Week 8: More on Aikido

Aikido of San Leandro

It is another Aikido weekend – in fact, a big one, since it’s Divisional Training. During divisional training, we get together with the other dojos in our division for two days and train together. It’s a lot of fun and quite an experience.

Because of that, this week’s shirt is another Aikido shirt. This shirt is another one from Aikido of San Leandro (ASL). Our first day of training is at San Leandro, our division headquarters, so I thought it would be appropriate to wear one of ASL’s shirts again.

This is one of the shirts designed by one of the students in that dojo. He owns a graphic design company so his shirts are very artistic. I love the overlay of the dojo’s name, Iwama – the style of Aikido that we practice, and the calligraphy. The calligraphy on this shirt is from one of the scrolls seen in the dojo. I believe it is one of O’Sensei’s, the founder of aikido. The first character looks like “bu”, the character for “martial, valor, courage” and the last two are “ai” and “ki”: harmony and spirit. I’ve been trying to find out what the scroll means, but I have been unsuccessful. It is still quite beautiful. Perhaps someone who knows Japanese can help me interpret this.

Hikari Dojo 10th Anniversary shirt

Also, since I typically wear my home dojo shirt this weekend, I also have a picture of our 10^th anniversary T-shirt in this post. This shirt is one of my favorites: I love the combination of om’s, hikari’s and our logo on the left.  This shirt is another one made by the same designer in collaboration with our Sensei. On it is also a quote from O’Sensei. Since it is difficult to read from the picture, I will share the quote below:

Always keep your mind

As bright and clear as the bright sky,

The great ocean, and the highest peak,

Empty of all thoughts,

Always keep your body filled with light and heat.

Fill yourself with the power

Of wisdom and enlightenment.

- O’Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba)

For more info on aikido, check out aikiweb.com. For our dojo in Northern California, check out our website at aikido-hikaridojo.com.