From the Editor
In the Dojo Volume 3 Issue 5
In this month’s issue of In the Dojo, we are pleased to feature an article about gender equality in aikido by AOSB co-founder Courtney Paul. This piece was originally submitted to the Aikido World Alliance’s Technical Committee in 2017 as part of Courtney’s nidan application. The issues and questions Courtney raises remain relevant today, especially as dojo’s reopen and there is the opportunity to do something better than merely returning to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Women in Martial Arts
Courtney Paul, nidan and AOSB co-founder
““Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow.””
Aikido occupies a unique place in the history of Japanese martial arts, being neither an ancient, traditional koryu art of combat, nor a modern competitive sport. Rather, it developed in the early 20th century from a curious combination of traditional fighting arts, obscure religion, and the horrors of World War II, to become an art of self-defense and spiritual growth. The founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba O-sensei, as a young man, was an avid practitioner of a variety of demanding sports and martial arts, including sumo wrestling, swimming, running and strength training, as well as traditional empty hand and sword arts. Despite his small stature, he developed extraordinary strength and stamina and enjoyed demonstrating his prowess in bouts with other martial artists. Over time, however, he began to realize that mere youth and strength would not bring the type of personal growth that he thought martial arts training should provide.
O-sensei began developing aikido in the 1920s and 30s, as an offshoot of his practice of daito-ryu jujutsu, combined with the influence of an esoteric Shinto sect known as Omoto-kyo, which teaches that the true god is present in all things and beings, and that paradise on earth will be achieved by bringing all people back to the true path of harmony. But O-sensei’s art finally came together as the aikido we know today following Japan’s defeat in World War II, when he realized that the true path for humanity must be peace, rather than combat. “The world will continue to change dramatically,” he wrote, “but fighting and war can destroy us utterly. What we need now are techniques of harmony, not those of contention. The Art of Peace is required, not the Art of War.”
Photo courtesy of Fred Mautz.
Consistent with the sweeping ambitions of his religious background, O-sensei’s vision for aikido was not limited to the young, strong men who traditionally sought out martial arts training in Japan. To the contrary, he repeatedly described aikido as a path for all humankind, with principles that could be applied to all aspects of life. Toward this end, O-sensei was open to teaching a variety of students as long as they were willing to train hard with commitment, notably accepting and encouraging women aikidoka to an extent unheard of in the notoriously sexist post-war Japanese culture.
Takako Kunigoshi, a direct student of O-sensei’s during the 1930s, noted in an interview with Stanley Pranin that even during the harder, pre-war period of aikido, O-sensei “never made us feel different by changing things because we were women,” nor did he “pull any punches” with his female students. His philosophy toward women aikidoka only became more inclusive over time, although it continued to be a challenge for many of his male students. Mary Heiny, who trained with O-sensei at Hombu Dojo during the late 1960s, describes a time when O-sensei came into the dojo and scolded the men in her class for “training in a manner which was merely a contest of strength.” Instead, O-sensei said, “you should train like the women train; the women train to learn aikido.” She remembers many similar instances where O-sensei expressly welcomed female students to the dojo and instructed men and women to train together, although she predictably encountered many male training partners who were unwilling to accept women as equal participants. Despite O-sensei’s admonitions, there were male aikidoka who would refuse to train with women or pull their punches, or who would only train with a woman “for the purpose of teaching her a lesson.” But other men took O-sensei’s instructions to heart and readily trained with the women. These experiences are familiar to female aikidoka today, although thankfully to a lesser extent as a result of changing cultural attitudes toward women in the U.S. and Japan.
Photo courtesy of Fred Mautz.
Despite these challenges, aikido was designed as, and continues to be, an ideal art for all students to practice together - men and women, young and old, large and small. At nidan, I am still young in my aikido career, but I believe that as we progress in the art, it is our responsibility to transmit to the next generation not only the skills and techniques of aikido, but also the philosophy of inclusiveness that allows everyone to find “a suitable path.” To accomplish this, as senior students and teachers of aikido we must be mindful of how women and students other than young, strong men experience training with us and in our dojo. Our understanding of aikido deepens when our practice partners represent a spectrum of genders, ages, body types and energy patterns, and our spiritual growth as human beings also benefits from interactions with a diverse aikido community. It is vital that we create a training environment in which all students who train with commitment can thrive.
As a woman, I have always felt welcome in my dojo, and I have been inspired by the Aikido World Alliance’s efforts to prominently feature female instructors. However, I have also seen periods of waning female attendance in class and at seminars, and images and stories of women are still rare in aikido publications and the broader media. Women still leave aikido practice at a higher rate and earlier in their careers than men, and high-ranked women instructors are still a small minority. With effort, I think we can change this. In order to develop the vibrant and diverse aikido community that we want for the future, we must continue to evaluate ourselves and our practice, asking difficult questions such as, are we truly promoting O-sensei’s vision of refinement for every spirit and training for every body? Are we creating an environment where our students and practice partners are encouraged to challenge and improve their aikido by training with someone different from themselves? And, specifically, are we finding ways to encourage women aikidoka and help them be seen and heard as valued practitioners of the art?
As in all aspects of aikido, there are no easy answers, but if it were easy, why would any of us continue on the path?
Women in Martial Arts Sources:
Pranin, Stanley. Aikido Pioneers: Prewar Era. Japan: Aiki News, 2010.
Siegel, Andrea. Women in Aikido. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1993.
Stone, John and Ron Meyer. Aikido in America. Berkeley: Frog, Ltd., 1995.
Tohei, Koichi. Ki in Daily Life. Japan: Ki no Kenkyukai, H.Q., 2006.
Ueshiba, Morihei. The Art of Peace. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1992.