Thoughts about the White-Yellow-Green Belt Seminar.

March 18th, 2006
Written by Steve Lacks

Though the seminar was a week ago, I am still thinking often about it. The striking visual images linger. Students waiting eagerly outside the dojo, some arriving more than an hour early because they didn’t want to be late. An empty mat surrounded by fifty students looking for someplace to dust. The dojo looking like a snow storm, three full rows of all white dogi’s. The way everyone snapped to attention when Homma Sensei appeared.

I think about the vast differences between this seminar and those I’ve attended in business or education. Most seminars seem to be about making money for the leader; just a prospecting activity intended to persuade clients to buy more of the leader’s services. This one was not at all like that. The first thing Homma Sensei talked about was where our seminar fees had gone. More than half had gone to orphans, both Buddhist and Moslem, in Bangladesh. Not in the form of a check being sent off to some agency, but in bags of rice he delivered to feed these kids. I wonder about how Homma Sensei’s ideas about money would be greeted in a business school.

I think about the way information was delivered. Many seminar leaders coin slogans that they repeat and repeat hypnotically in order to condition the audience to accept their “Message”. Not so on this day. Our first activity was a game of “patty-cake” that was a real ice-breaker, everyone had lots of fun. Afterward Homma Sensei helped us see the tricks we attempted to try to win. We looked at how trying to win changed our behavior during the game. We played it again. I wonder how I would have played differently if I hadn’t cared about winning. I wonder what winning means? We played yet again. Then Sensei asked us who was responsible for any loss. Not only was a point not drummed into us, one was never really stated at all. Several possible conclusions were mentioned but we were left to decide for ourselves. No advice was offered just lots of experiences.

So many ideas were presented that day that I’ll be thinking about them for a long time. My personal favorite was that smiles belonged in the dojo. I come to Aikido because I really enjoy myself there. Often I laugh out loud when a technique is expertly performed on me. Yet sometimes I wonder if I’m not serious or martial enough. Sensei gave many examples of the importance of tolerance. I wonder if that that means I can just come to practice for my own reasons and not be concerned if I have the wrong motives.

I have real trouble explaining to others why I like Aikido so much. I don’t like exercise for its own sake. I have never thought of myself as a warrior. My life is already busy so I’m not looking to fill time. I have trouble with games because winning often gets to be too important. I wonder why I always look forward to practice and try so hard to find time to get there. Maybe because Aikido is about doing and not just talking or thinking. Maybe because I like playing with good people in a non-competitive environment. Maybe I think too much. I wonder.