Summer seminar | Students' assays: Part I

What I learned at Summer seminar in Berkley

by Sonny Monge

Looking back over everything I learned at the Berkley Seminar my biggest discovery was that I had a lot of misconceptions about myself and what I am capable of doing. I am not by nature an athletic person. I have always had an easy going laissez-faire attitude toward life in general. I always tried to work smarter and not harder. Some may have mistaken this kind of world view as laziness but I always thought of it as being more efficient with my time.

I know I have yet to mention Berkley but I thought it would be helpful to provide context to my particular perception of the event. The first and most striking thing that I learned is that there are no shortcuts in Aikido. A short cut kind of defeats the whole purpose of the practice of the art. That is to say, that because the only competitive aspect in Aikido is against you vs. yourself, shortcuts only serve in cheating yourself.

Second I found that I am capable of a level of athleticism that I never new existed within me. I had always been content to ignore my body and instead have had a tendency to rely on my mind and my words. In Aikido I have found not only a challenge for my physical self but also for the mind. Its like trying to unlock a puzzle box and I find that very satisfying. I learned in Berkley that I can test my own preconceived limits and I wont break. Not only can I test my limits but I learned that I can push those limits, inch them forward little by little. Bruises will heal, aches and pains fade and a skinned knee is only a minor inconvenience but in the service of learning anew way to move my body they amount to little badges in my minds eye. This was one of the more satisfying discoveries I made during the seminar.

My fondest memory of going to Berkeley will always be all of the great people I met. All of them brought together because of their enthusiasm and passion for the art of Aikido. Like any art form each individual expresses themselves in the form in their own individual way. At Berkley I was given the opportunity work with so many different people and to share with them their “way” of Aikido and in turn being allowed to express my own interpretation was an absolute pleasure and I am grateful for the opportunity.

Compassion in action

About a month ago I received a phone call from a friend who works for the Los Angeles School District. She was asking for help. She is a psychologist who takes care of children that are growing up in difficult circumstances, and who have very little to no support from their families. She told me the story of one of her patients who she felt would benefit greatly from participating in our Aikido classes. Since the conditions at the child's home are very poor, she wanted to know whether we offer any scholarships. I said that it will be our pleasure to have this child enrolled in our children class at no cost.

What an energetic and sweet kid she is. It's been a few weeks since she started training, and we were hoping that someone would have a "hand-me-down" Gi (uniform) to give her—yet, nobody had a Gi her size.

This morning, one of the Dojo parents approached me and asked whether the new student had a Gi yet. When I answered that so far we didn't find one for her, the parent handed me some money, saying: "This is for a Gi".
My heart widened and a feeling of appreciation for this deed of compassion totally washed me.

Our Dojo environment and the kids classes may be the only rays of light in this girl's life.
A good deed like this reflects on our Dojo community—and shines, so brightly.
Thank you, dear parent, I bow to your kindness and compassion.

Iaido practice

I admit that I ended up training in Aikido only because I wanted to study Iaido. The school I started at had Iaido as a secondary practice, so I had to take up Aikido first.
I had no idea about how much I would love Aikido, and how quickly I will embrace it into my life... It took about two months.
Now, I practice both, and it feels as if they complement each other in great harmony.