Images of the path

We are featuring an exhibit of Roger Hoffmann's photography at our new Dojo, a series of five images taken in Japanese gardens.









Roger sees the progression on the path easily expressed here and this is his description to each of the images:

Practice - "You don't know what you don't know"









1. Reading, watching, thinking vs. doing.
2. Just do it.
3. Follow the class even if you don't know or understand what you are doing.
4. Lots of repetition.
5. Your mind might not get it, but your body is learning.
6. Get into a schedule.
7. Not haphazard.
8. Predictable.
9. Repetitive, risk of boredom, push through, there is so much depth to
Aikido.
10. Keep an empty mind, beginners mind.

Path - "You know what you don't know"








1. Junior kyu levels
2. Not all who practice join the path.
3. Commit to the path, the dojo, your sensei, your fellow students, your
community.
4. Understand what it means to practice in and out of the dojo.
5. There is more Aikido off the mat than on the mat.
6. Study the path, learn about the founder.
7. Learn about the art, the waza, your body.
8. Find understanding, not just knowledge.
9. Now you have a sense of the depth of Aikido and realize how much there is
to learn.
10. Don't get discouraged.

Balance - "You don't know what you know"








1. Senior kyu levels
2. Complex interplay of opposites.
3. Hard, soft, empty, full, stable, unstable, gounded, free, ura, omote, high,
low, inside, outside, work, family, life, balance, time, money, commitments.
4. The "center" of the path, the world of relative existence.
5. You will be here for a long time so get comfortable.
6. Explore the opposites but don't get stuck in them.
7. Observe but don't judge.
8. Discriminate but remain accepting.
9. You are learning a lot and might not even be aware of it.
10. When you observe and train with a new student, you will realize what you
have learned.
11. Be thankful for those ahead of you on the path and be a good sempai to
those who are joining.
12. Don't get ahead of yourself or become unbalanced.
13. Stay humble.

Integration - "You know what you know"








1. Dan level
2. Just the first step, a new beginning.
3. But now you actually know what you know.
4. However you still have not arrived (and never will).
5. A dan grade is not the final destination. It is simpy the mark of a serious
student.
6. Stay humble.
7. Be a good sempai.
8. Simplify while retaining balance.
9. Opposites start to dissolve into unity.
10. There is no more "uke" and "nage"
11. Learn how to throw yourself.
12. Learn how to develop and empty mind.

Formless - "Beyond knowing"








1. Shihan
2. There is no "you" and no mind.
3. Beyond waza
4. The journey is the destination
5. There is no practice and no path