I felt a bit like a pilgrim arriving at the destination of her pilgrimage when I made my way to the Aikikai Hombu Dojo on a Monday morning in September 2009. It was very early on that Monday morning, as the class that I had chosen to attend was scheduled to start at 7.00am.

I was staying in a hotel in the heart of Shinjuku and it was only a 15 minute walk from there to the dojo. Although Shinjuku has a reputation of being a very busy quarter, and is often referred to as the modern heart of Tokyo, the small streets that I passed through that morning were very quiet and rather felt like a small town. The silence in the streets was only broken by the chirring of the cicadas in the trees. I was quite nervous about my first visit to the Hombu dojo but the peaceful atmosphere helped calm me down a bit, and I just thought to myself how lucky I was to be there. I felt truly privileged about this opportunity of practising at the Aikido World Headquarters – an opportunity that so many Aikidoka around the world dream about!

Because I was apprehensive about my first visit to the Hombu dojo, I had chosen to attend a beginners' class to start with. I was slightly worried about the etiquette, which I expected to be different and stricter than in Europe, but also thought the level of the regular classes might be too advanced for me.

The changing room was packed, which took me by surprise, as at home in Dublin the female changing rooms are usually rather quiet, a bit lonely even. And from what I had heard about the patriarchal nature of Japanese society I really hadn't expected that many women practising Aikido, and especially not at 7 o'clock in the morning!

After getting changed I followed 2 students to the training area and carefully watched as they bowed first to the picture of O Sensei and then turned to the other students already on the mat and performed a second bow to them before entering the room.

The class was taught by Ueshiba Jr., the son of the Doshu. We started with a quick warm-up and then practiced a number of basic techniques that were all more or less familiar. In fact, the main challenge of the session were the tatami mats! They were a lot harder than the mats that we practise on in Europe. However, the hardness didn't bother me too much as we did ushiro ukemi for most of the class. The tough thing was the rough surface of the mats - even after only one hour of practice I had grazed skin on various parts of my feet, which reminded me of the days when I first started Aikido.

After this first experience in the Hombu Dojo, I attended a few of the regular classes that were taught on the 3rd floor. Looking back I was, in the end, rather stunned how similar the etiquette and procedures in the Hombu Dojo were to those I experienced in Europe. To my surprise the Japanese instructors were actually explaining quite a lot during the class, and some of them even made jokes! (Not that I understood any of them, but everybody else was laughing!)

One of the classes that I was quite keen to attend during my stay in Tokyo was the Women's Special class which is taught by Yukimitsu Kobayashi Sensei on Friday mornings. Quite a few people have asked me since why I had such an interest in attending this special class. Well, one reason was that I hadn't seen Kobayashi Sensei before but had heard loads about him and really wanted to see him before leaving Japan. The other reason was pure curiosity. I had never come across a special class for women in Europe and was curious how it would be to practise with women only, how the class would be run, and how the teaching would be different. And I guess one part of the reason why I was keen to attend the women's class was the simple fact that I was allowed to attend it, while all the men were not! ;o)

In the end Kobayashi Sensei was away on a business trip that day and the lesson was taught by Sugawara Sensei and was generally run very similarly to the other classes. The main difference was that we had lots of space on the mat, which I really appreciated! Also the atmosphere in class seemed more relaxed and less competitive than in the other classes that I had attended during my stay in Tokyo. While in the regular classes very few people had made an effort to talk to me, the girls were really chatty after the class and were very interested in my background and my trip to Japan. They also agreed to pose for me in a picture which I will probably keep for the rest of my life, as a special souvenir from my first visit to Japan and the Aikikai Hombu Dojo.

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To go further

Dublin Aikikai trip to Tokyo in May 2008