Hi I like this subject. I am constantly confronted with it here. I'm studying in Holland but am originally from Curacao, an Island in the Caribbean.

My teacher is very loyal to his teacher and when I started Aikido about 8 years ago I didn't realize this, but since I've been practicing seriously I've seen and learned many things, one of them being loyalty.

Here in Holland I practice and the people here wonder every time where I learned Aikido. I tell them the name of my teacher and rank. They are amazed and say is there such a teacher on such a small island. To me he taught me what I know today and when I see the teachers here I wonder if their students have any idea of what it means to be loyal.

They one time asked me to teach once in a while when there was nobody,... before giving any answer I told them I would have to ask my teacher first,.. many of them looked surprised at me as if,....WHY?? But to me I was not gonna do nothing just like that without having the opinion of my teacher. Whatever I do I ask him,... whatever I experience that is good and bad,... and new I tell him and he replies with some (to me!! ) wise words.

Every budo master I ever read about tells how wonderful his master is,.. I'm not saying I'm a master, just that I consider and will consider myself always a student when I see my teacher. Besides he's been like a father to me since I practice Aikido and has taught me a lot about Aikido, life and myself.

What I find great about all this is that even though I am loyal he always lets me choose my own path. But knowing this I still go back to him,.... maybe also as a form of respect (rei).

I believe your article was very true in many aspects. It made me think about my life and how loyal I actually am with other people. I found that I could use a little more loyalty in my life. I also believe if loyalty could be ressurected in our western society, we could overcome the moral disintegration which is gripping our society.

It is hard today not to feel a sense of fading - all things fading. Whatever field we might find ourselves in, with a little hindsight or with a little sense of history we cannot help but to fluctuate somewhere between nostalgia and revivalism. Both are but opposite sides of the same coin that is Time passing. How can we today feel anything but a fading when it comes to the concept and practice of Loyalty? (It should be noted that this fading is not something particular to the West, rather it is a mark of modernity itself and so it is a mark of any culture that has adopted the tenets of the modern age.) Today it has become difficult even to grasp the most basic definition of the word Loyalty - how much more the practice? When once it was almost intuitively understood, today it is more commonly warped into something that can only offer us a "feel-good" or pseudo-spirituality focused solely on the praising and stroking of the Ego. Today we can say phrases such as "Above all you must be loyal to yourself" with the straightest of faces and with almost total certainty that our listener(s) will not only agree with our politically correct sound-bite but if they are assembled en masse they will applaud. Once such a statement could only be heard in bewilderment. I bring all this to mind only to say that the manner in which Loyalty is understood and practiced today - both in and outside of the Aikido dojo - is far from what it meant to our chivalric-based forefathers and to our forefathers in Budo. Therefore, out of a sense of duty, we must seek and/or re-seek a truer understanding of the term.

Writing over a hundred years earlier - and writing with a sense that the cultural and spiritual heritage that was Bushido was already fading from existence - Inazo Nitobe, in his famous treatise Bushido, defined the word Loyalty to mean, "homage and fealty to a superior." It should be noted that Nitobe’s definition, which can hardly be disputed, involves two elements central to any ethical/spiritual system: 1) a sense of the social; and 2) a sense of the Self being diminished/devalued. One should not think that the notion of individuality was unknown or foreign to Nitobe. Rather he was well aware that individualism unchecked by such notions as Loyalty will only lead to an ethical and spiritual dead-end. His accurate understanding of the term easily allows for connections to notions of humility, of dedication, of service, of sacrifice, of integrity, of courage, of honor, of Truth, and of Love - all key characteristic of Aikido. Do we dare define Loyalty in any other way different from Nitobe? If we do, we do so at the risk of losing all that is spiritually potent in Budo. For tell me what any of these above mentioned terms can mean without a sense of the social and without a sense of the Self being diminished?

I am commenting because, one, I like the article and topic, and two, Aikido is not the only martial art where loyalty is an issue (I'm not an Aikidoist, I just like to learn from other arts as I think this helps what I practice in my style. Perhaps I will take up Aikido in the future).

Robert Whelan commented that the teacher-student bond should be as strong as those in real families, where ties cannot be broken so easily. Perhaps that is part of the problem. These days, there are parents who turn their backs on their children, children who abandon their parents, brothers and sisters who are not speaking to each other and so on. Also, if the situation is abusive, as in the case of an abusive parent, should the relationship continue? NO, in my opinion, if the parties cannot work out thier differences. There is a certain amount of respect and trust required of both parties. If this is violated, as in with blood relatives, it can be a real problem.

I suspect that truly good teachers and good students, just like with relatives of good character, can weather breaks in their relatiionships and sail on together in the long run. I also don't think that being loyal means that a student never stretches their wings when the time comes. A good parent lets the child leave the nest and stand on their own two feet when the child is ready, and the child appreciates this and honors the parent. Same analogy for the teacher and student.

Loyalty is something that is reciprocated. In the article and a few of the letters this is not stated. Blind loyalty is a greater evil than no loyalty. It allows for geat abuses of power. If a teacher doesn't have loyalty to his/her students then those students have to look out for themselves.

Loyalty seems to be lacking in many areas of our lives today. Our jobs are a good example of the shift in the value of a loyal employee or employer. Not too long ago, it was common for a high school graduate or college graduate to take a job with a company and plan on being with that company until retirement. The companies themselves nurtured this type of loyalty. If "Bob" or "Joe" wasn't performing up to company standards, he was simply shifted to an area of work that suited him better or reduced the company’s cost for keeping him employed. However, they did not let their people go.

Today, in the United States, corporations and employees have lost sight of the value of loyalty. Employers want the biggest bang for their buck no matter what. If their employees are not performing at peak levels all the time, there is no hesitation for that employee to be terminated. They seem to take the view of "what have you done for me lately", instead of understanding that people will do their best when surrounded by peers striving to reach a common goal. Many Japanese corporations take this approach to their employees. They rely on the peer pressure of a team atmosphere to keep employees striving to not let the team down. They have not employed the same tactics which American corporations use frequently such as "downsizing" by laying people off. All of this shortsightedness has led to a trickle-down effect on the American workforce to the point where loyalty is just a word with no meaning.

After reading the article and the postings, I want to contribute with an illustration of what can happen when an ego gets involved and the Aikido family gets split-up. The loyalty article mentions issues of "self-righteousness" and "impasse", and this is what happened at the last dojo I trained at.

My present instructor was one of the first students of my previous instructor, and, with the rest of the shodans at this dojo, was very loyal and trained hard and consistently for many years. For whatever reasons - one sided teaching and favoritism towards certain students; a feeling that training was becoming one dimensional; wanting to expand his knowledge of Aikido and branch out a bit - there was a struggle, and he was basically pushed out and labeled a rebel, although he wasn't that at all.

After he had been taught about loyalty, he was now seeing different actions than the concepts he was once taught. This divided the dojo in half, and then, all the people who had nothing to do with this stuff were basically forced to choose a teacher. It got ridiculous. The other senior students said that the whole atmosphere changed and was never the same, so they left and started teaching independently. Since then, my teacher's name is like a dirty word around the first dojo.

When Trust Is Broken

It is difficult to remain loyal when trust is broken. If the instructor is dishonest, even in the smallest way, I think it is wholly unreasonable to expect students to remain loyal to that instructor. This includes "teachers" who engage in rampant profiteering in the name of Aikido, all at the expense of their knowing or unknowing students.

I consider loyalty to be one of the most important virtues I live my life by. The people I am close to know that I will stand by them when the time comes because I always do.

But loyalty to a teacher (sensei in the tems of martial arts)? I have great respect for many of the teachers (for various subjects) I have had in life and I showed that respect. If I did not respect my sensei, I would not show up at the dojo. I would find a teacher I could respect. If I did not respect the art, I would cease to practice it.

Aikido may be be training that is meant to have implications in your whole life, but I have no superiors in life. Some may have more answers than me, others may be asking better questions. I look to these people as teachers and show them respect, I do not owe them anything more. A teacher is a guide, he shows you a path once you have chosen it. He helps you gain tools you lack. He should not be a leader that tells you where to walk.

It is abundantly clear that in the pursuit of martial arts practice, many people mistake loyalty for blind following, and self respect being devoid of thought and morals. Should you find a knowledgeable teacher of any art, you will find someone who has encountered the good, the bad, and the ugly side of human conscience in his/her training over the years. What you must see for yourself is whether your training opens your mind and extends the capacity of technique, or if there is a ghost of the past in your mind or in your teacher's mind that interferes with your martial arts training.

There are many types of teachers just as there are many types of people; we do not always see the meaning of technique and we do not always see the good in others. Still, loyalty is based on the ability of the individual to want to think for themselves or not think at all. That is to say, you have chosen to study with a teacher, and if your teacher is loyal to the art, he/she will teach you as much as you are able to grasp asking only that you be true to the art and respectful to your teachers.

Look beyond the simple thought of loyalty to any one teacher, or any one art. You will eventually find you are the final one to teach yourself...but isn't it great to have learned well and have your teacher become your friend ? If not in everyday life, but as one who has given you a look into the massive puzzle of navigating life and bestowing some tools of martial arts to you.

If you become a better person, then you have been loyal to your teacher. If you have followed blindly without asking questions...I am sorry, but you have missed the point of the journey.

Always remember that the human psyche is much like the balance of a pendulum. As far as it swings to one side, it must swing back the other way or become imbalanced and thereby fall.

I have found through my experiences outside of the dojo, that loyalty is usually confused with obedience.

Sometimes I feel that when a person is labeled disloyal it has been because they have failed to carry out a given order or failed to act in the way the person wanted.

The soldier who refuses to carry out a morally ambiguous order is labeled disloyal (and occasionally shot for it), his obedience being to a higher ideal. Whilst the following of a higher ideal is considered noble and the correct thing to do, his action is always questioned.

I know the loyalty of new students to teachers has often been stressed, but what about from teachers to students ?

I have a sad tale to tell in this area. Thirty years ago when O-Sensei was alive, Aikido was one. With his death, political in-fighting occurred and students like myself were forced to decide whether to align with Koichi Tohei Sensei or with Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba, O-Sensei’s son.

You would think that with Aikido’s emphasis on harmony, these two factions would have had the maturity to work things out. Unfortunately, some of my teachers went with Doshu, some with Tohei Sensei.

I was about to take a preliminary black belt test via Tohei Sensei, but I refused because I was told I had to align with the Tohei Sensei faction and couldn’t practice at other dojos. I was 18 at the time and idealistic. I couldn’t understand why Aikido couldn’t stay unified.

It is my opinion that loyalty begins and ends with the individual. It is the teacher's responsibility to be absolutely loyal to his students regardless of their situation – much as a military commander is loyal to the troops in his command.

But also, the students of a dojo need to be loyal to the school, mindful of appropriate behavior toward visitors and the proper practice, demonstration and use of the technique their school has invested so much in providing them.

Very little is asked of the student: simply come and practice and help support the dojo. In return it should be expected that the student would return to the club all the energy and enthusiasm he or she can spare.

One of my former instructors (in a martial art that I previously practiced) made a statement that I still believe and live by today in all aspects of my life. He said "Respect and loyalty have to be earned, not assumed automatically." Now, both in and out of the dojo, I will usually give a stranger the benefit of the doubt when I first meet or work with them, but they must eventually earn my loyalty and respect in order for it to continue. As such, I feel loyal to my instructor and dojo, but only so long as mutual loyalty and respect exist between us. One reason that I love Aikido is that the nature of the practice of the art (the interaction between nage and uke) tends to foster a relationship of mutual trust and respect between partners. I believe the generation of this mutual trust and respect in turn helps to foster a mutual sense of loyalty between students, instructors and the dojo.

Ironically, one of the main reasons that my interest soured in the martial art I previously practiced was that as I got to know my instructor better, I realized that he did not feel real respect for his students, and that his loyalty only extended to the money that they paid for his instruction. Unfortunately, most of his early students (including myself) have now moved on to either other martial arts or other instructors in the same art.

For those who are interested in this subject, I would like to refer some reading material I found on other forums:

• G. Cameron Hurst, III, "Death, Honor, and Loyalty: the Bushido Ideal," in "Philosophy East and West", #40 (1990).
• Karl Friday, "Valorous Butchers: The Art of War during the Golden Age of the Samurai", in "Japan Forum" 5.1 (1993).
• Karl Friday, "Hired Swords: The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan", (Stanford, 1992)--especially ch. 3.
• Karl Friday, "Bushido or Bull? A Medieval Historian's Perspective on the Pacific War and the Japanese Military Tradition.", in "The History Teacher", 27.3 (1994).
• Tom Conlan, "Largesse and the Limits of Loyalty in the Fourteenth Century", in "The Origins of Medieval Japan".
• Eiko Ikegami, "The Taming of the Samurai", 1995.
• Paul Varley, "The Onin War".
• Mary Elizabeth Berry, "The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto", 1994.
• Mary Elizabeth Berry, "Hideyoshi", 1982.
• John Hall et al., "Japan Before Tokugawa" 1981.

Loyalty does not belong to any person, but to "the path". It is the job of the Shihan to teach the path of Aikido. It is the job of the student to learn the path of Aikido. Loyalty on both the part of the Shihan and the student are to the path of Aikido.

When loyalty is awarded to another person as opposed to the path, problems begin to arise. A teacher, for example, may be tempted to acquire the loyalty of his students for him/herself instead of focusing on the path. The teacher may feel they can obtain benefits from this loyalty, be they prestige, money, sex, etc. Some teachers may be tempted to exaggerate their level of proficiency, lie or speak badly of another teacher who is in fact very good. Clearly these are not the types of behaviors that O-Sensei intended when he developed Aikido. They are also not consistent with teaching the path of Aikido in earnest.

A student, on the other hand, may wish special instruction or attention from a teacher. If the student delivers his/her loyalty to the teacher, they may then feel that the teacher has not sufficiently reciprocated and an essential trust has been betrayed. Other students may wish a teacher to favor them unfairly over another student they do not like and expect such as a result from loyalty delivered to the teacher. When we live in a world where "one hand washes the other", and loyalty is given for due consideration, such problems will manifest.

O-Sensei taught that the true enemy lies within. The true enemy is not the opponent. When we attempt to manipulate others or situations to acquire things that we wish, the "enemy" or obstacle, if you will, becomes something outside of ourselves. When we wish for loyalty from others for whatever reason, suddenly the other person takes some control of the situation and they can become our enemy. If, instead, we look within ourselves for the true enemy, that which underlies our desire for loyalty from others, we are practicing Aikido. Then we can focus our efforts on loyalty to the path, to finding and defeating this true enemy.

To practice Aikido as such, when a person behaves in a manner consistent with the path, whomever they are, we should encourage and support that. When that same person violates the principles of the path, we should not encourage and support that. We should still be respectful of the person, for if we watch closely we will find many instances when the true enemy has defeated us as well. Loyalty does not belong to the person, but to the path. A practical problem here is that most of us wouldn't recognize the path if it came up and smacked us in the face (I include myself here). We should attempt to educate ourselves. The better we can see and understand what the path is, the better we will be able to choose good teachers for ourselves and develop in our practice. In this world, we would show appreciation for any teacher, who at that moment is teaching us in earnest without selfish interest. We would smile and help any student who, at that moment, is genuinely trying to learn without egotism or selfish interest. If we can just do this and leave the world of one hand washing the other, I think we will have made a great improvement for ourselves.

I agree whole-heartedly that today’s society pays nothing more than mere lip service to idea of loyalty. Little can be said of a society thet views loyalty as a selling point for a product, job opportunity, etc.

Having said that, I have found those that often demand "loyalty" are those in most need of this quality towards others. For example, the Sensei at our school has NEVER said you must be "loyal". Rather, loyalty will surface in those that are willing to truly learn. We are better off without the ones that run at the first sign of difficulty and/or discomfort. Furthermore loyalty does not imply closemindedness, as Aikido is a many faceted jewel: to only see one facet is to miss the entire jewel.

You may be loyal to a particular style of Aikido because you feel it works best for you, or better fits your moral philosophy or whatever other reason, but learning from other styles does not imply "disloyalty". It’s all about learning, and not about competing. I think that the idea of learning from other styles implies disloyalty to the school is more a question of the schools jockeying for potential initiates, than a true belief that one style is "better" than the other. There is no such thing: there may be better teachers than others, or schools with better resources, but in the end Aikido is what one makes of it.

Ok first of all there are many kinds of loyalties:

• to one's self - to do what is right no matter what other people think
• to the art you practice - when you are learning, you should try to not mix knowledge from other techniques, "empty your cup" and do not deviate from the meaning in Aikido; you shouldn't go around looking for a fight;
• to your teacher - he shares his knowledge and wisdom with you because he loves the art not just the money;
• to your fellow students - you should try not hurt each other. With whom would you practice if no one can come because they are injured ?
• to your students - never deviate from the "right path". Lots of students, especially young ones, look up to you as an example. If they see you in fights, drunk, in legal problems etc., they are bound to leave as you are no longer an example to them;
• to your fellow teachers - don’t slander their name or their art. All Aikido is good; there is no bad Aikido only different Aikido. There are styles that emphasize more on certain things and are lax on others, but they are not bad because of that.

Loyalty is for me one of the pillars in my Aikido life. On the one hand it can`t be like it was in the samurai-age where loyalty was very important, but on the other hand I believe that loyalty is a form of respect. In my opinion, respect and loyalty separate sports from martial arts.

In my dojo I put much emphasis on respect not only towards me as the instructor but first to Master Ueshiba and of course to each other.

I've practiced Aikido for three years. Just on January last year I got my black belt. On September of last year another student, a 3rd dan who owns a dojo affiliated to mine and who has practiced Aikido for 15 years, broke my arm. It was a radius and ulna fracture and I had to be operated. Two steel pins where used to hold the bones in place. It was not a fracture line - the bones completely snapped. The student broke my arm and left me on the tatami. He put on his sandals and left. Never showed up at the hospital or offered to help with the expenses of the treatment or anything. He just vanished.

My sensei doesn't have medical insurance as part of the program, even though, I learned a fterwards, I'm not the first one to have sustained a serious injury. I think my sensei had the obligation to do something about this 3rd dan, but did nothing. Now, the 3rd dan keeps going to classes and I don't. How can I go back to that place after what happened? I was lucky it was just my arm. How can I trust my sensei anymore? Why didn't he do something like banning the guy from the dojo? Or make him pay for half or the whole cost of my operation and treatment? Why didn’t he do anything? Was it a political thing in which my monthly payment was much less than the 3rd dan’s affiliation payment? Was I expendable? Why? How can I encompass that? And this after my sensei told me 2 hrs a day, five times a week during 3 years that I was part of the family, that I was someone he and his father (his sensei) considered part of the center that formed their aikido family.

As you can see, I'm still bitter about this, not angry anymore, just very bitter. My recovery has been very slow. It took my bones 7 months to heal. Mind does work over the body. During all this time I got no support from my dojo, with the exception of the doctor who operated on me, who is a student at the dojo.

Loyalty, hmm. I have been doing Aikido on and off for almost 7 years and in that time have trained at 5 different dojos: 3 in New York and 2 in Atlanta.

I think in the last generation loyalty to one's sensei had more meaning than it does today. For example I have studied with Yamada, Kanai and Chiba senseis' older students, and they seem to feel very loyal to their particular sensei.

I obviously can't speak for an entire generation of young Aikidokas, but I don't really feel this way. For example USAF Winter Camp is coming up soon and I plan on going. There will be 5 Shihan there and I really like all of them. I have trained with most of them already, but don't feel one in particular is my sensei. I think it's probably because they all have something special to offer technique-wise as well as spiritually so it doesn't make sense to say "I am this person's student so I am loyal to them".

Water is not loyal to the streambed, but to the universe.

Loyalty: What does it mean?

I would like to share my experience in this loyalty issue. I started my Aikido training in Tendoryu Singapore. Then I moved to Shinjukai and all along I was training Hanmudo (a Korean art). Sometime ago I actually took up a short course on Chen Style Taichi. I see different things form the different arts, not only in terms of style, but also in the way the instructors and trainees behave. As such I got a different view of how loyalty is applied, for different instructors, especially.

Tendoryu Aikido Singapore started 2 years ago. I was in fact one of the pioneer students. Our chief instructor was a 4th Dan German. About a year ago, I started training in Shinjukai. The benefit is I got to see the 2 different styles. One of the senior students there was mad with me for doing so, and when I decided to take a break and concentrate on Shinjukai, I never expected him to take it so badly. The next time I stepped into my old school, he started to send emails to the whole class, although he is not supposed to do so, at least not without the permission or even consulting the chief instructor and the other instructors there. And of course I heard that there were lots of stories going on.

Well, my chief instructor does not mind if his students are training at 2 different schools as long as that student does not do anything harmful to the other trainees during practice. He is more concerned about people enjoying being together and training happily. The rest of the students, including myself, think likewise. In fact all of the students, including myself, are still in close contact even though some stopped their training.

So, what does loyalty mean? Train in one school and forget about the rest?

Let me mention my Taichi experience. I took a short Taichi course about 2 years ago. That was a class for university graduates. One of the participants joined Aikido after the Taichi course, and sent the rest of us an email on his Aikido training. I would say that the biggest mistake he made was to use the terms "Japanese Taichi", "Fast moving Taichi" to describe Aikido, something that a beginner in both arts should always avoid. That stirred up massive "defensive" emails flying around and lots of sour feelings set in.

Does loyalty mean your art is better? Or a different art cannot be mentioned in front of you? It's very disappointing to see mature people with some level of education behaving in such a childish manner. Let me mention another example. I took another course in Taichi recently. We had 3 schools of Taichi training at the same complex. You took one side and I took the other. We trained peacefully and happily. My class consists of people from different backgrounds. There were some from different styles of Taichi, some taking Qigong, and of course you got people like me going around for different arts. We don't see any matter of loyalty here, we just group together to do things we like and mix with people we feel comfortable with.

In fact there was a Taichi demo in the beginning of year 2000, where at least 5 Taichi styles gathered in one of the sports stadiums to have a combined training and demo. I would say that I have not heard about that or seen that in Aikido yet. For people like us, loyalty does not exist in our dictionary. Yet we are prepared spend (and some have spent) a long time in the same art. And of course we don't show our loyalty by stepping on other arts.

I will skip my Korean Arts experience as there's only one school in Singapore. It's either you train or you don't. The instructor never forced us and all of us were very comfortable with others learning different arts. I have seen and trained with people from some other Aikido schools, Silat, TKD, Karate, Hapkido, Chinese Kongfu, Ninjado,…

How loyalty is defined depends on the person and changes with time. Does loyalty mean loyalty to your instructor? To your dojo? To your art? To martial arts? When there's a conflict, which o ne comes first? And we can see loyalty turning into politics, especially when instructors in the same dojo grow apart.

I do not understand why the issue of "loyalty" must be in question in Aikido. What is the loyalty to? To O Sensei? To the art of Aikido? To your own instructor? To yourself?

People study and practice Aikido for many different reasons, yet there is a very singular, fundamental reason to the study of Aikido. O Sensei's Aikido was about harmony with all things: fellow human beings, harmony within each individual, and even cosmic harmony.

To be loyal, keep these things in the back of your mind as you practice, and be mindful still of why you yourself are practicing Aikido.

The physical elements, the physics of power, force, and momentum are only the vehicles to true understanding in Aikido, and in time, will give way to spiritual and mental discovery: truth as to why you yourself practice, and your own relationship to O Sensei's Aikido. That is loyalty.

Why is there worry about loyalty to instructor or affiliation? Although there is no way to "police" dojos to ensure their teachings are inline with the philosophies and techniques of Aikido, one would hope and have to assume that they are.

So we are all in the same pursuit in our study. So why is there worry of "betraying" your instructor or dojo? You are paying respect to your instructor by allowing that person to teach you this special art. Remember that you sought them out, that you desired to learn Aikido. In turn, your instructor should respect you by realizing that you are not betraying him/her when you affiliate yourself in some way with another.

It is my opinion that, realistically, one should try to fully pursue one art at a time, rather than try to accumulate a "smorgasbord" of styles, but this is not an ultimatum imposed on oneself. It is usually easier to learn English to a better degree before learning Greek. Of course, one cannot wait for mastery, but each individual will find the point at which they feel comfortable enough to take on another style(style meaning instructor style or another martial art all together.)

However, I feel that remaining dedicated to learn one style first does not mean one shouldn't be exposed to other teachings. Seminars and guest instructors are not a method of dilution of one style or another, just an introduction. Keep what you saw at a seminar in your mind: take the good and bad with a grain of salt, and resolve to keep it a part of your practice, but not a replacement for what you already know.

In response to Post 22:

You may be looking in the wrong direction for support or assistance.

I agree that the conduct you described is reprehensible. However, I'm not sure you should expect compensation. After all, it is a martial art you are practicing; and accidents happen.

It may be that your sensei and classmates are watching you more closely than ever at this point to see how you have responded.

I am divided on issues concerning loyalty.

I've been involved in Aikido since 1986. During those years I have had to make changes which involved moving between three organisations, an issue which some might consider to be at the very heart of the 'Loyalty Issue'.

I will not tire you with the full details, however, I will say that on the first occasion, I seriously questioned the nature and personality of the principal coach. The second, I moved geographical locations therefore joined an organisation nearer to my new home, and lastly the third brought me closer to classical or traditional Aikido.

I feel that I have remained loyal to the discipline of Aikido. I could have easily started training in another art, however, like so many other students, I knew Aikido was for me so, regardless of my situation at the time, I found new arrangements to continue my study.

I have listened to opinions concerning loyalty. I consider some to be egotistically based, some are well founded and based upon common sense but, we do not live in a society which requires loyalty as an integral part of solidarity, as say for instance feudal Japan. One should not blindly believe that we are subject to a 'life long' obligation to any one Sensei (this term often being misused) just because they provide us with martial training.

As I wrote this I glanced at this discussion thread, and read Post 5. I totally agree with this. Putting aside for a moment the historical elements of our discipline, loyalty like respect, should be earned by all individuals within the dojo and not just expected by the sensei or further up the ladder, the organisation. We may have an excellent coach at local level but the organisation to which we may belong has obligations to fulfill, and in doing so we continue our support by remaining members, thus demonstrating our loyalty.

I do not advocate aspects of disloyalty i.e. gaining grades from outside sources, or willfully attempting to influence fellow students to the teachings of other sensei outside of their organization, however, I do not see where problems lie in experiencing the wealth of knowledge which does exist outside my own, your own or anybody's organisation. For me this is one aspect which makes Aikido special - lots of variety.

Live for the moment, train for the moment and be loyal to the moment. Loyalty comes from a well developed sense of self. Only if you feel that you have something to offer can you then offer your loyalty.

Aikido is the practice of finding your own sense of worth within the chaos that we call our life. Be patient and travel the path through training and you will soon find that you have pledged your loyalty without even knowing it.

I have to say I feel the same way as Lim Teck Meng in Post 25 when it comes to the issue of loyalty.

Well, it seems, based on the scant responses to my previous post (Post 22), that everybody is choosing to turn the other way when an accident happens in a dojo and no one, as far as my experience goes and what I've read, is held responsible. I was lucky it was just my arm and not as I've read in some other sites, something like what happened to a woman who is now in a wheel chair. Or like a guy who got his wrist broken in a nikyo. And I bet there are many more accidents that are not talked about.

What is it that compels you to keep silent about them? Loyalty? To what? To whom? There is no point in practicing an art such as Aikido when there's no trust. When you have to be careful with who you practice. When you know that in case of an accident you're on your own.

Well, after this criminal 3rd dan broke my arm and left me on the tatami begging to be taken to the hospital, after the 'sensei' showed such cold blodded sense of business by allowing the perpetrator of that willful violent act to walk away without any kind of punishment, such as banishment from the dojo (for being dangerous to other people) or a show of repentance (by at least offering to contribute to the medical expenses), I've reached the conclusion that it really is not worth it to be loyal to any martial arts 'sensei' that makes a profit out if. That means each one of the senseis out there. What does that leave me with? Loyalty to the art? Perhaps, on occassion, to the precepts of harmony, but that's as far as I'll go.

Going back to a dojo to me means standing on a mine field, where every single student there, and the sensei teaching the class, are waiting for the moment in which you trust them - to explode.

I guess the only loyalty, under such precarious conditions, is to myself.

There are 'accidents' happening in the dojos, there are dangerous people practicing in the dojos, and the most scary part is: no one seems to be willing to do something about it. It is sad.

Loyalty/betrayal is a hotbed for me in my connection with Aikido. For the old timers, you may remember when O-Sensei was alive Aikido was one. I studied with all the great teachers then in the US and some in Japan. But when he died, the shit hit the fan. The political infighting especially between his son and Tohei Sensei forced many students to chose alliances.

It was like a family getting a divorce. I remember being told I couldn't practice at certain dojos anymore. My rank was not recognized at dojos within a week. My black belt had all these strings attached. I had to chose "which parent to live with".

As a result of this nonsense, as a young man (I was 18) I quit Aikido because of the b.s. and never went back. That was like 30 years ago. I still have a fondness for the art and my memories.

It seems to me that our understanding of loyality comes from

1. our own culture
2. readings/talks about "Bushido" and samurai behaviors from Japanese culture.

In the second case, I have found it interesting to take a look at opinion of M.Karl Friday, very advanced exponent of Kashima shin ryu and prof. Dept. of History University of Georgia:"Bushido" is a very tricky term, one of those we're probably all best off just forgetting about. It was scarcely used at all until the modern period (in fact, Nitobe, whose "Bushido: the Soul of Japan" did more than any other work to publicize the term, thought he had invented it!).

Even as a kind of historiographic term--ie a modern label for warrior ideology--"bushido" is a problematic construct. There was very little discussion in written form of proper "warrior-ness," except for legal codes developed by daimyo, until the Tokugawa period. The concept of a code of conduct for the samurai was a product of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Japan was at peace, not the medieval "Age of the Country at War."

At this point, the role of the warrior became a major philosophical problem for the samurai, since they had stationed themselves at the top of the socio-political hierarchy, and yet effectively did no real work, since there were no longer any wars. The samurai of this period were bureaucrats and administrators, not fighting men; the motivation held in common by all those who wrote on the "way of the warrior" was a search for the proper role of a warrior class in a world without war. The ideas that developed out of this search owed very little to the behavioral norms of the warriors of earlier times.

The real problem, though, was that while there was lots of debate, there was little or no agreement. I tell my students that "bushido" belongs to the same class of words as terms like "patriotism," or "masculinity" or "femininity." That is, everyone pretty much agrees that these are good qualities to possess, but few agree on what they actually involve: is Oliver North a patriot? Is Madeline Albright more or less feminine than Marilyn Monroe? Where does Madonna fit in to this scheme?

The same issues plagued the Tokugawa (and modern) participants in the debate on proper warrior values and behavior. An illuminating example of how diverse opinion really was can be found in the debate over the actions of the famous 47 ronin of Ako (memorialized in the story "Chushin gura"). Among other things, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the author of "Hagakure" (which the Imperial Army later took as a kind of sacred text on warrior values) was heavily critical of the Ako ronin, calling them "citified samurai." Hiroaki Sato translated and published a lot of the pieces in this debate in his "Legends of the Samurai" book. Definitely required reading for anyone interested in these issues.

The answer to Scott's second question is "yes and no." Yes, the Japanese government and the Imperial Army and Navy pushed the notion of "bushido" as a way to foster the sort of military spirit they desired from their soldiers and sailors. But no, the code they preached did not have much to do with anything the samurai believed in or practiced. The connection between Japan's modern and premodern military traditions is thin-it is certainly nowhere near as strong or direct as government propagandists, militarists, Imperial Army officers, and some post-war historians have wished to believe. A couple of examples to make this point clearer:

One of the basic tenets that modern writers associate with bushido is that a true samurai was not only willing to risk his life when called upon to do so, but actually looked forward to the opportunity to sacrifice himself in the line of duty. This is the fundamental sentiment to be found in "Hagakure", and was the inspiration for Mishima Yukio's eloquent post-war commentary on that text. Hagakure was immensely popular among the officers of the Imperial Army and its often-quoted opening line, "I have found that the way of the warrior is to die," was unquestionably used to inspire kamikaze pilots and the like.

But, however central the willingness to die might have been to twentieth century notions of bushido, it takes a considerable leap of faith to connect this sort of philosophy with the actual behavior of the medieval samurai.

It is not terribly difficult to find examples of warriors who, in desperate situations, chose to turn and die heroically rather than be killed in the act of running away. By the same token, it is not terribly difficult to find examples of this sort in the military traditions of virtually any people at any time anywhere in the world. On the other hand, as one reads the military historical record of early and medieval Japan, one is struck far more often by the efforts of samurai to use deception and subterfuge to catch an opponent off guard or helpless, than by the sort of zealous self-sacrifice that Tsunetomo called for.

A second popular theme among modern commentators on bushido concerns the absolute fielty that warriors were supposed to have displayed toward their lords. The loyalty of a samurai is said to have been unconditional and utterly selfless. It is true that exhortations to loyalty were a major theme in shogunal regulations, the house laws of the great medieval feudal barons, and seventeenth and eighteenth century treatises on bushido, as well. But there are at least two problems involved in interpreting from this that loyalty was a fundamental part of the medieval warrior character.

To begin with, the unrestricted loyalty that subjects owe their rulers is a basic tenet of Confucianism and derives little or nothing from any military tradition per se. Japanese government appeals for loyalty from subjects began long before the birth of the samurai class - as, for example, in the "Seventeen Article Constitution" of Shotoku Taishi, promulgated in 603. The concept predates even the existence of a Japanese nation by hundreds of years, and traces back to the Chinese Confucian philosophers of the sixth to third centuries BC. Japanese warlords who called upon the samurai who served them to render unflinching loyalty were not so much defining proper samurai behavior as they were exhorting their subjects on a traditional and general theme of government.

Furthermore, there is a logical fallacy involved in trying to deduce norms of actual behavior from formal legal and moral codes. It is no more accurate to infer from the writings of lawmakers and moral philosophers that medieval samurai were shining examples of fielty than it is to draw conclusions about the sexual behavior of twentieth century Georgians from the state laws on sodomy. The truth is that selfless displays of loyalty by warriors are conspicuous in the Japanese historical record mainly by their absence.

From the beginnings of the samurai class and the lord/vassal bond in the eighth century to at least the onset of the early modern age in the seventeenth, the ties between master and retainer were contractual, based on mutual interest and advantage, and were heavily conditioned by the demands of self-interest. Medieval warriors remained loyal to their lords only so long as it benefited them to do so; they could and did readily switch allegiances when the situation warranted it. In fact there are very few important battles in Japanese history in which the defection--often in the middle of the fighting--of one or more of the major players was not a factor.

Much of the code of conduct for samurai prescribed by early modern and modern writers, then, was at odds with the apparent behavioral norms of the actual warrior tradition. By the same token, much of the "bushido" preached by the government and the militarists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was at best superficially derived from the "Way of the Warrior" espoused in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Modern bushido is closely bound up with the notion of a Japanese "national essence," and those kokutai, or structure, cult emperor. It was propaganda tool, consciously shaped manipulated as part effort to forge unified, modern nation out fundamentally feudal society, build military made conscripts from all tiers society. Bbelieved represent much more than just ethic warrior class. Imperial Rescript Military, 1882, proclaimed that "should be viewed reflection whole subjects Japan. say, values were held essence Japanese-ness itself, unifying traits character common classes. Abolition samurai class thus marked not end bushido, but point its spread population.

But, had they not been cremated, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Daidoji Yuzan, Yamaga Soko, and the other early modern figures who wrote about the idea of a code of conduct for samurai would probably have been rolling over in their graves when they heard this. One of the few things that all of these men had in common was their interest in defining--and defending--the essence of what set the samurai APART from all other classes. They were describing--or prescribing--a code of conduct for an elite; and they were arguing that it was adherence to this code of conduct and the values on which it was based that separated this elite class of warriors from the rabble of townsmen and peasants beneath them. The idea that bushido values were simply Japanese values would have appalled them.

To Engel Mund - Posts 22 & 31

First off, allow me to say I'm sorry that you sustained such a major injury.

Do not think that because so few people have responded to your posts, that people are turning a blind eye to the issue of accidents in the dojo. You have phrased things about your experience that make it difficult for others to do so.

You are still obviously very angry/bitter about the incident and its aftermath. You feel unsupported and uncared about by your fellow dojo members and the sensei. This would be a painful and disillusioning experience for anyone.

This incident has produced many attendant issues. You view this as the sandan being the "criminal" perpetrator and you being the innocent. Never in my more than 25-year involement in Aikido have I ever seen this to be the absolute truth. Yes, there are a lot of careless jerks out there and I find it hard to believe that you have not already had to deal with them. Aikido can be extremely dangerous and I often think we who practice it take that very much for granted. Learning to take falls is dangerous in and of itself, but when you add another human being into the equation the risks are multiplied. Without a doubt, in Aikido, I believe more thamn any other art, we place ourselves in harm's way. To a certain degree we give ourselves up to someone else on the mat. But that is not 100% true. I do not really give myself up to my partner, no matter how much trust I have in them. My own study is how to control myself whether I am uke or nage. At all times I believe we must be in full control of ourselves on the mat. I have been injured on the mat; fortunately all minor injuries, and my attitude is that it took two of us to cause the injury. I cannot comment on the blame for your injury being soley the responsibility of your partner. Ask yourself, however, what could you do, when confronted again with the same situation, to protect your arm... because that situation will occur again.

I am displeased to hear that the fellow walked away without seeing that you were OK, or coming to see you in the hospital. Simple human courtesy would lead me to show my concern.

As to your sensei not taking any action... he is not a judge and jury. With regard to him banishing the other person, perhaps he doesn't feel that he has enough direct evidence that that person acted in such a ruthless fashion as to deserve banishment. If it had been me, I would most definitely question all parties and witnesses and would admonish the entire dojo about being extremely careful and conscientious with regard to partners. I suggest you discuss with him your feelings about the incident, including your feelings toward him. Do not allow this incident to fester any more than it has. Clear the air with your instructor; this will open up your ability to return to practice with some degree of relief. As it is, you are suffering and you deprive yourself and others of your being fully present in classes.

Having jerks in the dojo is not a rare thing. I welcome them in hope that through Aikido training they will become better people. I hope it is doing the same for me.

If the guy who injured you is a jerk, find it in yourself to forgive him... as well as your sensei and dojo members... and even though you might not understand this, find some way -even if only internally- to ask their forgiveness of you and how you are viewing and criticizing them. Through giving and getting forgiveness you will put an end to this. Putting it behind you is not enough; you must end it.

I think loyalty comes at several levels. Decreasing in importance with each level, we have loyalty for:
1. The art.
2. O-Sensei's teachings and philosophy.
3. The style.
4. The Shihan.
5. The dojo.

For me personally, I am loyal to my dojo in as far as I do not do anything to harm or compromise my dojo's reputation. However, I like to practice at other dojos, especially in different countries.

I am 100% loyal to my Shihan who introduced me to the art. Even if I happen to change the dojo or the country, I will still consider this teacher as "my Shihan". My Shihan is in turn extremely loyal to the style, Aikikai in this case. Consequently, me too. Aikikai leaves a lot of freedom for Shihans and Senseis to experiment with their own personal styles, as long as they stay away from competition. Consequently, there is no need for other styles, except for financial or political reasons, things that are antonyms of loyalty.

To be honest, I initially peeped into this discussion not sure if I wanted to reflect the issue at all. Loyalty seems to be a term whith which Germans in general have certain problems, or doubts, at least. But reading the article and some of your posts brought me to a change of view. (Let me indecently illustrate that my first association was to the brandname "LOYAL" on a XL can of discount dog food...)

One truth I can really promote: It's easier to trust a master if you have carefully chosen.

Before I started to practice Aikido, I shopped around and visited every Dojo I could find in the yellow pages of my hometown. That's first. It took me about a month. But how could I ever be sure I'd be in the right hands if I had missed seeing them all ?

Two of six teachers impressed me: The first one, when confronted with the fact that I found his Dojo was extremely open minded compared to one of the others, who just smiled openly, saying: "if shopping around is important, then we can't cope." Basta. No "but". This first teacher did not feel any need to sell himself. He did not fall for the temptation to put the other teacher down for his style (by now I know he could, rightfully. But who needs that?). He just let me take a regular lesson, and in the end I had to admit it was the very first time I really understood a little.

The second teacher, as he found out I had already seen a lot and yet was not finished comparing, even encouraged me to look well and choose wisely. Yes, I replied, to find your master you first have to look. He said he even suggested to his advanced students they visit the other Dojos to reassure themselves they were still headed in the direction of their choice. He offered me a whole week of fruitful training and after that let me go and complete my quest - whithout even handing me a membership form just in case (all the others did not miss to do so).

I'm intrigued by the question of loyalty.

I believe that most would agree that there develops a strong bond between any Aikido student and his/her sensei. They are, after all like a second father to many of us, by guiding us in what often becomes a whole, encompassing lifestyle, and not just a hobby twice a week like ceramics class.

Just to add a wrinkle to the question of loyalty - My husband (2nd Kyu) teaches Aikido at our local high school. (He's the band teacher, and the school offers the class as an alternative P.E. credit). It seemed to be working out well - a great way to reach more young people, and with a fifty minute class five days a week, many of the students showed belt potential. My husband slipped in some talks about the deeper meaning of Aikido, and some more advanced ki development techniques (for instance, misogi breathing), and when he needed to be gone for a day to attend a band directors convention, he naturally had me substitute.

Big mistake! They completely insulted me as an instructor, and disgraced themselves and their dojo. There was constant arguing with me over principles and techniques, in some cases completely disregarding the technique and doing another technique, walking out of class to talk in the hall, and (the worst) dribbling a basketball up to bow out!

My husband was completely flabbergasted! They had never given him any indication (except for one kid, once) that they weren't serious about the art. Now he wonders if he should have spent more time on respect and dojo etiquette, or if this is maybe having to do more with the fact that this is a high school class, and therefore the proverbial code of the school yard applies.

I admit, there were small indicators at the beginning of the class, that I should have just kicked Mr. trouble maker out, but I guess that I just assumed high schoolers would be more in control of themselves, more mature, and while I didn't know what action he'd take, I assumed he'd voice his displeasure.

My Sensei is very loyal to the Hombu Dojo Aikikai. We tend to follow his example and are very loyal to him.

Yes, a lot of people come and go, but they probably do so in other areas of their lives, or perhaps our school or style of Aikido does not match what they want.

Hi, this is to correct the earlier submission (Post 38) regarding the high school students. My oldest daughter inadvertently mis-entered the ranks of my husband and I when I had her type in the first draft. She had already sent it in when I noticed the mistake! Just to clarify: my husband holds a 4th kyu ranking, (brown belt in our style) and I am a 2nd kyu (purple belt).

I think loyalty, respect and harmony are all of the essences of being a human. Actually its very sad that this should be learned! I think this is what O-Sensei ment to teach us. It's all about balance; if everybody was in such harmony (the goal we all try to achieve) there would not be any hate! Only peace and understanding for each other... Sadly this is not the case. People who don't understand what the flow of ki, chi, or prana really means. Which is in this life not weird, because of the manner in how we live.

And then there was the old Japanese traditional way... If we all would understand something about that way, we would know something about the politeness and etiquettes in Japan.

Hi you all and be blessed.

I believe that Loyalty is a blessing. In time it is what makes people know about your way of being and it is the basis of responsibility.

You are loyal to your father and mother, your brothers, your elders, your teachers, friends and country.

To be loyal - in the martial arts - is not only to respect your teacher but to have the strength to learn patience and use it ! To your teacher it is to tell him what you feel, think and makes you feel great or not. To hold on and keep up the best of you in your attitude and workout. To be loyal to your teacher is to be free in expresion and open to him. Being sincere is a quality that reinforces togetherness. To be loyal to your teacher is also to be loyal to your art. This means that you should not be jumping around from art to art. At the least you should achieve your Black Belt since it is your first real goal. Even if you decide to cross-train, you should be open but faithul to your art and teacher.

To be loyal to your family, first to your wife since this is the person that will help you keep humanity going, it will be the person whom you will share your life. This person in your made family represents the person that gave you life, your mother. To your parents it is important to respect them even if you think that you know more than them and that they act like old people because of the simple reason that you appreciate life and it is a way to give them thanks for the blessings of the life that they gave you.

To your country because without it you would have no land. To your friends because they are the representation of closeness which is the basis of a family. To your teachers because with them you are able to get backup for your parents' teachings and get to grow as a human being.

There is a thread running through much of this discussion that asks, "Where is loyalty owed?" For example, is it owed to one's sensei, fellow students, federation, art or oneself? The nature of this problem is the same as any ethical dilemma. Ultimately the individual must weigh their own values against the situation in which they find themselves. These values may shift in importance given the timing and situation. If never in conflict, the question is moot. Concepts of loyalty are only useful insofar as they help us sort out conflicting values.

However, to the extent that we harmonize these various commitments, in the face of such conflict, we find greater happiness and an enhanced sense of community. For example, I am sometimes nostalgic for the five-workouts-per-week of my younger days, however, I am a “family man” and try to balance being a devoted student of Aikido with being “daddy” and “husband.” This balance ebbs and flows, but is possible mostly due to the patience and understanding of my wife.

In the dojo, when the behavior of either the student or the teacher elevates any one of these values too far above all others there is bound to be discord…and Aikido training degenerates quickly when a genuine sense of community is lost. It may be up to the student to conform or leave, rather than subvert the efforts of the teacher. It is the teacher’s job to create a healthy environment.

Recently my business donated $15,000 worth of mats to a club operated by xxx. Our business was audited by the Taxation Office last month and they asked about the donation. All was fine as it was all legal, until we received information from the Tax Office stating that we would be receiving a fine and would need to pay a tax on the mats. Why ? Because the club was not registered !!

I went to xxx and asked for his help with the problem and his response was: "It is not my problem."

Sometimes loyalty isn't a black and white choice.

My father began practising Aikido in 1965 under one of the great Shihan after many years of Judo, Jujutsu and Aikijutsu. Upon meeting his Aikido teacher he abandoned the other arts to concentrate on Aikido. My father trained diligently for over thirty years loyally adhering to his teacher's directions.

Political problems started to arise in the organisation as certain members in positions of power seemed to grow more interested in maintaining their position and less interested in the actual practise of Aikido. My father was somewhat to the contrary, training and teaching every day studying everything he could get his hands on.

It would seem that one of two of the power-mongers became jealous of his progress and the high quality of the Aikido his students were displaying at national seminars. Though there were also other factors involved, such power-mongers attempted to kick my father out of the centre which he had established nearly thirty years earlier but were unsuccessful. The direction for other instructors to take over classes from my father had supposedly come from my father's teacher but behind the scenes it was the manipulations of those power-mongers.

This is where the question of loyalty comes in. My father was then faced with the dilemma of whether to comply with his teacher's instruction (even though he was no longer residing in the country and unaware of the politicking) and let the amateur social Aikido instructors move in and degrade what he had committed his life to building. Or would he continue his life's work of daily training and instruction and betray his teacher in doing so. The choice he had to make came down to loyalty either to his teacher, or to the promise he had made to make the world a better place through teaching the love and harmony as well as the devastating self defence techniques of Aikido. He chose the latter feeling that at heart he was being more loyal by continuing to teach good Aikido than by following the directions which had been whispered in his teacher's ear.

The question of loyalty did not stop there however, as many of my father's students questioned how they could remain loyal to their teacher when it appeared that he had been disloyal to his teacher in resigning from the organisation. Many of the students (whom my father had strived so hard to pass his knowledge on to) decided to stay with the organisation rather than him.

There are now two Aikido organisations at the institution where we train and I would personally like to train with both as I had friends in both before the split. I do hold a degree of resentment towards one or two of the power-mongers within that particular national organisation but love the opportunity to train with everyone else from that, or other organisations. At the end of the day we are all studying the way of harmony.

As for my loyalty, first and foremost I am loyal to my father, my Sensei and though I offer suggestions and sometimes don't agree with his perspective I make every effort to assist him. In the future I feel that my loyalty to "the cause" so to speak, will be to try to bring people together regardless of the badge they wear and to train myself as well as possible and pass on as much as I can.

My father and I feel that we are honouring our teacher and O-sensei's dream the best that we can. Being ostracised is still a terrible feeling.

I love the tree analogy.

Loyalty, one of the Seven Virtues, but what is loyalty with out the other six? I don't think you can have one, without the rest. Before Chugi (loyalty), there must have been something else, and before that, something else. Loyalty contains so many other things. I think before you can give or receive loyalty, you first have to understand it. You cannot give loyalty unless you are loyal to your self first. Knowing your self will then allow you to know others. Blind loyalty, is just like ignorance, refusing to know why you are giving your devotion (loyalty), it just says you have not yet come to know your true self, so are just 'following along' because of convienience or some other unknown reason, or maybe you have just not yet reached that understanding.

Not long ago I was faced with realising where my loyalties lay. My Sensei changed schools, but he was teaching me what he was instructed by his Sensei. His Sensei, was in effect, MY Sensei. I had been learning the Kancho's teachings, through my Sensei, guided. Where did my loyalties lay? I had to delve deep inside myself to answer this question. After many months, the answer hit me. My loyalty (devotion) was to the Aikido school I had started in. If I had wanted to learn another school, then that is where I would have gone to start with. My loyalties lay with the Kancho (even if I had never met him) and the school. The second question was to my self. What of loyalty to my progression? I still had to remain loyal to my 'path'. In the end, as I see now, this is my path. Just two students remained out of 5 dojos, myself and my partner.

Now, we have our own students, and we have discussed loyalty many times, as well as Bushido. They know that where-ever their path takes them, they will still have MY loyalty to them. If they leave, they will become another branch on the tree, sprouting their own leaves, and perhaps branches of their own, but for now they are part of the trunk, which has roots in the source. It is out of loyalty that we ALL come together to train, for if we are not loyal to ourselves, we would not be there.

With a litle bravery (Yu), being truthful and sincere (Makoto) in our thoughts, and by making the right decision (Gi) with respect and courtesy to our previous Sensei (Rei), we can continue our study with compassion (Jin) and honor (Meiyo), devoted and loyal (Chugi) to the teachings we beleive in.

Interesting idea, but flawed within the expectation of todays world, isn't it? Within the very description of NON-loyalty to any company or individual, other than a 'passing loyalty', that is, loyalty for as long as each job lasts for that particular company, you may very well have hit upon the illness that has possessed the bulk of American society.

Although, I must disagree with your analogy of roots and branches, because our teachers are like the environment around us, giving us lessons and nourishment, lessons which help us to grow and survive.

The basis for this loyalty to the growing tree is absolutely wrong. What is it based upon? Thousands of years of behavioral modification by killing those dissidents who do not obey, killing their family, and sometimes the entire village to put fear into the survivors who must obey without question? Is that the system of loyalty you are referring to when you bring to light the system of Budo that is Japanese? Loyalty to death and a sword? Probably not, because in the modern context, the American ideal is to do things of your free will, return a favor because it is the right thing to do, and it is appreciated without requirement of a favor being returned. Maybe that is the true meaning of loyalty. Not a blind, scared act that is motivated by outside forces, but support that is morally, socially, and personally correct for what must be done.

The change from warrior, to "Empowered Citizen" who practices Aikido has something to do with it also. Loyalty is not just earned, but it becomes the social and moral priority when it is given. There is no set loyalty for the present teaching curriculum of Aikido, although some people seem to envision themselves as warriors keeping Aikido practice alive for a time when fighting will be the last resort of maintaining the peace, hence they think their loyalty is given to their sensei, and Aikido, but it is not. It may be the misplaced loyalty to the sword and death from a bygone age, which is what much of the ritual in Aikido involves as it is from Japan and mimics that culture.

Aikido is a tool. A tool that can help to protect you, give you better health, help you understand the nature of physical forces found in Nature, of which humanity is part of and humanity seems to conveniently forget when it suits humanity. The Founder tried to take the emerging world away from the mind-set that we must create a nation of warriors to .... creating nations of peace.

If our loyalty lies anywhere, it is to recognize the chaos, learn how to create peace, live that peace within our own lives, and make ourselves better people along the way with helping to make a bet