It was 2019 when, in one of our articles, we described our first experience of a day entirely dedicated to alternating intensive training, work and relationships.

That experience profoundly changed us. We clearly saw how much more we could still draw from our own energy. How much time in our days could still be optimized, aiming to improve intensity and quality in everything we do: in our work, in our teaching, in our practice.

From that moment began the development that, in just a few years, led Novum Experience to become the driving force behind many initiatives in Aikido, Self Defense, education and social projects. The number of courses increased, and with them came greater responsibilities. Among these, completely unexpected ones: institutional responsibilities.

This is why, once again this summer, we took part in the Summer Intensive organized by the Evolutionary Aikido Community in Montreux, Switzerland.

On paper, five hours (often more than six) of training per day, divided into three sessions: early morning, early afternoon and evening, connected by meditation practices and by a great deal of exchange with teachers and practitioners coming from the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France and, of course, Switzerland.

The development of teaching skills goes hand in hand with refining our awareness of limits. After all, this is precisely why, following two months of unusually intense heat that was also felt on the shores of Lake Geneva, we chose to wake up at 5:30 every morning for a week, practice sword and staff work outdoors at 7:00, and draw on the last remaining drops of energy after yet another year of practice and work.

These are precious opportunities to understand the depth of the experiences offered by highly skilled teachers, attentive to refining every single aspect of their work.

This is certainly the case with Patrick Cassidy, whose technical and teaching solidity clearly stands out both in the presentation of fundamental exercises and in the deeper exploration of technical and experiential dimensions.

The conviviality and the experience of sharing everything -truly everything– with one’s teacher for an entire week are equally important. Sometimes we fail to realize how valuable it is to meet and “live” our teacher beyond the training space: through a meal prepared together, a conversation on a sofa, the sharing of perspectives and visions.

The powerful mirror provided by the other teachers and practitioners, each embodying the uniqueness of their own culture and expressing it through the language of Aikido, reflects the image of women and men who seek unity. Who seek peace.

It reflects the image of a world that, from its foundations, wants to make a difference and build the framework of a society – at a national, European, global level- that is still capable, despite all difficulties, of recognizing itself as part of that single human family which is both the dream and the goal of the practice we share.

A sense of familiarity and belonging without which everything that is martial becomes merely and sterilely technical.

For us, the Summer Intensive has once again been an experience of teaching. The further we progress along this threefold path -practitioners, teachers, managers- the more we understand that we owe ourselves and those who place their trust in us the responsibility of clarity, communication, and the use of technique as a tool to create an experiential journey into the principles and purposes of Aikido.

Testing ourselves abroad, in front of such a diverse audience and in a foreign language, is complex. Yet it is part of the necessary process of polishing our skills, leaving aside everything superficial.

More specifically, each teacher was asked to connect their teaching to a central theme:

“Who do I need to be in order to fully meet the present moment?”

And, during the final seminar, to connect their teaching with that of the instructor who preceded them.

An exercise that is essential for developing some of the skills required of a modern teacher: depth, avoidance of superficiality, simplicity, adaptability, listening to the audience, the ability to build a learning path, faithfulness to the given purpose, courage in exploration, technical clarity, methodological versatility and breadth of cultural references.

Physical, mental and emotional fatigue is always considerable. Yet it is precisely through that fatigue that we are able to discover how much space and energy still remain available.

That is the reservoir from which we will draw for the year ahead.