Aikido’s Spirituality and Transplantation in the Nordic Countries : Spirituality in the Asian Martials Art

Abstract

The chapter discusses how four senior Nordic aikidoka view Aikido’s history in the Nordic countries, Aikido’s relationship to religion and spirituality, and how Aikido has transformed in a new context. Aikido activities began in the Nordic region during the 1960s, and today it is a mid-size martial art with an estimated 250 Aikido clubs and 6000 practitioners in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The Japanese founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, was a highly religious person with deep immersion into various Shinto and esoteric Buddhist practices, but current Aikido has only vaguely kept to this part of its heritage. The most obvious one is the role the dojo, the training hall for Japanese martial arts that has many similarities to Shinto shrine structures still affecting the behavior of contemporary, non-Shinto aikidoka. The respondents view on Aikido as a “religion” was critical, and not seen as necessary, but regarding “spirituality,” the relationship was much more positive. Spirituality seemed to refer to commonly known Aikido principles, including non-competitiveness, non-violence, unification of body and mind, and a vague notion of harmony with the others and the universe. Educational changes were pointed out by all respondents, including growing role of verbal instruction, as well as a changed role in student-teacher relationships. Japanese models in these were not negatively judged, but rather seen as often only partially functional in the Nordic context. A major feature of Nordic Aikido is that it is primarily conducted through volunteers that receive public funding to keep the costs of practice low. This makes it difficult to have a professional career as an Aikido instructor, in contrast with many other Western countries, where Aikido clubs are run as private enterprises.