Southland Aikido was originally founded in the early 1990s by James Graves Sensei to provide quality instruction for Aikido in Los Angeles. It was reestablished in 2015 to provide a vibrant and positive environment to practice Aikido. Affiliated with the Aikikai World Headquarters (Hombu Dojo), Japan and the United States Aikido Federation, Southland Aikido’s mission is to promote traditional Aikido in the Los Angeles area.
A dojo is a miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves—our fears, anxieties, reactions, and habits. It is an arena of confined conflict where we confront an opponent who is not an opponent but rather a partner engaged in helping us understand ourselves more fully. It is a place where we can learn a great deal in a short time about who we are and how we react in the world. The conflict that take place inside a dojo help us handle conflicts that take place outside. The total concentration and discipline required to study martial arts carries over to daily life. The activity in the dojo call on us to constantly attempt new things, so it is also a sources of learning—in Zen terminology, a source of self-enlightenment.
— Joe Hyams, Zen In The Martial Arts
Ethical Governance and Guidelines
Southland Aikido and its instructors do not discriminate in the admission, retention and care of students based upon race, ethnicity, age, national origin, disability, marital status or sexual orientation. The instructors and members are expected to follow at minimum, the guidelines prescribed by the United States Aikido Federation.
About the Southland Aikido Mon
The Southland Aikido dojo mon (crest) was adopted from a prevalent, hawk-feather bearing crest used in the Kyushu Islands during medieval Japan. The Kyushu prefecture is located in Southwestern Japan. Analogous to Southland Aikido’s location in Southwestern United States, it became a suitable crest for the dojo to adopt. The hawk was also a symbol often used by the samurai as it symbolized generosity and nobility of disposition.
Southland Aikido 