Copenhagen Aiki Shuren Dojo 

After deciding to start my own dojo, I spent a lot of time trying to find the right name. The problem is that I would like to have the name that I choose to be approved by my Sensei, and this is sadly not possible. And yet…
There is a saying in Japanese “Todai moto kurashi.” It means “Living beneath the lighthouse.” It is the equivalent of the English “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” At a summer camp in Denmark several years ago, I was helping one of my Swedish friends translate  an interview with Sensei. One of the questions was what Sensei thought would be a good name for a dojo. I remember this was a question asked specifically because Mats, the interviewer, was going to start his own dojo. But Sensei meant the answer to be in general, as well. His answer was “Aiki Shuren Dojo.” This was the name of the Iwama dojo. Now It´s called the Ibaraki Shibu dojo, but the name that was written on the old wooden signpost reads Aiki Shuren Dojo. 

>> Next page