Our Journey Together: From Aikido to Saber Academy – A Vision for 2025

Dear Saber Academy Students, Kyushin-Ryu Aikido students and family,

As we conclude 2024 and move into 2025, I want to share with you some of the events over the last 2 years that has brought us to where we stand today and the vision that guides us forward. For our newest members, this article will help you understand the foundations upon which we’re building. For those who have been with us longer, it provides context for the changes we’ve experienced and the decisions that lie ahead.

Our Foundations and Evolution

Our story begins not with lightsabers, but with a big responsibility I accepted back in 2022 when Sensei Carl Withey asked if I could take over as head instructor of Kyushin-Ryu Aikido at the Macedonian Club. Sensei Carl, who had dedicated years to building and nurturing our aikido community, found himself unable to continue teaching due to chronic injuries that required surgery. His situation presented us with both a challenge and an opportunity – how to preserve the essence of what he had built while adapting to new realities.

When I assumed the role, I had several clear objectives that reflected both the immediate needs of our club and our long-term sustainability. 1. Three students showed particular promise, and I was (and am still) committed to guiding them to black belt level – a journey that traditionally takes years of dedicated training. 2. We faced financial challenges, as membership fees alone weren’t sufficient to maintain the dojo. and 3. I hoped to transform our organisation into an incorporated association that could access community grants, ensuring our long-term viability while growing our membership base.

At this time, Saber Academy also emerged as an early idea from an unexpected source – a Christmas party where we were experimenting with just 14 lightsabers. What began as an end of year activity revealed an exciting opportunity to combine traditional martial arts principles with an accessible, engaging format that appealed to a broader range of students. Our early Come & try programs and term-based saber academy programs proved to be a success, particularly for youth, school and community organisations, and provided much needed financial support for our traditional training. However, this development wasn’t without its challenges. As Saber Academy grew, i often found it difficult to balance the needs of new members attracted to only Saber Academy with those of existing members who were only interested in Kyushin-Ryu Aikido. Here, I was well supported by Fraser Sensei and the Zamora family to meet these needs as I put more effort into refining the Saber Academy programs, platform and curriculum.

What started as a way to support our traditional training has now grown into something that has fundamentally transformed our dojo’s direction.

Where We Stand Today

Whilst we’ve had some highs, particularly with the Saber Skirmish tournaments, video shoots and web development, the journey has taught me some unexpected lessons. For one, the use of Saber Academy as a hook to grow Kyushin-Ryu Aikido has not worked as I anticipated. Whilst we’ve become well known across Adelaide and I have now taught well over 1000 students, new members have not flowed on to train in Aikido as I had hoped. For some students, the lightsaber has been the focus. For others, learning Ukemi or other techniques may have been something they weren’t comfortable with.

Attracting new members has been one challenge but retaining members has also been another. For some, Saber Academy has just been a fun (but short) experience. Saber Academy has also had many teething problems which have led to students dropping off, including inconsistent training content, persistent changes to training times and locations, to even my own limitations as an instructor.

Perhaps most poignantly, we have lost many of our original members. Sensei Carl’s presence was one of the biggest reasons for why many students enjoyed training in Aikido, and why they understandably pulled back as he retired. For others, the use of lightsabers did not reflect the traditional martial arts they were interested in. In hindsight, it’s understandable to see why new members might prefer Saber Skirmish over Aikido, or why more traditional students might be put off by ‘saber choreography’ over ‘sword kata’, even though in my estimation these two things might be functionally the same.

Now, as we approach 2025, several realities converge that require us to adapt. Sensei Carl has recently advised of his intention to formally conclude training/instructing in 2025 to preserve his physical wellbeing. At the same time, two of our legacy students will soon be going for Black belt grading. This transition marks both an ending and a beginning, and I believe now is the right time to make some difficult but necessary changes as we move forward.

Our Current Challenges and Necessary Changes

First, I need to be direct about the significant financial challenges we’re facing. Each month, I personally cover substantial gaps in our expenses – rent for training spaces alone costs over $1000 a month, while equipment maintenance, fuel, insurance, training and essential advertising add considerably to this burden. With our current membership numbers lower than this time last year, I’ve been covering these shortfalls from my own limited funds, a situation that cannot continue.

This financial reality has forced me to make a difficult but necessary decision: I must return to regular day work in 2025. While this will provide stable income to help increase advertising and hopefully membership, I will be unable to continue the Saber Academy day programs which have been keeping us afloat. Fortunately, most of our regular member programs start at 5:30pm and this won’t need to change, though I am preparing for those odd times where I will need to rely on senior members to cover lessons when I am unable to teach at short notice.

Our equipment situation also requires immediate attention. Our heavy armour riot sets, which have served us well, are now failing and will be decommissioned in 2025. The cost of maintaining and replacing this equipment is simply too high for myself and my family to bear. While we’ll repurpose these for exhibition/cosplay pieces, moving forward, I will be requiring all new and existing members to purchase their own suitable equipment, including lightsabers, within three to five months of joining to maintain active participation. Part of the reason for this is also posterity. I fully anticipate there will be future Saber Academy instructors who will want to start their own guilds and factions one day. However, equipment costs will remain a significant barrier to starting and maintaining these groups. Thus it makes sense to promote a culture where individual members take responsibility for their own equipment. We will maintain some club gear for new students or those who temporarily cannot afford their own equipment, but this can only be a short-term solution.

These changes – my return to day work, new equipment requirements, and program restructuring – are essential steps we must take to ensure our long-term sustainability.

The Path Forward

Our Aikido training, too, will be undergoing some significant changes. In 2025, I will be transitioning our aikido group to a private, closed study group. The reason for this is i just don’t have the time or money to run dedicated programs that do not sustain the cost of hall hire. Additionally, the cost of advertising a pure aikido program has not been successful in translating to new members.

I want to be absolutely clear to our existing Aikido students and those who may be invited to join us: this transition doesn’t mean the end of Kyushin-Ryu Aikido training. Rather, it represents a change in how we practice. You will continue to have the time and space needed for traditional training, but this will often take place alongside others working on aikisaber techniques or exploring various martial arts applications. If anything, our technical requirements will become more demanding, with an increased emphasis on advanced breakfalling techniques and overall physical fitness. As we move forward as a study group, we’re also expanding our technical repertoire beyond traditional Aikido. We’ll be actively exploring and incorporating elements from other martial arts systems including Atemi-ryu jujitsu and Hontai Yoshin ryu, as well as various sword and weapons styles. For members who wish to only focus on Kyushin-Ryu Aikido, we will continue to provide mat space and guidance for traditional practice, however, my time and energy will be focused on these other endeavours in order to further advance the Saber Academy program.

This transition stems from several important realities we must acknowledge. Traditional Aikido, while deeply valuable, has struggled to generate sufficient interest or revenue to sustain itself as a standalone program. Over time, we’ve observed that new students are increasingly drawn to saber combat rather than traditional Kyushin-Ryu Aikido. This shift in interest, combined with the gradual departure of many of our previous members, has led me to consider what my focus should be on the next five years. Moreover, my own journey as an instructor has led me to recognise the unique opportunity that lies ahead with Saber Academy.

There’s enormous potential in developing and advancing aikisaber techniques for future exhibitions, instructional videos, and contributing to the emerging paradigm of lightsaber combat. This isn’t just about adapting to the present conditions but about actively participating in shaping the future of this new field and adapting Aikido for a new generation. By focusing our efforts in this direction, we have the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the broader lightsaber combat community and establish our unique approach in this growing space.

As a single instructor, I must balance my time, energy, and resources where they can have the greatest impact. While I remain committed to supporting our existing Aikido students and those genuinely interested in studying Kyushin-Ryu Aikido as part of our closed study group, my primary focus must shift to developing and growing Saber Academy as our core program. Thus I hope you’ll join me further along this journey.

To those who’ve been with us from the beginning, thank you for your loyalty and support through these transitions. To our newer members, you’re joining us at an exciting time of transformation and opportunity.

With sincere appreciation and excitement for our future,

Mikhayl von Rieben Sensei