Everyone who trains in the martial art of aikido has an aikido origin story—how did they find their first aikido class? These stories are fun to hear and to tell—what random chance brought you to the activity that became a big part of your life for decades? When you find yourself responsible for recruiting new students, aikido origin stories start to feel like marketing insights—how do we find more students?
I have an aikido origin story: when I was in college, a friend said to a group of five of us, “Guess what we’re doing tonight?”
We said, “What?”
He said, “We’re going to aikido class! Come on!”
So, trailing behind him like ducklings in our sweatpants and T-shirts, we all tried an aikido class. Dave’s class wasn’t the first time I had tried aikido, but it was the first time I enjoyed aikido. (The first paired exercise we did in the other club’s class was basically to hold hands and feel each other’s energy. I was so uncomfortable.)
I was confused by all the quick techniques, but at least I wasn’t bored or uncomfortable. I had fun. I loved the enthusiasm of the other participants.
