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Memories of Home;
A Visit to Aikido Cuautla Dojo in Mexico.
by Gaku Homma Kancho
written Aug 10th, 2004
In the markets. |
About two hours outside of Mexico City is the city of Cuautla;
population 30, 000.
Cuautla is a city that has been somewhat bypassed by the tourist
industry, making its charm and local flavor that much more real
and alive.
Latin American cities I have visited all seem to be built in a
common fashion, and Cuautla is no exception. At the heart of the
city stands the church on one side, the town hall on the other,
with the town square in between. Cuautla’s town square was
alive, filled with people meeting, talking, playing, enjoying each
other and the beauty of the square. The markets near by were bustling
with activity, merchants and customers bargaining over mounds of
fresh produce piled high. Small vendors cooked up plates of Mexican
style delicacies hawking their particular specialties in melodious
tones. The scene is not rich in a monetary sense; there is no Starbucks
here, but what is here is a quality of presence and peacefulness
that I found striking and comforting.
Herb vendor near the square. |
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Woman selling beans. |
Street musicians. |
Aikido Cuaulta is on the edge of town. The surrounding
neighbors we met were friendly and relaxed and time seemed to move
at a much
slower pace here. In the alleyways people gathered to play a friendly
game of dominos and kids playing in the streets were more prevalent
than cars! Horse drawn carts held the right-of-way, blocking the
street for the occasional minibus. A siren heard heralded the propane
gas sales car rather than a response to a 911 call. Street corner
restaurants topped with corrugated tin roots offered interesting
and delicious fares, served with a smile. The town had the power
to wipe away any tension or worry out of me, and I relaxed soon
after I got there.
Dojo entrance, its not grafitti. |
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In front of the rubber tree. From left:
Fernando, Alberto, Rebecca, Rocio Senseis. |
Practice at the Cuautla Aikido dojo. |
Aikido Cuaulta dojo opened its doors three years ago by Alberto
Mansano Sensei and his wife Rebecca. Rebecca, originally from Switzerland
first came to Mexico as a exchange student. It was then that she
met Alberto. When she returned to Switzerland, Alberto followed
and it was there that he first practiced Aikido. Three years ago
they returned to Cuaulta and built the dojo next door to Alberto’s
family home.
Today the dojo has about sixty regular members and also serves
as a gathering place for local community leaders and children alike.
It is a community dojo that serves it’s community well.
Monthly fees average about $3.00 per person if you averaged all
of the students who were able to pay with those who could not. “Money
and Aikido are different subjects” said Alberto Sensei. “Being
able to pay is not necessarily a requirement to be a member of
this dojo”. This I noted, is part of what makes Alberto Sensei
a member of his community first: collecting dojo dues payments
was not as much a priority as his students being able to practice. “What
else can I do…” he concluded.
In the garden at the dojo lives a huge rubber tree that provides
shade and shelter for students and creatures alike. From a high
branch hangs a swing for the children to play on and among the
exposed roots lives an uchideshi rabbit that the kids delight in
chasing. I stood watching the children from the window of the dojo,
and thought to my self…”This scene is familiar to me,
different but the same.
In the Japanese word Dojo, Do is the character for Way, and Jo
is the character for place. Another way of describing the dojo
or the “place of the Way” is as an interchange. A place
where people traveling from East to West or West to East can pause
to gather information, rest and find nourishment. This is the purpose
of a town dojo, or machi dojo, a place where students pause to
learn, to share and then to carry on.
My youth was spent in a town dojo, those are the roots of my practice.
For me to come to Alberto Sensei’s dojo was like visiting
a revival of my youth. This dojo reminds me very much of how dojos
used to be, including the function of service to the community.
Alberto Sensei is an Aikido Instructor, but first he is a very
active leader in his community, focusing much of his time on implementing
educational programs in Cuautla. It is my hope that Alberto Sensei
continues his dedication to the community and that his dojo continues
as a place important to the community. I was very much impressed
by Alberto Sensei and his wife Rebecca’s life style and goals,
and for that reason wanted to illuminate their efforts with this
article.
While I was in Cuautla, Alberto Sensei and his wife Rebecca Sensei
took wonderful care of me as did the hosts of this seminar tour,
Fernando Sensei, Rocio Sensei, and our two Mexico entrepreneurs;
Mr. Jose and Wimmer. Thank you very much for a wonderful experience.
This visit to Cuautla was sponsored by Nippon Kan’s AHAN
which made it possible to donate all seminar proceeds back to the
Aikido Cuautla dojo to be used for local community projects.
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