Georgia, the Land of Wolves, is a small country. Nature has surrounded it with formidable mountains to the north and south, and two seas, one to the east and the other to the west. The people who live on this plain, a bridge between Europe and Asia, are few in number, but their hearts are filled with a strength forged through millennia of migration. A culture whose origins predate the Scythians, and a language unlike any other, have united them.
There are few Aikido practitioners in this country, just as there are few Georgian, but their Aikido is authentic, just as the faith of this people is authentic. Knowledge and quantity do not go hand in hand: the traditional knowledge of Aikido can only be preserved and passed on by a few individuals, members of small groups free from any obedience. It is in the same way that the mystery of religion is preserved, far removed from grand masses, within monasteries hidden in the Caucasus mountains:
I have great confidence in my Georgian friends; I know that the profound knowledge I am trying to pass on - which touches upon the sacred dimension of Aikido - is in safe hands with them. I am delighted to see them again in Tbilisi for this Aikido seminar, and to return to this magnificent and truly unique country after far too many years away.
