick Lowry does in Oklahoma City at Windsong Dojo.

I wish you guys and gals the best of luck. It's a hard road and real estate rent is expensive.

John Powell wrote: The concept noted above sounds very much like what Nick Lowry does in Oklahoma City at Windsong Dojo. I wish you guys and gals the best of luck. It's a hard road and real estate rent is expensive.

Chris Li probably also has a good bit of stuff to say about running a dojo by donation.

Thank you Mert San, If I were in Honolulu, I would be right there with you.

Happy Mothers day to all you moms out there.

Today I took time to go to "a park (open public space)" and do some misogi and meditation and reflect a bit more on this post and the few comments so far. I knew that it was going to be a bit touchy.
For all of you that are a bit mesmerized by this post, I think I should give more food for thought without implicating or offending anyone.

Imagine being a dedicated student for 3,4,5 +years and then something went wrong along the line and your thoughts and plans and ideas just didn't work out or went side ways. Or you were done wrong in one way or another. You say ok, now I don't want to go to another dojo because you just don't feel its the quality Aikido you were getting, or there is a bit of friction with the people there from prior incidents. and your stuck, no where to go.

You move to explore other dojos. You may not like atmosphere or may not want to convert to a new "system" or organization because you have already adapted to your Aikido.
Thank God I had the privilege to meet some wonderful, understanding and compassionate people in my path.

I was a regular deshi at a specific dojo where I felt really at home. God Bless that Dojo. I felt that I had no need for advancement in rank or grade. just the pure love of practice for personal advancement. Mentally, physically and spiritually. and the fees were very, very modest. and it was very close to my residence. too bad I decided to move. Sorry Sensei.

At one dojo I visited I felt like I didn't fit in and felt a bit of envy and repulse from some of the students. I was visiting and paying a mat fee every time. didn't want to join because of financial reasons and reasons aforementioned. Also the Sensei had made it clear that he has his "system " in place.
At another dojo I felt kind of OK but it was too expensive and the commute was not feasible.
At other dojos I felt like I was not getting anything out of it.
Another person tried to impose his "system" on me.
When you reach a certain age or plateau in life you start not caring for "status". just self development and/or improvement.

In my opinion, sticking to one organization is OK for advancement in rank or grade. it makes it easier for those who have that mind set. Other systems or dojos want to continue a monopoly.

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train
'. The Art of Peace. page 14.
I like to call it "The Martial Art of GOD" Julio L. Ruiz.

John Powell wrote: The concept noted above sounds very much like what Nick Lowry does in Oklahoma City at Windsong Dojo. It's a hard road and real estate rent is expensive.

Thank you JP3. I knew someone would catch my drift.

Well I think the place you may have confused or lost many of us is that your OP appears to say that you WOULD use your group's yudansha in order to try to rank your members through some unspecified Hombu.
As opposed to saying that you would simply be unaffiliated and come up with your own criteria for rank, as so many independent dojos do.
The first option, which is what you say, even if it's not what you meant to say, is in contradiction to the things you say you want to do, which otherwise are not that unusual in going indep.

Janet Rosen wrote: Well I think the place you may have confused or lost many of us is that your OP appears to say that you WOULD use your group's yudansha in order to try to rank your members through some unspecified Hombu. As opposed to saying that you would simply be unaffiliated and come up with your own criteria for rank, as so many independent dojos do. The first option, which is what you say, even if it's not what you meant to say, is in contradiction to the things you say you want to do, which otherwise are not that unusual in going indep.

To my knowledge there is only one Hombu.

Julio Ruiz wrote: Thank you Mert San, If I were in Honolulu, I would be right there with you.

Seems that Aurora also enjoys decent weather for a good part of the year, including now; and like Hawaii, there's scenery worth integrating into your training experience.

If you have a network of like-minded aikidoka, and are willing to work as hard as Chris Li does to maintain routine communications to and among that network, you will likely succeed.

Other venues will follow in due course.

Julio Ruiz wrote: To my knowledge there is only one Hombu.

Nope. Yoshinkan has its own, separate from Aikikai.
Which is not the main point I and others have made - which you seem to want to not address for some reason: how does one gain or award rank thru a politicized assoc such as the Aikikai without to some degree recognizing and participating in the politics (at very least by financially supporting via yudansha fees)? If the goal is avoiding commercialization and politics, why not simply remain unafilliated?

Hombu for those in Aikikai refers to a specific place, but it's (to some extent) like saying "headquarters" as other styles also can have a hombu dojo. By virtue of history and sheer size the Aikikai Hombu is the "commonly understood" one, but... It ain't alone. I've got a customer who travels to Japan frequently to train at the Hombu dojo of his style of martial arts that is decidedly not Aikido.

And fwiw, I wish you the best of luck and understand the motivation to some extent. However, I'd also point out that once you start awarding rank you invariably introduce the politics and all those things you say you're walking away from. Usually the real difference is that it isn't the politics as much as simply not agreeing with the current set and feel you can do it better yourself. That very well may be true, but saying you're getting away from he politics, etc. might be a bit naïve.

But that said, sincerely, best of luck. I echo the notion of finding a park or public area to train because the harsh reality is that someone has to pay for lights, supplies, insurance, or whatever incidentals come along. And I've known folk who have trained using a donation model only to find that sometimes that even "donations" come with some strings even if they're in terms of feelings of entitlement, expectation or even resentment. It's just rarely as simple as some would like, even when you try to cut away everything that seems to make things complicated.

I'm appreciating all your comment and Ideas and letting it all sink in. Let me keep picking minds.
All Aikido so called "styles" and forms branched out of one source. What makes one persons Aikido better than another? Quarrels and differences have been around since the beginning of time.
I see the business mentalities in all of it.
I'm not business savy. I don't have a network of same or equal minded people here yet. May never have one. Who knows?
I did not say that I would award any grades or ranks etc.

Still....The twists and turns. Still....Funny how people think and perceive.

I like this thread:

dominance hierarchies and crossing the line

Lorien Lowe

I was responding to this section...

Promotions if so desired would be through merit of time and dedication and knowledge. And would be done as established by Hombu. Through a Fukushidoin, Shidoin or Shihan.

First off, that's quite a range of titles and secondly, those titles are titles conferred by some governing body or another. So either you do what *many* groups do -- no longer affiliate and just do what you do including your own promotions *or* you get rid of them entirely. I'm not exactly sure how one would *not* be a member of an organization yet think you could get ranked in that organization. Or maybe I'm just missing something. Frankly I've been training long enough now where I'm not terribly concerned with rank or affiliation for that matter. I train and teach in the group I'm with, but I have zero problem training with other folk.

I'm just a bit confused about some of the things you mentioned being in the same general paragraph. And in my experience most of those I know who complain the most about that stuff are often in fact more concerned about it than they let on which is why it seems to bug them so much. But that said, none of it matters in the slightest to me and I'll take it all on face value. So I wish you the best of luck in your training. I hope you find the vibe you're looking for.

Julio Ruiz wrote: Still....The twists and turns. Still....Funny how people think and perceive.

Maybe some of those folk have experience with exactly what you're talking about and are trying to help out by sharing what they've experienced. And maybe they're also rolling their eyes back at you saying exactly the same thing.

I see where the confusion is. Lets take out the last paragraph about the promotions.
Can I edit it?
Maybe if there were only one hombu ( governing body ), it would be less complicated.