In 2011, I migrated back to Australia to be with my family but I really needed to continue doing Ki Aikido, of course. I’d already checked with the Ki Federation and there were no dojos in Sydney. In the whole of Australia there were just 3 existing dojos: Sensei Adrian, the Head Teacher for Australia was in Brisbane (900 kilometres from Sydney with a 1 hour flight), Annie Waddington-Feather was in Adelaide (1,400 kilometres with a 1 1/2 hour flight) and Steve Vickers was in Perth (3,000 kilometres with a 5 hour flight). Driving between the cities was out of the question as it’s always at least a full day’s drive to Brisbane or Adelaide from Sydney and from Adelaide to Perth there was an extra 3 day drive across the desert. So it was not going to be possible for any of us to just call in for the odd high grade class or kyu grading.
I paid the extremely expensive insurance for my dojo, booked a hall, put down mats, opened the 4th Australian dojo and waited for the students to come flooding in. But right from the start it was hard to get students to join me. I was living in the Blue Mountains which is about 60 km west from the centre of Sydney. There wasn’t a huge population of people eager to learn Aikido nearby – the population was mostly young families with very busy parents. And even worse, a Tae Kwon Do class opened nearby with slick advertising aimed at children with parents who were able and willing to pay for the expensive costumes and frequent very expensive gradings. It was hard to get people to understand the special advantages of Ki Aikido and that it was not like any other martial art. Also, I kept my mat fees to the absolute minimum because I wanted it to be available to anyone who wanted to join and that meant I had no budget for advertising.
After a year or so and lots of one timers visiting the class I had collected enough dedicated kyu students ready for Sensei Adrian to grade but, unsurprisingly, none of my students were able to incur the expense of time off from work as well as paying for accommodation and flights. Annie and Steve had the same problems, of course, so we arranged for National courses at each of our 4 dojos roughly in turns. That way we dan grades could also have high grade only sessions. If we didn’t have any kyu gradings required in Sydney or Perth we would have the course at Annie’s dojo in Adelaide as it was more central for all of us. We all really enjoyed our shared times on and off the mats including sightseeing trips near Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney, although the Aikido came first, of course. We were a small but dedicated team. I did my best to host a course in Sydney as often as I could but for all the above reasons it was difficult to have more than 1 or possibly 2 in a year. And then only when I had enough students to make the grading worthwhile. At the same time, it was hard to keep kyu grades interested enough to keep them working towards a dan grade which might take 5 or more years.
Finally, several of our students from all of Australia were more than ready to grade for their first dan. They were not able to get to the UK for dan gradings so we needed a senior teacher from Head Office to come to us in Australia. Sensei Hughes came to us and gave an International course and dan grading in Brisbane over Easter in 2017. We covered all his flights and accommodation alongside all of our accommodation, flights and meals. To minimise time off from work we rented a hall at the most expensive time of the year in the holiday area north of Brisbane, with a huge 7 bedroom house for us and our students and a flat for Sensei. Sadly, Annie had to return to the UK shortly before the course so she couldn’t be present. It was a really fantastic course for all of us, especially Sensei Hughes’ teaching came direct from Head Office. Our dan grade candidates all passed! Sadly, we were never able to put on another international course while I was there.
Steve took an extended holiday in the UK, visited various UK clubs and received training from Sensei Margaret so he could be graded for 3rd Dan. We were all very proud of him when he passed. I also had a 1 week visit to the UK paid for by my employer and I was able to squeeze in a weekend course at Head Office where I was very pleasantly surprised to be awarded 4th Dan.
Sadly, in the last few years my class gradually faded away. I had no new kyu grade students, the arthritis in my knee was becoming more debilitating and my ageing students were skipping classes as they accumulated problems with joints and injuries (off the mat, of course). So I finally had to close the class. It was a sad time but I can proudly look back at my time in getting 3 students to first Dan and introducing Ki Aikido to lots of people in the Blue Mountains, even if only for one or two lessons.
I’ve now found my way back to the UK. I live a half an hour drive from Sensei Roy’s class with plenty of high grade Dans to help improve my knowledge and technique. I am also working with Sensei Roy to find out what I safely can and cannot do after a total replacement knee which introduces some interesting (as in frustrating) limitations. And as I’m in Bristol group courses are now a possibility throughout the year depending on my knee!
Wayne Harris
Bristol Filton Ki Aikido Club