Member Roles

This page outlines the different stages of development Aikido students go through as they train. These stages are represented as archetypes and help students understand their roles and responsibilities in the dojo. Archetypes can be powerful metaphors. They allow students to learn from the realm of the collective unconscious and glean information from the universal mind. By using the metaphor of an archetype students can progress to the next level faster. The roles listed here are correlated with belt rank. As a student progresses he should only focus on the current role and those roles he has already mastered. While an "explorer" can not be in the "warrior" role the same time he is practicing "explorer," he must maintain all the skills of the lower role, "warrior," to learn the new skills of the higher role, "explorer."

Once a student has mastered a role he can bring it up to use it appropriately in his daily life. Once a student has cycled through all roles it is important to go back to the beginning and learn again.