What’s Behind Building a Dojo

aikido
community
personal
Thoughts about a dojo
Author

Erwin Lares

Published

June 26, 2025

Modified

July 6, 2026

I’ll confess, I am still pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming.

It feels unreal to have the opportunity to open a dojo and bring Aikido to the community where I have lived for more than a decade now. A couple of years ago, a friend asked me, “What is your dream?” I reflexively replied - “I would love to be able to have a place that was one half a dojo and the other half a pottery”.

I didn’t realize the idea of a dojo was already churning in the back of my mind. I have been practicing Aikido for a while now and two things were starting to become evident. I needed more days of training

Aikido of Harvard closing its doors just precipitated this.