Featured School

Interview with Aviv Goldsmith Sensei of Aikido in Fredericksburg

1. Who is the dojo’s founder and what prompted him/her to build the school? Is there any rich history behind its making?
Aikido in Fredericksburg was organized as an outgrowth of the Fredericksburg Aikido Club, which was founded by Dwight Petersen Sensei (now 3rd dan) in 1993. The Club has a great history including unwavering support for Aikido training from a dedicated core group of students in a variety of locations (including Dwight’s garage) with support from Senseis from a variety of Aikido organizations.

When I arrived in Fredericksburg in 2001, there were four core students in the club. The Club was subleasing from a jujitsu club that had subleased from a karate school. As the class grew we began to look around for alternative space and the moving decision was accelerated by an eviction of the jujitsu club! We trained for a while at a gymnastics school until we leased our own 48-mat space in 2002 where we now have 14 classes per week. Aikido in Fredericksburg was organized in 2004 as a non-profit educational corporation.

We are now in the process of finalizing the construction of our own dojo building on a twenty-acre parcel of land. Many have commented that the “feel” of the land is similar to the feel at the Iwama Dojo in Japan. The plants in the landscape and garden are indeed similar. The new dojo will have at least twice daily classes, a traditional uchideshi program, and be able to host large seminars on a 102-mat training area. The program there will be modeled after the program that existed at the Iwama Dojo while Saito Morihiro Shihan was still alive.

2. What forms of Japanese martial arts do you teach in your school? Can you please share with us the history behind them?

We teach and practice Aikido. We make the dojo facility available to other traditional martial arts groups and have hosted Batto Do and Judo groups regularly.

Aikido was developed by Morihei Ueshiba whom Aikidoists call O’Sensei. O’Sensei developed Aikido in the 1940’s in Iwama, Japan. We teach what is generally called “Iwama-Style Aikido”. It is the result of Saito Shihan’s 23 years of personal study with O’Sensei at the Iwama Dojo.
Saito Shihan was very good at organizing and presenting O’Sensei’s waza. Saito Shihan focused on teaching, not just demonstrating. Many of his students have adopted this teaching style, which I found to be effective for learning. I am a slow physical learner and the precise technique and teaching methods definitely helped me learn Aikido basics.

Iwama-style Aikido includes the riai – combined logical practice of taijutsu and bukiwaza (aiki weapons). Saito Shihan learned aiki-ken and aiki-jo directly from O’Sensei and preserved these teachings. Some of the practices came directly from O’Sensei such as the 31 jo kata and the 5 kumitachi; others came from Saito Shihan’s distillation of O’Sensei’s instruction. Since not all Aikido schools practice bukiwaza, we are fortunate to have direct transmittal of this information.

As was taught by O’Sensei, Iwama-style practice actively uses kiai and atemi as tools in the waza. Iwama-style Aikido starts with a study of kihonwaza (static technique) – this can teach you how to move around your partners’ strength. Kinonagare (flowing movement) technique is introduced after the kihonwaza. The training is technique oriented – things like “feeling” and “ki development” are personal outgrowths of practice, not focal points. Ultimately, the goal is to develop takemusu aiki – the spontaneous expression of creative energy.

Our dojo is a member of the Takemusu Aikido Association (www.takemusu.org) which was founded with Saito Sensei’s blessing as an international association affiliated with Aikikai Hombu Dojo. The Takemusu Aikido Association is dedicated to the development and dissemination of Aikido based on the highest ideals of the Founder. The Association does this by continuing and promoting the Founder’s traditional teaching and training methods as passed on by Saito Shihan.

3. What are the principles and concepts that you uphold and try to instill in your students?

We endeavor to teach “client-centered” Aikido. This is different from the Japanese model and so far seems to work well for westerners. Client-centered Aikido can be summarized by something that Bill Witt Shihan once said to me; “Don’t teach what you know, teach what the students need to learn”. We are thrilled that our students take time out of their busy lives to train with us each week – we work to make the training, testing, learning engaging and more accessible to them. Although we focus our practice primarily on technique, the principles of Aikido readily transfer to improving our everyday lives. We work on practicing in a cooperative manner in the dojo and raising each other’s levels of proficiency.

4. Why do you think it is important for people to learn martial arts?

The tradition, the personal challenge, and the aiki-vision of everyone as your partner are powerful teachers. Immersion in this process ends up transforming lives for the better. One of the things that keep me engaged in Aikido is that people leave the dojo as better people than when they entered. I am always fascinated by the myriads of personal growth success stories from Aikidoists. Iwama-style Aikido is really focused on technique, yet it produces many of the psychological, emotional, and spiritual benefits as other self-improvement methods. We focus on basics like hanmi, awase, and kokyu development – we don’t spend a lot of time talking about philosophy or psychology.

5. What difficulties and obstacles have you encountered so far with regards to teaching martial arts and how did you overcome them?

I did not set out to be an instructor. In 1989, my teacher who lived 50 miles away from the dojo, asked me to cover one of the weekly classes since I was one of the senior students in the dojo. In 1993, he moved to Germany and since I was THE senior student at the time, I became Dojo Cho. Through practice and reflection, my teaching has improved. I now am in several networks of teachers and we share resources to improve all of our schools. When we moved to Virginia I started teaching children and so I organized the first ever conference on How to Teach Aikido to Children so I could pick the brains of some of the best in the field. This event is now a regular and popular seminar. At our new dojo we plan to host at least one professional development seminar each year for Senseis. The principles should be beneficial for those from other traditional martial arts as well.

6. What advice and/or insights can you share with our readers who want to pursue their interest in the Japanese form of martial arts?

Find a dojo where you can train regularly with an instructor that you can relate to. If the instructor has a strong lineage, all the better. Don’t dabble in too many arts until you have proficiency in one. If you find a system that works for you, spend time at seminars and eventually as a live-in student in an affiliated school. Immersion fosters focus and enhances our paths towards mastery.

7. Can you give a short biography of your instructor(s)?

I, Aviv Goldsmith Sensei, am the Chief Instructor of the Aikido in Fredericksburg, a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational corporation. I was introduced to Aikido training in the mid 1970s at the New York Aikikai and in 1986 became a student of Wolfgang Baumgartner in Reno, Nevada. I became Chief Instructor of the Reno Aikido Co-Op dojo in 1992 when Baumgartner Sensei left Nevada to return to his native Germany. I continued to teach and train in Reno until early 2002 when I was recruited to move to Spotsylvania, Virginia at the invitation of the Fredericksburg Aikido Club.

Since 1987, I have trained annually with Morihiro Saito Shihan (9th dan) and his son/successor Saito Hitohiro Sensei, including five visits as a live-in student at the Iwama dojo in Japan, where Aikido was developed. I currently hold the rank of “Godan” (5th degree blackbelt) awarded by Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo, and is a certified second level instructor of the Iwama Aiki-weapons system. I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Takemusu Aikido Association and Aiki-Extensions, Inc. Under my direction, Aikido in Fredericksburg is developing a world-class rural training center on 20 acres in Spotsylvania that will be a resource for the local and martial arts community.