The Politics of American Aikido

9/20/91

Mark J. Norton


Form a group of any three people and suddenly you have politics. Aikido is no exception. There are power blocks, favored people, dojo/instructor biases, international intrigue. There have been succession battles, sensei's deposed, ranking students disgraced, and personal scandals. At times, people seem more interested in gossip, than in learning Aikido.

Why should these things happen? If the underlying principals of Aikido are peace, love and harmony, why do we have discord, hate, and strife? A simple answer might be that O-Sensei's message is not getting through. Students are more interested in the empowerment that a martial art gives them, than the philosophical base which underlies it.

I've seen it happen many times: a new student enters the dojo, all excited abount learning a new skill. Progress is steady until one day, he practices with someone who has no concept of Ueshiba's legacy of harmony. The advanced student proceeds to trash the beginner or make him feel inferior or perhaps seriously injure him. The two most common results of this encounter are to drop out of Aikido (perhaps after repeated incidents) or anger drives them to improves their skill in order to cope with these Aikido ruffians. If the later are successful, they get a sense of power from it. "I can hold my own and protect myself now." One day they are paired with a beginner student hopelessly inferior to their new-found skill. Just of the fun of it, the student proceeds to do what was once done to him, and so the cycle completes itself.

Naturally, this is a dramatization which generalizes many different encounters. But there are elements of truth here, also. It has happened to me several times. A more rare outcome of this process is a student who becomes stronger when adversity opposes him, but does not turn to its methods on advancement or perhaps makes some of these mistakes and rejects them in himself, thus learning to rise above the level of petty strife.

In part, this happens because good teachers are very rare. A true master of Aikido would not only impart the technical aspects of Aikido, but also its philosophy as well. There is a moral responsibility that comes with the power that Aikido gives us, which few acknowledge these days. A strong teacher will notice these struggles amoungst his students and find ways to remind the more advanced students that they have a long way to go and to encourage the beginners not to give up, but to perservere and grow with Aikido. In some cases, this consists of trashing the advanced student. Is this inconsistant? I don't think so, in part, because the intent is different. The instructor reminds the student of his relative position and that he still has a long way to go on the path. The advanced student will also have superior ukemi and is better equiped to deal with bruises or aches from an intensive lesson. The instruction must be backed with a moral lesson as well, to drive home the reasons behind this action.

This breaks down when the advanced student becomes equal to or exceeds his teacher. This is a common enough occurance, for some people are more gifted in these matters than others. When the unruly student becomes a teacher, problems can arise. We start to have teachers whose sole message is that Aikido is a powerful means to deal with problems and aggressions. We have sensei's who revel in the adulation of the students. We have instructors who try to shape the lives of their students beyond the dojo, meddling in their personal affairs. We have the start of political strife in Aikido as an organization.

The unruly student becomes the rogue sensei. He is often insecure of his position. He is unwilling to train students to be better than himself. He is jealous of the success of other schools. Pride leads him to try and manipulate people and other instructors to further his own causes. Allignment and intrigue at the organizational level become important to him. O-Sensei's message is left far behind.

There are signs of this all over the United States. An instructor leaves his old teacher in favor of a different federation, perhaps to achieve advancement in rank. Funds are diverted for personal use rather than being re-invested in furthering the art. Power leads to abuse, and we have teachers who use drugs, abuse children, cheat on their wives, and destroy peoples lives.

The trick to survival is to see all this and not become part of it. We must grow and advance in the true light of Aikido and not fall by the wayside. This becomes even more important as corruption around us increases. Lest I sound overly moralistic here, I am guilty of some of this abuse, but I don't like it. It is something I am trying to improve in myself. It is difficult to understand Aikido at all of its deep levels with others who are stronger than you trying to exert power over you. By not given up, I hope someday to break through to freedom and enlightenment. There, I will turn to teaching other students to help them along the way.