A Sempai is a student who acts as a liaison between the Sensei and the students. It is a student who understands the functions and protocols of the dojo and helps the Sensei teach others how things work in the dojo . We are not Japanese, but we strive to run our dojos in a traditional manner. This means our dojos are not democracies. There is a strict hierarchy to the structure of a dojo. The Kancho is the founder and head of a school. The Chief Instructor is in charge of the school’s instructors as well as running the school. The Sensei at each dojo is in charge of that particular dojo and the Sempai assists the Sensei.

A Sempai is a leader in the dojo because they have demonstrated leadership skills and have enough experience to know what is expected of students. Their main job is to help students learn dojo etiquette and to follow proper protocol of the dojo. They also occasionally hold meetings to review and/or explain things that need to be addressed. The Senseis that teach for Aikido of Phoenix are friendly, open and approachable people, but if there is ever a time when they are not available or if you are unsure if it’s appropriate to ask the Sensei, the Sempai is the person to ask. Lucy, John and myself encourage students to ask questions and we love to discuss Aikido with anyone willing to listen, but generally, if it’s related to the function or business of the dojo the Sempai is the person to go to. A dojo may have a Dojo Cho as well, who is the business manager. The Dojo Cho handles things like registration issues, orders and anything else related to the business of the dojo. If there is no Dojo Cho the Sempai will often take on those responsibilities as well, although it is not expected. The Sensei is always available to help the dojo run smoothly and to answer any questions. But, in the traditional dojo the roles of Sempai and Dojo Cho were created to help run the dojo which allowed the Sensei to soley focus on teaching.

I would like to take this opportunity to formally announce that Jim Magda has been selected to be the Sempai for the Mesa dojo. Jim has been training with Aikido of Phoenix for almost a year and was just recently promoted to the rank of Gokyu (blue belt).

For your information, following is the hierarchy of Aikido of Phoenix:

• Kancho – Fred Mastison Sensei (retired 9-09)
• Chief Instructor; Children’s Instructor – Teresa Mastison Sensei
• Instructor for Chandler – John Scanlin Sensei
• Instructor for S. Chandler – Lucy Mailloux Sensei
• Instructor for Mesa – Teresa Mastison Sensei
• Sempai for Chandler – Daniel Horn
• Sempai for S. Chandler – Thor Mailloux
• Sempai for Mesa – Jim Magda
• Dojo Cho for Chandler and Mesa – Teresa Mastison Sensei
• Dojo Cho for S. Chandler – Amanda Redington

I hope this helps you understand to some degree how our dojo is structured. I know it always helps me to have background information and that was my intent with this article. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

Teresa Mastison Sensei