Andrew Parker’s Blog

This week is my fourth week as a student of aikido (合氣道).

Aikido, which can be translated as “Way of Harmony with Ki”, was developed during the middle of the 20th Century by O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba (植芝盛平) - by all reports an incredible man.

Aikido is a martial art, and while it could be used to injure other people, the focus is on neutralising (potentially multiple) attackers, and as such it is very effective for self-defence. In fact, O Sensei was a deeply spiritual man, and an important facet of aikido is the corresponding responsibility given the potential for injury that comes with the knowledge of aikido techniques.

I’m studying aikido at aikidojo in West Melbourne. Aikidojo practices the Iwama Style of aikido, which is based on maintaining the aikido as taught by O Sensei to Sensei Morihiro Saito in Iwama, the spiritual home of Aikido (the home of both the Iwama dojo and the Aiki shrine).

Aikidojo is not a large dojo, but there is an incredible level of experience among the members. I went to dinner after one class and by my rough estimate the cumulative experience of the six senior members at the table was around 65 years! I’m very lucky that I get the chance to learn in that environment!

Even after a short time, it’s definitely clear to me that aikido is not something you ever “master”. Rather it’s something that will always involve learning on many levels.

I think that’s one of the things that I find most compelling about it.

I was having a bit of a think about my current work project, and I remembered hearing about a conference that would be quite appropriate - Waterfall 2006.

I’m a member of the “build” team, which started “work” about 4 weeks ago. That would be “work” because we’ve basically had very little we can actually do, due to the fact that the design isn’t finished (and doesn’t look like it will be for quite a while).

Perhaps the fact that the detailed design document for our project requires the sign-off of 38 people could have been an indication of the way things were heading…

Be sure to register today!