by Wendy Whited
June 2007
Budo is more than the ability to thrash someone. This must be true, or many people have wasted time and money going to the dojo multiple nights a week. Budo must impart to the student other qualities that surpass the physical activity of learning to defend one's self. In this article, I'm not going to discuss the divine or spiritual aspects of Budo. Those topics are for someone other than myself. I'm going to explore the traits that are useful to me during my daily life as an eighth grade teacher/principal. These traits are patience, tenacity, and compassion.
Anyone who decides to start a martial art learns very quickly that the road to "mastery" will be neither swift nor sure. The idea of "seven times down and eight times up" is an underlying principal of any art. But I had no idea how long it was going to take me to learn my first Judo throw. When I started Judo, I was amazed at the time the teacher would devote to me as a beginner. He would stay after class and let me practice my O-soto-gari hip throw until he was black and blue. His patience was legendary and he showed this same kindness to anyone who wanted to learn. As I work with my students in algebra, on adverbial clauses, or interpreting poetry, I remember how much time my teacher was willing to give me without complaint as I fumbled through my throws. Would I have the patience I have today without such an example? I'm not sure.
As I moved on to Aikido, I was again amazed at the patience of the teachers. One in particular, showed me how to fold my hakama every seminar I saw him at for a year. I was a bit of a slow learner and just couldn't get how to tie the strings. When I finally got it, Sensei beamed. Now when I show a beginner how to fold his hakama, I smile and remember how patient Sensei was with me.
Let's not even mention showing the same technique over and over for forty years or more. I really can't imagine doing that and remaining sane.
The next trait is tenacity. This is the core characteristic of all good teachers. Every year you teach in school, you will have one or two students who aren't happy in being stuck with you. As they test you and see how far they can drive you up a wall, you can never allow yourself to surrender and give up on them. Everyday you need to steel yourself to give this child another chance to do well. Teachers without tenacity quit within five years and have to go out into the world to find a less challenging career. Who demonstrates tenacity better than any Budo instructor? Imagine working with students for fifteen or more years, getting them to dan rank, and they leave the dojo for whatever reason. It takes tenacity to want to continue and put that kind of time into another student. Every established Aikido teacher I know has had to face this situation. Yet they keep teaching. My teachers are wonderful examples of tenacity.
As for compassion, I have never seen a person turned away from a dojo due to age or physical impairment. Doris Evans, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, started Aikido in a wheelchair. By the time I met her, she was able to train without even a cane. I'm sure the teacher was a bit shocked when she wheeled herself into the dojo, but he was willing to work with her. I have seen people training missing fingers, blind, deaf, and with a cane on the mat. In Japan one of my favorite partners was in his 80's. He didn't fall any longer, but it was a joy to work with him. The accommodations for these people's practice are rooted in something other than monetary compensation. I believe that teachers of Budo follow the ways of the various founders of their arts by welcoming people with limited abilities into the dojo.
This is what leads me to believe that there is more to Budo training than just the ability to kick over your head or hit someone hard and fast. I say everyday that my training in Aikido is what allows me to keep doing my job. The lessons in patience, tenacity, and compassion that I have been given by my teachers have sustained me in my life's work. This is what my training in Budo has meant to me.
Wendy Whited began her aikido training at Northern Illinois University in 1973, and is currently chief instructor at Inaka Dojo in Beecher, IL. School principal and 8th grade teacher in Burnham, IL, she rides horses in her spare time and credits aikido for keeping her safe when she gets thrown.