Nevertheless, She Persisted

Aikido is not the “Way Of Harmony.” Harmony is the result of Aikido when done well – a “positive-sum” process that leads to the resolution of conflict and the restoration of wholeness. But the “way” of this “Aikido process” inevitably takes you squarely through conflict. This is reflected in the recent events and story of Janice Taitel Sensei who last year organized a petition for gender equity within the United States Aikido Federation. She followed her Aikido intuitions and ended up in the middle of a considerable amount of conflict… within her own Aikido organization! Nevertheless, she persisted.

Gender Equity & A Conflict Of Values

Janice Taitel is a pediatric doctor and Aikido sensei who is the chief instructor of Aikido Center of Dover, in New Jersey, and was until recently a member of the USAF for almost 30 years.

Last year Janice became the public face of a gender equity issue within the United States Aikido Federation (USAF). Together with other senior women in the USAF, they drafted and circulated a petition calling for greater gender equity within the organization.

The petition landed like a bomb in both the organization and the USAF community. As the petition issue played out over the following months it exposed an underlying culture of fear of speaking out on this issue. It also exposed an inconsistency between the USAF’s public non-discrimination statement and the perception of a significant number of its members. It shone a light on what many felt, but could not clearly see, as a conflict of values.

The gender equity petition and it’s ensuing storm ended with the USAF Board of Director’s inability to resolve this issue with its members. The Independent Coalition Of USAF Women who drafted the petition was sidelined by the USAF board and subsequently, several dojos ended up leaving the organization.

If you’re interested in the back story on this, I wrote in detail about this last year from the perspective of the “values clash” in a blog post where I did a case study with the USAF as “Exhibit A” in Aikido & The Culture Wars.

Since then I had been wanting to get Janice on the Integral Dojo platform for an interview. This took longer than expected as we had to get through a pandemic lockdown as well as widespread protests against systemic racism. Finally, Janice and I were able to sit down together a few weeks ago on zoom and hear her story.

Even though Janice’s story is specific to the USAF, I have seen the “clash of values” in many organizations around the world. As our perspectives and our cultures evolve, Aikido also needs to evolve. If it doesn’t then the art risks being left behind.

Here is Janice’s: “Nevertheless, She Persisted”

Question: Are there gender inequity issues in your Aikido dojo or organization? Please leave your comments below! 

Important note: In the past, I offered equal time on this platform to a senior USAF teacher for rebuttal (they did not respond to my offer). Should anyone from the USAF board of directors feel this issue has been misrepresented, I extend an open invitation for rebutting and discussion.    

Important note #2: Throughout the above interview, I refer to the petition and the woman’s coalition as Janice’s. This was a mistake on my part. I was speaking more for convenience, and because of my ongoing dialogue around this issue for the past year was with Janice. Even though the petition was initiated by Janice, it is important to recognize that the petition was a collective effort, as well as a collective risk by all the petition drafters of the Independent Coalition Of USAF Women. 

If you are interested in the timeline of events resource go here: The Independent Coalition of USAF Women