Dear Northwest aikidoka, Yes, we’re hosting a seminar this weekend, Dec 2-4, 2016. It has been quite a journey to bring us to this point.
Usually when we start
preparing for a seminar, we begin with a set of “givens” in the basic
infrastructure and then plan hosting activities on top of those fundamental
components. For example we usually have a floor, a mat to train on, a roof overhead, a
place to take off your shoes, a registration desk, dressing rooms, working
restrooms. All of these basic accommodations were disrupted by our flood of
October 14th. At this writing, six weeks
after the flood, one week before seminar begins, this basic infrastructure has
been restored and we are just now putting the dojo back together.
Here’s what happened.
Friday night Oct. 14,
2016 a storm hit the Portland area. Tremendous wind and rain beat down upon our
dojo and overwhelmed the drainage system. The gutter overflowed. The downspout
could not drain effectively. The water came flowing down the wall to meet a
ground already saturated. The water flowed in. Like an uninvited guest, the
water came in and took over the place, demanding our attention. It took out the
floor from under us. About 70% of our floor was impacted.
The morning after the big
storm I came into the dojo and discovered the damage. I contacted senior
members and asked them to come in if they could. Class that day was just the
fourth session of a new beginners series. I had to ask participants to help
move wet items before we started class. Everyone pitched in. I am grateful to
all our students and teachers for their efforts.
How did we respond to
this flood?
First order of business
was to move stuff out of harms way.
As in many disaster
situations, a certain practicality kicks in. Emotional response is set aside to deal with later. We set right to work and moved stuff off the wet floor. We separated
wet items from dry ones to minimize further damage. Members and the new
beginners pitched in to help. We got wet vacuums in and fans set up to start
drying the place out. These tasks helped us assess the damage.
Next step was to consider
our options.
We communicated with the
landlady, we reached out to professionals and we gathered information. From
there we generated options and decided what our best outcome might be. From
there we defined actions to take and set into motion steps to take us in the
right direction.
We decided a concrete
floor would be the best solution for our dojo interior. This solution required
significant preparation. We would need to move everything off of the floor in
order to remove all the carpet and laminate flooring and make space for the
concrete professional to come in and install the new floor. With 70% of the
floor affected, that left only 30% to receive and store all the items. Most of
that area is our mat space!
We stacked up part of the
mats to make more floor space. We trained in a smaller area and trained with
the visual distraction of all our stuff piled up just adjacent to the mat. Our habitual ways were disrupted and our training changed.
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| photo provided by J.P. Oliva |
We had to check our habits at the door and keep our shoes on. We had moved the shoe racks and the flooring was ripped up to expose the old, uneven concrete underneath. It felt strange to walk around the dojo with shoes on, but in extreme
times safety is a higher priority than observing our customs. The edge of the
mat was jagged and unsecured. We had to be attentive to that and adjust our
training to take care of each other during class. It served as a metaphor and
reminder of a martial principle; we’ve got to adapt and be present to what is
actually happening.
In
the fourth week after the flood came, our new concrete floor was installed. For
three days we had to close the dojo. These three days corresponded with the
days following the presidential election. Personally, in those three days I observed myself
fluctuating through the various stages of grief. I was grateful for the space of time to be at home and absorb the
impact of the election results.
By
the fourth day, I needed to come back to the dojo, teach class and be with
people again. I found a certain comfort and meaning in our concrete floor.
There it was, pristine, fresh, cool and not yet ready to support weight. We
entered the dojo from the back door instead of the usual front entrance. We
trained on the mats next to the floor but did not walk on it. The old floor is
gone and the dojo will never quite be the same again. We have a new floor now.
That was Saturday November 12th.
Our
new floor needed a few days to dry completely before it could be sealed and
finished. During this time it was essential to keep the floor clean. Any speck
of dirt, even oils from walking barefoot would compromise the finish. It was during
this period that the city worked on the sewer system just down the street for
the dojo and, on November 14, disaster struck again.
I
was locking up the dojo for the night when I noticed the toilet didn’t look
right. The bowl was so full it looked like it might overflow. A plunger did no
good. I noticed the shower pan was full of water too – dirty water. Then I
noticed a sound from the other room. The other toilet was overflowing and the
water was rushing out from under the base and flowing all over our new floor.
At the rate it was flowing the whole dojo would be flooded with dirty water in
a matter of minutes.
I
called the landlady who called Rotorooter and I waited for them to show up.
“Thank the gods” the flooding slowed down on its own and the water receded from
the toilets. At the time I did not know that the city was working on the sewer
system, which caused the sewer back up. I called the concrete vendor to let him know
our new floor had been compromised with dirty water. He agreed to come in, clean the floor and put
down another thin layer of concrete. After more drying time, the sealant was
applied.
Monday
November 21 was the first day we could start putting furniture back on the
floor. Attendance was thin in the days before Thanksgiving but on Saturday
November 26th we put in a robust workday. By end of day all heavy
pieces were put back in place and the mat perimeter was set back in place. Now we
are attending to an issue with the mat frame; a result of another concurrent
floor repair project.
This week, the final days
before the seminar begins, our focus in “seminar hosting” is to make a supreme
effort just to provide a reasonable space to train. Our dojo teachers and
members have met the challenge and put in the time and sweat to restore the
dojo to basic minimum functionality. We’ve had to make that our priority. The usual set of seminar hosting activities you have come to expect from
Multnomah Aikikai will not be prepared. I hope we can enjoy coming together and find gratitude in our opportunity to train. For us, your
presence will be a welcome reward for all our efforts. We are looking forward to
training with you.
Seminar schedule and information on our "Seminars" page of this site:
-Suzane Van Amburgh
