Identity and tradition are terms widely used in many contexts. There is a sector of marketing -so called heritage marketing -that is defined as the set of activities and strategies aimed at enhancing a company’s historical, cultural, and symbolic heritage to strengthen brand perception in the present.
In other words, heritage marketing works when it values the coherence between past and present, narrating -more or less eloquently- the origins and emphasizing the productive tradition that a territory and its culture have created and spread until today.
If we think about the storytelling of well-known “Made in Italy” brands, we will recognize that each of them builds its communication around the perception of such elements.
Aikido is no different. It has its own history, sometimes narrated in a somewhat romanticized way. Its roots derive from a context rich in values linked to Japanese culture and spirituality, maintaining a continuous connection from its beginnings to the present day.
We live in a highly fragmented society. Yet, even if fragmented, the human being is one. And the way humans approach marketing is not so different when it comes to dealing with Martial Arts.
In marketing and communication, the frequency of terms like identity and tradition has increased dramatically over the past forty years. More than 70% of new brands and products reference these two words directly.
In Aikido, references to tradition are almost obsessive. However, just like a seemingly ordinary bottle of wine, simply emphasizing tradition is not always a guarantee of authenticity. Consumers notice that -and may not buy.
Tradition is a powerful medicine. In the right dose, it remedies certain issues and meets many needs. In the wrong dose, it could cause harm.
Let’s consider Aikido. A few decades ago it did not exist, and thus it is the result of a living elaboration, based on experiences from other disciplines. Something ignited a spark that spread far beyond Japan and beyond the lives of its founder and his two main disseminators: O Sensei’s biological son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, and his technical, if not spiritual, successor Morihiro Saito.
Embracing tradition does not mean repeating the exact experiences of those who transmitted it. One can understand the value of Aikido without traveling to Manchuria, joining the Omoto Kyo cult, colonizing Hokkaido, suffering from beri beri, or breaking joints under Sokaku Takeda -paths that Morihei Ueshiba personally traversed.
What has reached us today is this living entity called Aikido, which can preserve and offer its original message and transformative power to those approaching it now -a continuous practice of removing ego-centered perspectives.
A message mediated through a technical language that must be studied and understood seriously.
But it cannot be reduced to the mere repetition of gestures, forms, and past perspectives.
What often happens instead is a strange attempt -more or less conscious -to strengthen a weak internal identity using an unspecified “tradition.”
A tradition that becomes a kind of myth or totem, regardless of its credibility or truth, ultimately serving as a distinctive and divisive element -the opposite of what any discipline aims to achieve.
Tradition, instead of being a fire that passes through time and ignites hearts, becomes rhetoric. Practice turns into a timeless museum, where forms of the past are preserved under the pretext of cataloging. In doing so, they become incomprehensible and, being practically useless for the development of the person living here and now, are destined for oblivion.
This is exactly the opposite of the concept of tradition.
Between identity and tradition, the key element that ensures the continuity of the discipline -allowing its value to flow uninterrupted from the origins to today- is fidelity.
A fidelity that cannot be expressed through forms. “Instead of trying to copy what I do, listen to what I say,” Morihei Ueshiba repeatedly emphasized.
Yet we often prefer to identify as custodians of a tradition we reproduce mechanically rather than as promoters of universal values and principles, which only need to be embraced and communicated.
Disclaimer: Picture by Francesco Ungaro from Pexels