Senpai is the peer that came before you, right? He has a little more experience because he is training for a little longer.

That "little more" is the true power of the senpais.

Think about a sensei, a great master, great painter, champion of any area. Their performance are so enhanced that many basic steps or technics are second nature to them and a great master is not necessarily a great teacher.

That's why the senpai is so important!

He is the bridge between the lessons of the sensei and the struggles of the new student, because the senpai himself just got out of the same struggles, finding the pathway and little tricks inside the sensei lessons.

The senpai effect can be observed in every activity, think back on any videogame that you played with someone else, could be your best friend or a sibling, one of you has just finished the game and can't wait for the other to play, but the one who had learn the game and will always give a little tip to the other making the progress quicker.

Now, back to de dojo the scope of the senpai effect gets much bigger, not just a marcial arte can last more than any game, every good senpai can change your entire perspective on your practice and it's a chain effect, if a sensei builds a good senpai, the next will have both the sensei and the senpai to help him grow, the next new student will have all 3 of them to rely on (and so forth), if this domino (or senpai) effect takes place, in theory the baseline and inicial progression of the newcomers will be much higher.

So my take is:

Stimulate the senpai responsability and collaboration between them and their kouhais.

Connect. Lead. Resolve.

Aikido is a Martial Art that addresses conflict by affecting the flow of an Opponent's energy, instead of addressing the Opponent's physical technique.

It doesn't matter whether it's a punch or a grab, all attacks are simply vehicles to transfer the kinetic energy into a target. There are two ways to resolve this;

Stop the technique.

Take out the energy that fuels the technique.

Aikido focuses on the latter method, and its technique teaches a student how to sense, affect, and ultimately harmonize with the energy of an attack.

First things first! A hearty congratulations to all the attending Aikidoka for their hard training and to those that were promoted: Ram Litchman, San Dan; Jan Arkless, San Dan; Barry Johnston Shodan; and Andrew Beal 5th Kyu.

In a country under quarantine during a worldwide pandemic a committed group of Aikidoka made the decision to further cultivate their Agoge Organic Training Circle (OTC) coming together to train in weapons and body arts. With determined attendance from Birankai dojos: New Tampa Aikido, Living Well Aikido, Desert Aikikai, Lansing Area Aikikai, Las Vegas Aikikai, Aikido Coachella Valley, Salt Creek Aikikai, and San Diego Aikikai (as well as friends from New Orleans), Summit Aikikai hosted a community-wide (OTC) aikido seminar filled with mindful training, testing, and teacher recertifications.

Face masks, hand sanitizing, dirt stains, grass stains, lots of fans, screening questionnaires, pre-registration, training bubbles, and frequent water breaks were consistent reminders of the unique context of a “CV19 era” aikido seminar. We all oathed a responsibility to come together and make Aikido training a possibility with appropriate safeguards. With many precious Aikido dojos closing throughout the country; now more than ever we felt the burden of duty to train and advance our BNA community in a creative and safe conscious way.

Pushing past our own personal CV19 views, I noticed a special type of respect in the air. Because of the more ‘life threatening context’, everyone wanted everyone else to feel as safe and as comfortable to train as possible. In this, I was especially proud of our Agoge OTC. This is where personal refinement has a real opportunity for growth and where bonds are forged between Aikidoka and BNA members. This is where aikido magic manifests itself. There were numerous valid opinions as to why we shouldn’t have come together to train in such dangerous times in the year 2020. Leave it to Marines and a strong frontline ER head nurse to persevere and MAKE A WAY. With their high standards of ‘keep training’ and ‘changing the world through Aikido’ as an utmost priority, we upheld the most sacred essence of our Agoge OTC lifestyle. We trained, trained, trained!