Chapter 83: This is where my journey as a beginner ends and a new one starts…

 It’s been a while hasn’t it?

Well I think the biggest change has been is that I am now a First Dan in Tomiki Aikido. I graded on 26th November 2023. I started Aikido in 2006.

It hasn’t always been a straight forward journey over the last few years up to First Dan. 

There has been a good reason for the gap since posting and it is not due entirely to the pandemic. In November 2021 I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I have had some major surgery and 6 months of chemotherapy as part of my treatment. I am pleased to say that I’m now fit and well. 

I am back on the mat and have started my own club. 

This blog originally started as a form of an online diary as a beginner.

The ironic thing is that I feel like a beginner more than ever. I feel like a white belt again. It feels good coming back to complete the circle.

I plan to update my blog periodically from time to time. I hope you have enjoyed this journey with me.

Chapter 82: Opps..I may have started something

Wow, over a year since my last post. Well I should tell you there is a very good reason for that. The IVF finally worked and we are now a family.

Obviously I took some time away from the mat. I still helped teach kids up until I was about 6 months pregnant  but didn't actually train as I felt it was too much of a risk to take.

Anyway, I've been back for a few months and am slowly regaining my fitness. Boy does pregnancy change things. I've noticed although we have two new adult women who have moved from other clubs, we have not kept any girls in our kids class. We have moved to a new location and had new students join, just not girls.

I have found out, as I suspected all along that as we have a class of boisterous boys this can put some girls off. I'm well used to new girls supergluing themselves to my Gi leg, but can't help feeling that as a club we could do more to encourage and keep girls.

So speaking to other mums at various baby groups I found that many new mums find getting the time and confidence to exercise difficult. I also found that there are no martial art clubs offering ladies only classes. As a club we have been asked to provide ladies only classes in the past.  But as an instructor I have shied away from providing such a class before since I felt that if Aikido was supposed to be a martial art where women can compete equally with men, then a ladies only class would defeat this principle.

However since having my wee beastie things have changed. Coming back to Aikido was extremely hard and I nearly didn't continue. It was hard as I was still recovering from some complications during birth and delivery so perhaps that was the reason. But if I felt that way - then surely other women mums or not must feel the same way?

I posted on social media for interest and I have potentially 30 ladies, some bringing sisters, others teenage daughters- all wanting to come. Well at least to my 'Come and Try' session anyway. In the past we have never generated this much interest. Maybe because I spoke as a woman and a mum and not through a club poster or flyer. Well watch this space...

Chapter 81: Owner or Custodian of a Club/Dojo? ...Does a dojo belong to a particular person?

Are you an Owner or Custodian of a Club/Dojo? Does the Club belong sorely to a particular Sensei or are we as instructors whilst being in charge and run the dojo just custodians? An interesting question perhaps?

Over the last two years, I have pretty much gone from being someone who just turned up, assisted a little with new starters and trained just for me to an assistant instructor with heavy involvement in running  and teaching at the Club. It has been a steep learning curve, one which whilst being hard at times has ultimately been very rewarding. I never thought that one day, 11 years down the line be the person stood on the mat saying to a terrified new beginner 'Right, shoes off, socks off let's get you started'.

But does the Club actually belong to the instructors who teach there? Yes this is my club, I belong here, I help run it, I've helped build it into a good place not only to train but to be part of a community. I feel this to be true because there are always people asking me in the changing room, corridors etc (people who I do not know who they are, not really) asking me how the club is, how training is going. And the answers I give are always positive ones. Especially about our Juniors class.

I was reading an article about the different generations a club has or goes through. It talked about the first generation teacher(s) the person or people who set it up  and establish what the club principles and purposes are and the second generation who then takes up the baton when the first generation is no longer there and builds on this work. It also talked about what changes each generation may make as well.

But as an instructor is this club ours? Do we own it? Perhaps because we're the first to have had the baton passed onto, it still feels a little new. But more recently it feels that whilst we're making the club ours, in some ways maybe we're really only looking after it until the next people come along to pass the baton onto. But isn't that the point of being a club? We work together to make the club work as a whole, we train together, we work towards the future. We as instructors, along with our students, in way are like a stepping stone towards that future for the club and the art as a whole. Each one of us has our own contribution to make our club and the martial art we practise great.