Aikido Agatsu Dojos: Leave Your Shoes and 'Hectic Life' at the Door

Aikido Agatsu Dojos
1124 Stone Road
Laurel Springs, NJ 08021

Step foot inside Aikido Agatsu Dojos and the first thing you may notice is a shelf filled with shoes. Co-owner and co-chief instructor Kathy Crane hopes students will leave more than just their footwear at the door.

"When you come into the dojo as a student we want you to clear your mind and leave your hectic life outside,” she said.

Students enter – shoes and real-world troubles left behind – and are transported to a Japanese dojo to learn self-defense, life lessons and hopefully something new about themselves.

AAA South Jersey sat down with Kathy Crane Sensei to find out more about aikido, Aikido Agatsu Dojos’ nearly 50 years of service in the community, and how she had her work featured in the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Question: Aikido Agatsu Dojos first opened in 1976, nearly 50 years ago. How did you find aikido?

Crane: "It is myself and my husband that are the chief instructors and we initially discovered [aikido] through a friend and felt that it was something we could do not knowing too much more or too much else about it. We were looking to do something constructive together.

"Once we did, we really immersed ourselves into the culture, being a Japanese martial art, and the purity of the art in being able to defend yourself, redirection of force and not aggressive or competitive."

Question: How does aikido differ from other Japanese martial arts that may be more familiar to readers?

Crane: "It's pure self-defense. And you learn a lot about balance and centering so that you're keeping your balance, taking their balance, redirection of the force of the attack and the calmness to be aware and responsive in the moment when you may have to defend yourself.

"It's not, like many places, primarily focused on youth, as a daycare, childcare option. It's a program. So, it's great for every age for different reasons."

Question: What would you say to someone who hasn’t practiced aikido and is considering learning?

Crane: "When we bring you in, we want you to come in, clear your mind and our focus is to develop a foundation so you don't have to think beyond that. You're gonna commit to a certain amount of time and then develop a foundation to learn more about the art and a little more about yourself. It’s structured for success of the individual.”

Question: Forty-seven years is quite the accomplishment. What is your key to success?

Crane: "I'm very appreciative of the support of the local small business community. We're very well-known in the community because of the length of time, generations of students.

"Education is the focus, it's to be a student yourself, develop your skills and have those community relationships so if not former students, current students who continue to be with us, if they're not doing it themself after so many years maybe they're sending their children or they're referring someone else. Because of our efforts for so long, often people are referred with already the recommendation that aikido is probably a good choice for you."

Question: In 2019, you received the Camden County Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Medal. How did that come about?

Crane: "I had the honor of receiving the Martin Luther King medal. A person recommended me and they really did that knowing how many community programs we did -- typically self-defense, anti-bullying. Just really focused on local and community. Just being a mentor for young people so not just programs out in the community but the students that come here, you're able to be that mentor that they need so that's the sort of thing that the committee with the Martin Luther King ... the idea of service."

Question: You have had flower arrangements displayed at the Philadelphia Flower Show and Longwood Gardens?

Crane: "It is a traditional Japanese form of school, school of flower arranging. My teacher was an older Japanese woman and I found her because her grandson was in my aikido class and he brought an arrangement to class for a special event we were having. And I said, 'Who did that?' and it was his grandmother. And I ended up being able to study with her and she was well-accomplished and certified, so I was able to get into the [Philadelphia] Flower Show as one of her students."

Aikido Agatsu Dojos has been a AAA South Jersey Discounts & Rewards partner for approximately 10 years. AAA members can enjoy a 12-session program for a discounted rate of $149 (regularly $228).