At our most recent pub night we had 12 Aikidoka from NINE (!) dojos join a casual Zoom call to catch up with each other. Some of us enjoyed a drink or a late supper while participating, but all of us appreciated being able to see faces that we know from past seminars.

 

The conversation was unstructured—we never did get around to discussing any articles on the future of Aikido—but everyone had a chance to say what was on their mind. No mics were muted!

We ended up talking mostly about what we were doing in terms of solo practice. Some of us have been participating in Zoom classes, others have been doing weapon work outside, and still others have not been training much at all. The consensus seemed to be that the pandemic has created an opportunity to take a closer look at establishing a personalized solo practice, which is an important part of training that can be easily overlooked when our focus is on in-person interactions with fellow dojo members.

 

What exactly solo practice constitutes and how to go about cultivating the self-discipline that solo practice requires, however, continues to be a bit vague. As one participant insightfully put it, solo practice can lack the “social fuel” that some of us need to move forward.

The BCAF now plans to begin exploring ways in which we can throw some “accelerant” on individual fires and perhaps provide some resources that will support solo practice and help reduce the anticipated pain we are all dreading upon the eventual return to in-person practice.

 

Our next Pub Night will be Feb 26, 7 pm PST. Hope to see you there!