Heirloom Aikido

As the fall Aikido seminar season is slowly winding down, I already start seeing announcements for upcoming seminars in spring.  

As expected, a number of familiar names came up.  Seminars might be happening here and there, but, wherever you look, the instructors are mostly the same people over and over again.  Is it surprising?  Not exactly because it has been like this . . .  FOREVER.

Given the discussion in recent years about offering more support for women Aikido practitioners, , I thought we might see more women instructors' faces on seminar flyers.  In addition, I am really hoping to see more new faces to emerge: People of different countries of origin, different colors, students of different teachers . . .  

Sigh.

As I was discussing with a friend on the subject of who to invite to teach, my friend says, "We can't invite  someone who is not a known entity to teach a seminar!  They are not a draw for people, you know . . ."  

"Known entity".  Argh.  

It reminds me of my favorite line in recruitment ads: "Have to possess a track record of . . . "  

In this world, who is born with track record for anything?  We all have to start somewhere.  Known entities are all made -- made by people who can recognize their potential; made by people who believe in them and are willing to give them a chance.  Otherwise, where do their experiences come from?  If people never hear about them, they don't ever get to show what they are capable of doing, how do these instructors ever become a draw for anybody??

While I can understand the financial concerns for a dojo, the truth is that most of us run a dojo for the love of the art.  When hosting a seminar, the cash receipt should not be our sole concern.  Running seminars is a community service to our Aikido community.  Showcasing instructors of good caliber is a great opportunity both for our dojos and our students.   

In this vast Aikido world, in addition to the teachers of well known "brand names", there are many low profile Aikido practitioners who have interesting Aikido that deserves our attention and appreciation.  They may simply be people who do not self-promote or do not actively engage in networking.  Their Aikido DNAs carry an array of lesser known traits which are just as important to the evolution of Aikido as a whole.  

This situation makes me think of the case with vegetable seeds. 

Mainstream seed companies propagate and promote certain vegetable seeds so that they become known and popular among most people.  If they are lucky, the other seeds that are wonderful and delicious may be preserved by some connoisseur home gardeners as heirloom collections.  However, most of the less known varieties or niche crops get dropped.  All across the country, farmers and gardeners end up growing the same few varieties that seed companies think we should like.  With time, our common crops have become rather homogenous, and their overall health and hardiness has diminished significantly due to over selection.  By the time we realized the flaws of the practice, many of the precious old varieties were already lost forever.  The diversity has waned.

It should not be so hard to learn our lesson from the case with seeds and avoid making the same mistake with Aikido. 

If we are to preserve the diversity of the Aikido gene pool and keep the art strong, we need to help presenting these different styles of Aikido to a larger audience so that such knowledge gets pass down to the future generations.  I strongly support this approach because I have benefited greatly from it.  Even though I was lucky enough to have very good teachers, several seminars I attended were really life changing for me.  These instructors shone new light onto my path, helped me connect the loose dots, and took me to a new direction that I, otherwise, would never have found.

If your dojo is contemplating hosting a seminar, consider inviting someone who is not a "known entity".  Bring someone who your appreciate and be the first to host them.  You may be doing the Aikido community a big favor by creating a new known entity!  

The next time you are looking to attend an Aikido seminar, instead of habitually signing up for the seminar by someone you already have seen many times, try one by an instructor you have never met before.  You may be very pleasantly surprised because not all brand names are good; and not all good things have to be brand names!