The hakama is a symbol
of tradition in Aikido and in many schools permission to
wear it is reserved only for the yudansha (black belts).
The school has maintained this tradition and grants permission
to wear the hakama to students who have demonstrated or
accomplished any of the following:
- Attained black belt status
- The ability to take Ukemi
at any level and earned their yellow stripes
- Have consistently proven to
be serious students by contributing something meaningful
to the school
- Have learned how to fold it
properly and care for it
The hakama itself contains
much symbolism and anyone who wears it should do so with
great pride knowing that each of the seven pleats represent
the seven virtues of Budo (martial way):
- Jin (benevolence)
- Gi (honor or justice)
- Rei (respect and etiquette)
- Chi (wisdom, intelligence)
- Shin (sincerity)
- Chu (loyalty)
- Koh (piety)
In this regard O'Sensei
said: "Aikido is born out of the bushido spirit of
Japan, and in our practice we must strive to polish the
seven traditional virtues
"Today's techniques
will be different tomorrow." Hence, there is no standard
Aikido; each of the direct disciples focused on those aspects
he most readily understood and with which he had the most
affinity, and then went on to develop an individual style
based on his own experiences. Morihei encouraged this: "Learn
one technique, and create ten or twenty more. Aikido is
limitless." Given the great differences, though, it
is sometimes hard to believe that all of them sat at the
feet of the same master. The best advice in judging the
different interpretations of Aikido is this: "Do not
look for the differences; look for what is the same."
About
Chendokan Aikido
Elements
Techniques
Categories of Attacks
Weapons
Training with Injuries
Vocabulary
Etiquette
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