Ottawa Aikikai, Interview Transcript
Correct
Awesome, and you if I understand correctly, you were in charge of the renovation of the dojo
Yes, indirectly, I’m the chief instructor of the whole facility so yeah, but I had specific people helping me, and some of them were much more aquatinted with the structural building of the sprung floor than I was
Awesome, so well just get some of the title block information out of the way, When did you move into this dojo?
September 2010
So, that’s kinda going back a bit into the memory vaults but, do you remember why, like what brought you to this place, why you chose this specific area was it economical, structural?
It was both, part of it was the rent was low, the second was, it’s a beautiful space with all the natural wood and light and skylights
It is, I remember the first time I came here, cause I was going in through that steep, steep alleyway and then up the rickety stairs, and I just walked in like woah. so those were the two main reasons?
Those were the driving characteristics, were a not for profit so, we have enough money to cover rent to cover build out, but everyone who teaches in the dojo is a volunteer, none of us get paid all of the fees that come in go into the upkeep of the space
So, was this the only place you were looking at or were you looking at a or was there a spread of places or?
Oh, we spent a month looking, we were originally, just before this on Isabella and they were tearing the building down to build condos so, this we’ve been in Ottawa for 40 years, so this is our fourth dojo in 40 years that we’ve had to move to, and actually all of our moves have been pressured by tearing down and building condos.
So, were there any compromises or concession you had to make, like something that this isn’t perfect but you just kinda, the dojo was good enough that you thought this was still the best option.
Yes, the biggest concern we had, and we were able to accommodate it with the floor is, that corner is 8 inches lower than the rest, so we had to build an infrastructure to level the floor, before we could build the sprung floor on top of it. We also, all of this stuff over here the change rooms, everything, we did that. There was a filthy kitchen over here, it was just gross gross, so we had to take out all of those parts, build change rooms, redo the plumbing so we could have showers do all this build out the men’s changeroom, and then we build the whole floor.
Are there any, you know you’re transitioning from a traditional little Italy space, to a martial space. Were there any really important aspects that you needed to include?
The biggest one is, we need change rooms large enough, and we need showers, we already had bathrooms, though they were filthy, but, we had to add in showers you know, the only other thing is, we need a sprung floor, so people can fall on. So, typically if the floor had been level, we wouldn’t need the infrastructure below, and we could just do it directly on the cement put in our two layers of plywood and be done. But, because the floor was un-even we had to build in a structure to level it, and then once we had it all levelled then we had to put in a sheet of plywood down, and then we could put the sponge blocks in uh arranged throughout the whole floor, glued in place, and then two layers of plywood set up so there at 90 degrees, and none of the cracks lined up with each other, and then we screwed it all into place.
Perfect, so uh, we’re gonna kinda like move, so this is the reason I’m taking this interview is it’s a history and theory class, so I’m going to move away from the more title block information like the structural and practical concerns um I’m going to ask you about, if you don’t mind, aikido philosophy, is there, I mean I know it’s a big topic, that we could be here for a long time but
So, Aikido is a modern martial art, not an archaic one like Jitsu or Ken-jitsu or Iaido, that are also practiced here. Our history is very short the founder of aikido died in 1969. What made aikido different is that it took Jitsu and Jen-jitsu and smoothed them out, created techniques that were more spherical and softer, but it has a very specific ethic. We do not injure unless we are forced to. So, the application of the techniques is done very subtly, so that people are not injured, but, don’t confuse that with being wussy, the techniques are still effective. They’re just not done with the intent to break a wrist
So, correct me if I’m wrong but I believe aikido translates to the gentle art?
No, it translates to the way of harmony, and it’s really referring to harmonizing the Ki within your body with the Ki that the opponent is bringing, it’s creating that harmony of movement so that there is no conflict.
Right, and its Ju-Jutsu that’s the gentle art, that’s what I was thinking of. Do you find you incorporate that philosophy and practice into your everyday life as not just a martial,
Oh yeah, yes, at the advance levels its all about awareness. Awareness of the space awareness of what’s happening in your body and the use of intuition. And those skills translate directly to what you do off the mats. We learn them here, but the founder of aikido always said that the purpose of the practice here was to build a more peaceful world. And the skillset that you take from here out there is the awareness and intuition.
Ok, so part of the reason I’m asking about that is you know, spaces are designed by people, and they’re designed for reasons, and there are kind of remnants and manifestations of that in how the choices people make in architecture when they’re changing, do you think those two things are related? Like do you think that any of that idea and ideology is manifested in how dojos are made, how this dojo might be made, or do you think that’s completely separate?
Oh yeah (in reference to the first part of the question) Oh no (in reference to them being separate), so first you note there is white walls and wood trim, everywhere, its very typical of Japanese dojos. Typically, the dojos would have a lot of natural light, in japan they wouldn’t have brick, but here the natural brick gives you that earthy feel. But they would have the light, and in the center of the, where you’re facing to the front of the dojo, there is always what’s called the Shomen or a focus where an altar is, where you have aikido ideograms and picture of the founder, but we also have two scrolls on either side, and both of these are driven by the founder. This one is a piece of his calligraphy that he would practice, but it says true victory is victory over oneself the focus is all on you, its not on defeating an opponent it’s on defeating you’re self and the one over here is focus or concentrations on Mushin or empty mind, letting go what’s going in your mind. Both of those and the way they’re set up as Japanese scrolls remind everyone whos practicing here that its not about overcoming an opponent, its about overcoming yourself. And this whole atmosphere was set up to create that, there’s no competition here, we, none of the styles that practice here are competitive, we’re all cooperative, we all work together, we do in house seminars together where we share and all instructors teach.
Awesome, And I know that’s one of the things I notices is that as soon, I know I’ve been to other dojos before, and there’s something you notice in a lot of the competition dojos they have a lobby, and in a lot of the traditional dojos they don’t, you enter, and as soon as you enter in the space the first thing you see is the place where you practice. And you start entering into that mindset of I’m going to focus inwards on the practice.
Yah, that’s how this is set up
So um, after using this space for several years, almost a decade now I suppose, Is there anything that you feel you might have changed, if you had to do it, like rerenovate it again or? Are you completely happy?
No,
No?
This is the best one we’ve ever been in, the only thing that we wrestle with at times are the pillars. But you’d be surprised how many dojos in Canada and the US have pillars because we can’t afford to build a gymnasium. So, almost all of the small dojos were storefronts, were buildings that all had pillars, and we work our way around that. So, if I had a choice, and cost wasn’t an issue. I would get rid of those five pillars there, but, this building, I don’t know if you know the history of this building.
Not as well as I should probably
This building, so the four-story white brick building farther down the strip mall on Gladstone was the standard bread company. Where they made bread. The strip mall was where the carriages unloaded the grain. We’re in the stables, so this is set up, this whole building was stables, and we’re actually in the hayloft. Behind those two panels were bricked in openings where they brought in the bales of hay. And if you look up, you can see the original iron fixtures, hanging down from the ceiling, that’s a where they moved the bales, yeah this is the space, that’s why its such a beautiful space, unfortunately though its heritage there they’re keeping this building, they’re keeping the four story one.
So is that, I know this was kinda the thing people were talking about a bit ago. They’re thinking of tearing this building down, are they still?
Yeah, this building is going, which is unfortunate cause all of this is original
And it really is like a beautiful beautiful dojo
It’s the best space we’ve ever had, in the four dojos we’ve been in, this one has, well, the spirit of our practice has permeated the space when people come in here they notice the difference, they, people relax they get ready to do stuff, a beautiful space. And you know, we have a bunch of kids there, that are totally quiet, not racing around, waiting for that class to finish before they get on the mats, no one of its, its all that supportive.
Awesome, well that was a fantastic interview, thank you for, I mean I know you have class but that was a really great help,
Oh its, we won’t go on until they’re done, and then the kids will need to run because, that’s what kids do
Yep, I suppose if you don’t mind if we have time, maybe just one more question then. There’s, it feels to me and it looks to me like you’re trying to continue the traditional Japanese ethos in this building and like I said, and like you said, there’s kind of a transition from a commercial early Canadian area to Japanese, what was the process like of trying to integrate on of those, you know you’d think of a very different unique circumstances into each other.
Its very interesting, you know when sensei created aikido, it was of course steeped in Japanese culture because he’s Japanese, but he was very clear in his writing that this is an international art you don’t have too become Japanese to excel in this art, however the principles of Japanese practice are what we bring into this space. The Japanese architecture of plain walls with wood trim to bring that natural element in from Shintoism just tie all the colours together, but all of the other stuff we bring in is to set the right mindset so that when people walk onto the mats they’re able to let go of stuff, so we would never have things like trophies, would never have things that bring out competitive urges of controversial urges. Or ego, and try and remove all of that so when people come here they just focus
Well yeah, that was an amazing interview, Thank you
(Currently having trouble getting the audio of this interview onto Scalar. To be honest, the audio quality is not the best. The interview took place in the dojo while a class was taking place. Still, every word is easily understood and I think by transcribing you miss some of what is communicated through intonation and emphasis. Will try to resolve)
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