How far along are we?
It is a spontaneous and legitimate question within any path.

In the practice of Aikido -and in fact of any discipline- it is important to equip ourselves with a tool that helps us understand where we stand within a developmental trajectory.

In most cases, in a Dojo, the only tool used to objectively measure where we are in our journey coincides with the technical syllabus, and therefore with progression, made measurable also through tests.

As fundamental as it is, the technical aspect represents only one part of what we call Aikido. Much like grammar and syntax are only one -yet structural- component of language and literature.

When the technical syllabus remains the sole metric of individual progression, one inevitably experiences the typhoon that periodically hits every tatami: the hysterical binge of pre-test rehearsals.

Building a shared tool that provides practitioners with reference points to evaluate their own path -both independently and through feedback from their teacher- therefore becomes necessary.

Practicing a discipline is, and remains, a psychodynamic activity. Physical activity, carried out within a relational context, generally triggers personal processes in which different individual dimensions are involved. Consistent practice usually results in a more toned body, a character more capable of resolving conflict, and a greater sense of relaxation…

Everyone has their own path and their own timing. Supporting both the individual practitioner and the group, without losing sight of each person’s journey, is the task of the teacher.

It is here that experience shows how both students and teachers risk slipping.

Students, regardless of age, rarely have a self-assessment that corresponds to the one their teacher has of them. This is even more true when there is no defined trajectory and no shared indicators.

Teachers, on the other hand, beyond the technical syllabus, sometimes risk relying too much on the implicit power of the process they facilitate. They have already been through it and may believe that what is obvious and natural to them is also obvious and natural to a student who, in reality, struggles to orient themselves. When teachers are convinced that continuous micro-feedback during training is sufficient, they are mistaken. They’re wrong.

For both, moreover, it is easy to shift from a comparison about “how far along are we” to a relationship that is no longer one of guidance but of subordination. A teacher has a different role from a student, and this asymmetry is healthy as long as it nourishes the growth of everyone involved, including the teacher.

It slowly slips into dysfunction when the student places the teacher on a pedestal, or when the teacher adopts the role of a guru, or when a dual system emerges in which guidance gives way to mutual manipulation.

We therefore realized that there was a gap to be filled in the educational framework of our groups.

So we created a map: a small document that summarizes, in very direct terms, what we share on the mat:

This sheet clearly states what Aikido is and the perspective of our teaching approach, which uses it as a tool for understanding, transformation, and improvement for anyone who approaches it — child or senior alike.

It briefly references the technical program and the fact that tests are envisioned from 6th kyu to 5th dan.

Finally, we defined four areas, each characterized by six qualities. In this way, it becomes possible to trace the evolution of motor skills and interpersonal skills, as well as the development and modulation of “active” and “receptive” attitudes.

This is not about reducing practice to yet another situation in which one feels stressed by judgment or evaluation. Rather, it is about giving value to experience by savoring its dynamic nature.

Day after day, keiko after keiko, belt after belt, an experience that becomes deep precisely because it is accompanied by objective feedback, offers ever-new goals and unprecedented meanings to intention, improvement, respect, care, and the ability to express one’s inner world through technical language.

We could have defined many more indicators, but geometry reminds us that to define a point in space, three references are enough -and that understanding a trajectory requires knowing its origin, the starting point. And for us, that origin is the person, while the references are their ability to understand, transform, and improve what they experience.

And you: how far along are you on your trajectory?

Disclaimer: Picture by RDNE Stock project from Pexels