An Interview with Stephanie Flores Sensei
In the Dojo Volume 3 Issue 2
By Josh Paul Sensei, AOSB head instructor
In this issue of In the Dojo, we are very pleased to present an interview with Stephanie Flores Sensei. Flores Sensei has studied aikido for nearly two decades. She holds the rank of yondan (4-degree black belt), received shidoin status (certified instructor) from the Aikido World Alliance, and is AOSB's senior student. In this interview, Flores Sensei shares her thoughts about her practice, her role in the dojo, and how she applies aikido principles to her daily life.
Stephanie Flores Sensei
In the Dojo: What first attracted you to aikido?
Stephanie Flores Sensei: I was looking for something to do, and a friend who trained at the dojo suggested I give it a shot. I thought he was a nice person, so I thought I would go check it out. The dojo was near where I live, too, which was a big plus.
ItD: Was it love at first sight or did your interest build over time?
SFS: It was love at first sight. I hadn’t tried to really do anything physical like that in a long time. You know, I had done theater and that was kind of physical, but really it was mostly mental. Aikido was a new way of exploring what I was able to do with my body. It was a completely new thing. I hadn't done any sort of sports or anything else like it since I was in junior high school.
Itd: Learning self-defense wasn't the primary reason you joined the dojo?
Kangeiko, Kiku Matsu Dojo, Chicago, IL. 2015.
SFS: No, it wasn’t. It was one of many reasons. Like I said, I was looking for something to do, and I thought I'd try it and see how it worked. And I just really immediately enjoyed it.
ItD: What did you think about the etiquette and clothing the first time you walked in?
SFS: I thought it was cool. I liked it because it was different from the rest of my life. And I enjoyed that aspect of stepping into this other world where people had their roles and you had to learn your own role and act accordingly.
“I didn’t think of the space as being mine, that it belonged to me. And that when it was invaded that I could protect it.”
ItD: How long have you been training?
SFS: Since the spring of 2004--about 17 years.
ItD: How often do you practice?
SFS: I try to practice at least three times a week and I teach on occasion.
ItD: Why only on occasion?
SFS: I've never been that comfortable teaching. I can't quite get over the feeling that I need to entertain everyone. I think maybe that comes from my theater experience and that it’s one of my biggest issues: I'm trying too hard to make sure no one is bored.
ItD: How has aikido influenced or changed your life?
Courtney Paul and Stephanie Flores Sensei, Hombu Dojo, Tokyo, May 2016.
SFS: It has changed how I view the world. It's changed how I carry myself and how I experience space and other people. I'm very aware of my personal space and when I feel like it is being invaded. I don't think I was aware of it before I trained. I mean, I was aware when someone felt too close, but I didn’t think of the space as being mine, that it belonged to me. And that when it was invaded that I could protect it.
ItD: What do you think is the biggest challenge for new students?
SFS: I think the biggest challenge is learning new ways to move. The way we move in aikido often appears to other people as counterintuitive. When you tell somebody to do something they don't necessarily get immediately how it is going to work or that they should at least give it a try. They don’t always trust when we tell them we know this will work. It’s challenging to give yourself over to that as a new student and to just trust your instructor, and to see that if I turn this way, or if I shift or move that way, that that's actually going to make a difference in the technique or what happens to the person I'm dealing with. Until you have that level of trust, learning can be difficult.
ItD: You are the senior student at Aikido South Brooklyn. Does that role have any special privileges or responsibilities?
SFS: In terms of responsibilities, I feel like it's important for me to behave in a certain way, in the way that I want every student to behave. You know, I have known my sensei for 17 years and he's a friend, but I treat him as my sensei in the dojo, always. I always address him as sensei, and I am always very cognizant of his role, and make sure I never cross that line to like, oh, we're friends or anything like they that.
Cherry Blossom Festival, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, April 2019.
And I guess there are privileges. I just don't think about it that much. Sensei will ask my opinion about things that happen, that pertain to the dojo and how it’s run. That's a privilege. It's a privilege to be involved in that discussion. And he makes dinner for me on Sundays.
ItD: Has the pandemic changed how you think about your practice, the dojo, or aikido in general?
That's a good question. It made me realize that I don't think I appreciated aikido enough before there was this virus keeping people from training whenever they wanted and with whoever they wanted. It was something I took for granted and that's not something I'll do again. It hasn't changed anything else about it.
ItD: Really?
SFS: Not for me. It's changed a lot for my sensei who's had to put it in a lot of protocols and stuff like that.
ItD: How do you feel about signing up for classes in advance?
SFS: It's fine. It's fine. Going to class was never a last-minute decision for me. It was always part of my day, like I knew when the day began that I was planning to train. So that hasn't been a problem.
ItD: What do you think about the state of aikido in the US? What needs to change?
SFS: I don't read that much about aikido. I don't know if that's good or bad. What needs to change? I think we need to get out more and we need to show people what aikido is and how they can use it. I think the principles of aikido can be used in business, personal relationships, and so on, and to end bar fights. For me aikido is very personal, it's never been in decline for me. It's been a constant part of my life since I started doing it. Maybe I don't think enough about the national or global state of aikido. I don’t know. I just always think about aikido and how it pertains to me in my life.