What, not Where

This past week, I read an article about wabi-sabi (the Japanese aesthetic, not the hot, green paste). While reading, I came across a quote by Sen no Rikyu, author of a tea sacrament:

A luxurious house and the taste of delicacies are only pleasures of the mundane world. It is enough if the house does not leak and the food keeps hunger away.

It was a timely passage, as I had just been having a conversation with a “missing” practice partner about the aesthetics of the dojo where we practice. Understand, the building where the Sangamon Aikikai practice was, until recently, owned and operated by our sensei, but she since sold it to the MMA sensei who had been renting from her.

There were many reasons for this, most of which are none of my business. It was, overall, a practical business decision and one that had mutual benefits. Warrior Concepts, the MMA club that practices in the same space as us, have more financial resources to maintain the facilities, more members to assist with the labor, and more time to devote to marketing and upkeep. Conversely, a least half of the members of the Sangamon Aikikai, including sensei, are pursuing degrees in higher education and most of the others have young children. Both are time intensive occupations that prevent the aikido students from pitching in with the facilities and marketing as we ought to have done. Something had to give.

And it did.

Now, the plus side of this is Lenore, our sensei, and Scott, Warrior Concept’s sensei, are good friends and as long as Scott’s club has a mat to practice on, so shall we.

However, some of my fellow students have expressed dismay over the changes Scott has made to the facilities. Under the care of the aikido students, the dojo, at best, had potential. The walls needed a good coat of paint. The entryway needed personality. Our storage needed better organization and more options. Information about the different clubs needed a home.

Scott has taken care of most, if not all, of those issues, but he has done it in such a way that the personality of the dojo, instead of the calm, understated vibe that is aiki, is the bold, in-your-face personality that is MMA. The once dirty, in need of a scrubbing, off-white walls, have been painted red and yellow. There is a fence around most of the mat, quotes about war on the walls, and pictures of men who have been beaten bloody and survived.

And you know what? That’s okay. Because being aiki is not about our surroundings. It is something we are taught to carry within. It is one thing to be calm and relaxed in a soothing environment. It’s quite another thing to do so when everything around you is screaming at you to stand out. We should be able to be aiki at work, with three different individuals demanding impossible deadlines, at home when the children are crying, driving, at the store, wherever we are.

In the end, aiki has nothing to do with where we are; it is what we are.