When people in Bermuda think about martial arts, aikido may not be the first that comes to mind — Jamie Constable wants to change that. After nearly 20 years teaching and running schools in Canada, he has returned to help guide the next chapter of Bermuda Aikikai.

The island’s only aikido dojo, it was founded in the late 1970s by Collins Smith, who will remain involved as it enters a new phase.

“I returned to the island three months ago to, among other things, help lead the next generation of aikido teachers and students and carry on what Sensei Smith started,” said Mr Constable.

Aikido was created in Japan in the early to mid-1930s by Morihei Ueshiba. According to the Aikikai Foundation, aikido emphasises self-defence through movement, balance and technique rather than striking.

In practice, training teaches students to respond to attacks by redirecting force through controlled positioning.

Bermuda Aikikai offers classes for children and adults. Along with Mr Constable and Mr Smith, Eugene O’Connor and Signe Constable make up the instructor team.

Like many of his generation, Mr Constable became a fan of martial arts after watching Kung Fu, the now iconic 1970s television series that introduced it to a wide audience. He took up classes, then learnt that his teacher planned to leave Bermuda.

“I asked him what I should do. He said the only person he would suggest I study with was Collins Smith, who was teaching aikido,” Mr Constable said.

From his first lesson in 1990, he was drawn to the art’s fluidity and the fact that it did not involve “a lot of kicking and punching”.

He studied under Mr Smith for 15 years before moving to Canada, where he ran his own dojo for nearly two decades.

“It’s a martial art that uses people’s momentum to their advantage,” he said. “Sometimes you watch something and think, ‘I’d like to be able to do that.’ Then you try it and realise you could spend the rest of your life figuring it out.”

Mr Constable described Mr Smith as “a superb martial artist” whose gift to aikido is the “dozens and dozens of students and instructors” he has taught, many of whom are now spread around the world.

“He used to come up and visit my school once or twice a year, and over the last few years we've been discussing how he wants to take a step back. It sort of fortuitously worked out that I could come back and he could slow down — he's not retiring completely — with the idea that I would slowly be taking over the dojo,” he said.

He said he was grateful to have on his team Eugene O’Connor, who began training in aikido around the same time as he did, and Ms Constable, a third-degree black belt.

“Collins Smith is still around and teaching — just not as much as he used to. I'm slowly taking over running the dojo, trying to kind of reorganise it for its next iteration, and Eugene and Signe and myself will be the primary instructors,” Mr Constable said.

“We're trying to get some new people in. Like any organisation, when the person who started it gets tired, it's kind of lost its momentum and my goal is to try and bring its momentum back — I've had a dojo in Canada for 20 years, I helped several other people, I oversaw two or three other dojos ….so I'm pretty good at organising and motivating people and creating a sense of community. Hopefully, I can bring all those skills back here.”

Training at Bermuda Aikikai is offered from the age of five through adulthood.

“Eugene is running the children’s programme. He had quite a dynamic set-up and then, like so many things, Covid-19 knocked it sideways. He’s now rebuilding it,” Mr Constable said.

No prior experience or high level of fitness is required to take part.

“Aikido is quite interesting. You can do it and you don't have to be a 20-year-old, super-fit, cage fighter. Lots of people can practise it well into their old age.

“One of my senior students in Canada started when he was 50-something, and he's a third-degree black belt now. Like anything, you just have to practise.”

The benefits of aikido extend beyond physical fitness to include mental wellbeing, he added.

“In the world of traditional martial arts, the idea is to train and unify your mind and your body,” he said. “It’s about becoming a better person, and we use the martial art of aikido as a framework to practise the physical.”

Training, he said, helps practitioners become more connected to their bodies and less caught up in their thoughts.

“The process of learning and moving and getting better at something is always a positive. [It] builds self-confidence, situational awareness and a sense of community — my closest friends are people I have practised with over the years, both here and around the world,” Mr Constable said.

“Aikido is a contradiction. On one hand it is a martial art; on the other, it is a martial art whose objective is to control, not harm.

“We don’t have competitions; the idea isn’t to dominate or to create a win — lose dynamic. Instead, the focus of daily practise is for each person on the mat — from the most senior to the junior — to help the others improve.

“Practise can look dynamic and martial, but at the core it is about lifting each other up rather than breaking each other down — something that is rare in our modern world.”

In Bermuda, the aikido dojo complements the “very strong martial arts community” that exists.

“There's five or six jujitsu schools, karate schools, we are the only aikido school. There's always been a huge community of very, very skilled martial artists, many of whom are from Collins Smith's generation.

“They're getting older and they're retiring, and the next generation is trying to keep their legacy going.”

• Bermuda Aikikai is located at 44 Ord Road Warwick above the Commercial Laundry. For more information, or to register for classes visit bermudaaikikai.com or email bermudaaikikai@gmail.com