“Dark Tsuba”-The meanings behind our Dojo emblem

The creation of the “Dark Tsuba”, which is the official emblem of “Yoshimitsu Aiki-Dojo”, was anything but chance…

An emblem which is well-put determines the direction, philosophy and purpose of your Dojo. It is the flag and the symbol of your “ship”.
In general, I always have fancied giving a careful look at symbols, crests and emblems. If you look around you from where you are sitting, there is no way that you won’t see one… For the fun of it, just interrupt your reading and check out how many they are. I got four already without moving an inch from my spot: The first one on my PC, the second on my Pen, a third on the Air Conditioner, a fourth on my Guitar and I don’t dare to pivot my chair around…

Traditionally, and deep into the past of Feudal Japan, the emblem of a Dojo was the family crest, or the clan in which a Samurai would belong to. So, if you think of it, you will come to realize that there were times when people lived, fought, but also died, under their emblem…
Today things are different, yet somehow, the same…
When a Dojo states a name and puts up an emblem, it represents the spirit of that Dojo. This is not something to be taken lightly… It should be carefully thought through, and above all, it should be as sincere and direct in its meanings.
Fortunately, like it happens in many cases, everything is done for the sole purpose of appearances, that are anything but true.
And I say fortunately, because in the world of Martial Arts there is no hiding… Your ability and attitude will expose you on both approaches, whether they are sincere or not, faster than in any other occupation!
This is great, it helps avoiding to be deceived…

Creating an emblem should be straightforward and to the point.
The best way to go is to state what you are after, openly and without hesitation. If, for example, through your Martial Art it is money you are after, there is no shame in being sincere about it. You could make your emblem to look like a coin, or embody one somewhere within it.
I know many people will feel, that giving such an example, sounds somehow ironic on my part, but it is quite the contrary. Just think… A warrior is a warrior…Where he puts his commitment is his own business and his intent can vary as he pleases! At the end of the day he will still be a warrior.
The real shame lies elsewhere…
Because it is a shame beyond measure, to state something that you are clearly NOT and make a flag of it! This approach, is the most despiteful of them all…
An honest approach, no matter the intent, is more acceptable.

A tsuba as a crest
For our Dojo, the Japanese Katana and what it represents, was and remains the only measure. Our mind was never in the direction of anything else, like a particular person, style, philosophy, ambition etc. And it goes without saying that practicing the sword is not only part of our routine, but it is essential training (…and this is explained in detail elsewhere, for those who are interested in my writings).

The tsuba is the second most important part of a Katana after the blade itself. It serves to be a guard for both, the user’s hands from sliding towards the blade, and the opponents’ incoming blade to those hands. So, its role on the sword was with protection and defense in mind. And this clearly suits Aikido’s…prime directive, if you like, as an Art of self-defense in the purest meaning of that word.

The blade is everything, but while it rests in its scabbard, only to be drawn “for real”, the tsuba plays also the part of “announcing” the sword. Proof of that is when one decides to change the tsuba on his sword. This does affect the look of the sword immensely… Change the tsuba and the entire sword changes. And there is much more to it than just appearance. Technically speaking, a tsuba of the right choice could add or reduce the weight, and shift the sword’s balance…

Hard as steel light as a leaf
Since I first saw the mokko-gata style tsuba, it always reminded me of the four-leaf clover, which is an unmistakably simple plant of beauty. Thus, a piece of steel with that design will look somehow lighter and more natural.
Also the tsuba’s “leaves” look into the four directions, while its corners look into the remaining four diagonal corners. In my eyes it is a reminder of the eight directions, where the attention of a swordsman should be…
Last but not least, this tsuba is not “open”, so gives space enough to add a little something on it, like a symbol, a decorative pattern, a painting of some sort, letters, or ideograms, which was our choice...

For blinds who can see…
There is one title of book which I always felt as… terrible, from even when I was a small kid: “The Last of the Mohicans”. I don’t wish to be the last of anything, and if I were for some reason, I would make sure there would be… more of “us”. I dislike anything that would set me apart, in this manner, but I do prefer to belong to what is called “the bigger picture”.
In my mind there is only “one Aikido” coming down from thousands of Samurai, one endless galaxy to choose your star from, one distant horizon to gaze at, one big alive city of possibilities, one vast uncharted desert to explore…
So, I always felt that there is absolutely no need to set myself or my Dojo apart from anything by putting a label on my clothing which would somehow confine me in any way…

Therefore, the need to establish a sign which would represent our Dojo, had to do with a great number of things, but nothing to do with setting us apart.
So, it was very difficult to think of how to create “an emblem that would not be there”. The choice of making the tsuba emblem in black, and then wear it on our black hakama was the answer. Black among black, it would be there but lost in it, more part of this clothing than anything else. A deliberate test, repeatedly showed that most people miss it all together from their sight, while those who see it experience a short moment of surprise having located it, only to forget it again once spotted!

The ship’s name on its flag
We nicknamed our emblem “Dark Tsuba” having first seen the effect it had on people who saw it and their reactions.
Among those few who did notice the emblem on the hakama, there were even fewer who asked permission to come closer, in order to have a better look at it, only to be surprised yet again. Because once close enough, they could see that there are Japanese ideograms on it.
If one does not pay attention, he will never notice them even when close, because those ideograms are in black, too!
So, since there are… three layers of black, one upon the other, in order to see the ideograms one must be looking at it on an indirect angle for the light to expose them!
And only then comes the question: what does it say?
To get the reply: it is the name of our Dojo “Yoshimitsu Aiki-Dojo”

Last, but not least!
With great surprise we did noticed that many of our own students, who study in our Dojo a considerable time, have never noticed any of this. Or if they have spotted something, they rarely get the full picture, which I have just described above.
What is darker, than the lack of attention to detail?!
Therefore, the “Dark Tsuba” is not dark with the sense we usually attribute to that word. It is only discreet for the hasty eye, and maybe a bit… shy!

To proudly wear…
Usually a Dojo emblem is sewn on a student’s Gi from day one of attending. This is a good idea in order to make a student feel proud!
The only problem is that we are probably an… unusual Dojo!
For us, the idea of who should wear the Dojo’s emblem is simple.
This sign represents everything that Yoshimitsu Aiki-Dojo is. And equivalently, so should it be with those who wear it!

Of course there are certain requirements in order for that to be achieved.
From over the years I will put here two examples of what students themselves have stated, which go from one extreme to the other…
Some students have said that “this is an impossible task of requirements”
While some others have said “I never gave it a second thought”.
Which one of those two attitudes has lead students to actually earn the emblem, I leave it to your guessing.

All students wish to rise, somehow disregarding of who they are as students. And so did I, too! You see, the one we address as Sensei today, is only as good as he was while being a student! Our former self, determined who we are now. And so it will be in the future, for those who are on the rise…

It is also unavoidable, that the quality of teaching, the burden of responsibility and the seriousness of a Dojo leader varies, and it is only as good, as heavy and as profound as he feels it.
Being at this position myself, in many ways means that I don’t have to be explaining anything…
But for the record, I have never asked from anyone to do something which I have not accomplished, always leading ahead the practice before all…

“We’re gonna have to earn it”
                              (Clint Eastwood: From the movie “The Good The Bad and The Ugly”)

April 10, 2017