News from the mat

The day yesterday made me think about Aikido, about what it means to me, about the wonderful teachers I have had, about how much I have learned and how much I still need to learn.

One of my teachers said once: “You must be like a big still mountain lake!”

(or “Grosser stiller Bergsee”, which catches the feeling of it a bit better).

I am very grateful for him to have taught me about the meaning of this calm spot inside and how to access it better and better. So for those of you in Berlin who might think I’ve left the mat permanently – sorry to take that illusion from you… I know it might sound strange to some of you but I can’t handle life without being able to throw some boys around sometimes ;-)

So I have found a place in Cape Town where I can keep up my training. Although we are sometimes “lacking a few Hakamas” on the mat it has been great to train with the people at UCT and it is inspiring to be able to show those that are new to Aikido what it is – or can be – about. I have found a teacher that I feel I can learn a lot from and so am enjoying the classes very much.

Altogether Aikido is not as popular in South Africa as it is in Germany. The reason for this is not so easy to grab, but one major problem is certainly the past isolation of the country. It is not only the fact that hardly any of the big teachers from all over the world have ever come out here but also that those who wanted to develop there Aikido had to go overseas to do so and to eventually grade.

So it is great to see things change and develop. Last weekend we had a teacher from the United States giving a seminar and I am hoping for more opportunities like that. Maybe someone from Germany is keen to come out? (hint, hint ;-)

With this I send out a big THANK YOU to all the “Seven (and extended seven) Samurais” in Berlin and Cape Town! I hope your training (and of course the rest of your life if you have such a thing ;-) is going well.

Lots of sunshine from hot Cape Town (meant to be 32 today – sorry Berlin, sure you’ll catch up soon…) CU soon on the mat!

Regina