My visit to Sweden has become my annual event. In 1995, it was my first trip invited by Jan Nevelious who took interest in me because I was a serious female student of Aikido. In Sweden, there are many enthusiastic female students.
This year, from May 18 to June 2, I made my third trip to Sweden. My purpose is to visit small dojos where there are no high ranking instructors.
In Sweden, the national organization prohibits anyone to become a professional Aikido instructor. This gives an interesting effects on many Aikido students. Some are frustrated because they cannot become professional no matter how much they wish, and they are discouraged to continue. They take up some other arts, and Aikido becomes their secondary interest.
In Sweden, the government is very helpful. If a child comes to practice Aikido, the government gives a certain amount of money to the dojo to support the program. Even a small town has a public gym or a community center, and people use the facility with a very small amount of rent. Because of that, a club is not allowed to charge a large amount of membership fees from their students.
Three sets of uniforms in my suitcase, my trip to Sweden began from landing in Copenhagen. It was almost midnight. Stina was patiently waiting for me with a big smile at the airport. Then we went to the ferry which took us to Sweden in one hour. A small Immigration Office at the entrance of Sweden did not even look inside of my passport because I was Japanese. No stamp.
An old VW bug was waiting for us to drive us for another hour to a small house in a forest. It was after three o'clock when I finally laid my fatigued body on a bunk of their tiny guest house.
The first class was already schedule in the evening. Another one hour of driving to Christiansta. My third trip to this group. In three years, the group has grown very much although the group leader is not even a black belt yet. In Sweden, male and female both start wearing Hakama from the third kyu, and they all look and act like black belt holders. At the beginning, I thought that some hakama men were so bad that their level was very bad. No wonder they were all white belts.
After Christiansta, my next stop is in Malmo and Lund one day each. Then I was taken to Orust by car. The trip was for five hours. The classes were scheduled at the time of our arrival. There was no time for lunch or rest. The dojo in Orust had this year only three adults but about 15 children. The leader, Hokan and Leslie confessed how difficult it had been to maintain the club because of the far distance from the major cities where Aikido is widely spread. There is no leader, so the number of the students does not grow. Because the club is small, no one comes to help. There is not enough money in the club to send the leader to seminars and workshops in big cities. And yet, they never give up. My trip to Sweden has been always designed to visit such dojos which are so hungry to practice with outsiders and to obtain some instructions. Their welcome is warm and wholehearted. Some nearby dojo members also come and join us. They sleep in the gym in their sleeping bags. They said that four out of their eight members came this time from 200 km from the North East of Orust.
My trip continues from Orust to Goteburg by bus. I sleep wherever a bed is offered. I do not wish anyone to spend any extra money for a hotel. Meeting people and practicing with them is my purpose. In Goteburg, this female leader sends out invitations to the students of Ki Society, Iwama groups, Nishio groups and Kobayashi dojo. There was not a single student from the Hombu dojo. It is very much interesting to see so many marks and names of the dojos on their uniforms. She says that this is the only time to have different groups together only when I visit them.
At times, it is very hard for me to eat cheese and crackers for breakfast. People are not so eager to cook at home. If they are working, they do not have any time to stay in the kitchen. From work to the dojo, and in between, they have to take care of their children. Most of the parents are either single parent or unmarried to my surprise.
During my entire stay, everything is well taken care of. From one dojo to the other, leaders contact with each other and prepare tickets and accommodations and of course three meals. It is so wonderful that my schedule is all set, and I do not need any brain to make plans for two weeks. Neither do I need to open my wallet. I enjoy every minute of my stay. This is the ultimate happiness in my Aikido life. As long as I can be on my feet, I would like to travel from dojo to dojo to spread the message from Osensei.