Dear parents and students,

Autumn and the golden, orange-reddish colours and hues that the foliage bring to the landscape adds a certain magic and stillness to the season with feelings and shades of retrospective nostalgia. Having to go through four clear seasons each year reminds us, especially as migrants, how beautiful British Columbia is and how grateful we are to have settled in this province. Contrast that with the experience of summer all year 'round with days averaging around 36 degrees centigrade. The passing of the seasons mark, also, the passage of time that is sometimes accompanied with thoughts of "How far have I come?" and "What have I achieved this past year?" 

Lately, the focus in our classes has turned somewhat introspective for me, as I assess each student and their journeys, and my role as mentor and guide. It is challenging to most English-speakers to understand techniques and movements with names uttered in Japanese. Further to this, to then have to coordinate hands, feet, and maintain one's balance while leading the attacker to unbalance, pin, or throw them is a complex undertaking to say the least; let alone practising the same thing on one's left and right sides. Having practiced Shito-Ryu Karate before, I understand and appreciate the difference in approaches to martial practice, philosophies, and application. This only serves to amplify O Sensei's reference to Aikido practice as a personal journey and a means to polish, fine-tune, and to overcome oneself; rather than just learning ways on how to overcome and defeat another. If one cannot manage and control oneself, how can one hope to control another?

Being accountable and responsible to oneself, one's decisions, one's actions, and to others is what every parent strives to nurture, impart, and instil in their children with the hope that they will one day be independent, self-sufficient, resilient, discerning, conscientious, and socially adept. Like the warrior, who loyally serves to defend their shogun, each day is lived consciously, with the full knowledge of the possibility of falling in the line of duty. Having to face and being conscious of one's mortality, decisions will be made very differently. Each moment may then be cherished, and each day becomes purposeful and meaningful, beginning with gratitude for each brand new day and the opportunity to enjoy it, and then expressing gratitude at the end of the day, for having lived it.

This weekend, this is brought to the fore with Remembrance Day on Tuesday, 11 November. We honour those who have gone before us, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and wellbeing of future generations. As parents, life revolves around our children and the wellbeing of our family: and the sacrifices that we make for our children and their future. Like those before us, and the Aikidoists before us... we stand on the shoulders of giants from whom we learn and to whom we are grateful.

Thank you for your interest in Aikido.

Here is the schedule for the Winter Cycle of 2026.

Winter Cycle I 
Tue: 6 Jan to 17 Feb 
5 pm - Mixed Youth Levels: 7 classes
6 pm - Mixed Adult Levels: 7 classes

Thu: 8 Jan to 19 Feb
5 pm - Mixed Youth Levels: 7 classes
6 pm - Mixed Adult Levels: 7 classes

Winter Cycle II
Tue: 24 Feb to 24 Mar
5 pm - Mixed Youth Levels: 5 classes
6 pm - Mixed Adult Levels: 5 classes

Thu: 26 Feb to 26 Mar
5 pm - Mixed Youth Levels: 5 classes
6 pm - Mixed Adult Levels: 5 classes

No classes from 31 March to 3 April (Holy Week & Easter Weekend)

Please click here to register.
Click here for the 2025/2026 Class Calendar

To supplement your dojo practice, you can read some of my thoughts on Aikido in the e-Reflections. Feel free to forward any questions you may have, or if you need any clarification.

Have a beautiful and serene Autumn Season!

See you in the dojo!

With gratitude and blessings,
Yours in Aiki,
Rafael Oei Sensei
Ueshiba Aikido Victoria
© Ueshiba Aikido Victoria: November 2025