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TJR Part IV – The Finishing Giants

I had hardly ever heard anything about finishing before I started developing MISOGI DOGI. This is surprising, since finishing is the paramount process in defining the quality of fabrics: for example, it’s because of the selected finishing process that your aikido uniform typically

  • shrinks by 10% and more during the first laundry and sometimes more over time;
  • is very stiff when freshly purchased;
  • is whiter than white.

In a finishing mill, freshly weaved fabrics are washed (to unwax), “grilled” (to burn away fluff), bleached and dyed, made water or fire proof, anti-static, wrinkle-free, softened and shrinked. The finishing makes it all! It’s a very subtle process where experience and expertise is key.

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To make sure all my questions would be addressed properly, the director of the finishing department showed me around. Behind him and the sales ladies, you can see fabric rolls waiting to be finished. The organic fabrics are stored on a separate stack. To avoid any misunderstanding, the worksheets for organic fabrics are green while the ones for conventional are white.

Have you ever imagined a 30m long laundry machine? All the finishing machines are huge and look quite alike for an untrained eye. Can you imagine seven of them in one single hall? This was impressive! After seeing it, I understood why no weaving company would sell less than 500m of a fabric. 500m are already a very small quantity for the finishing giants, especially with regards to the special conditions required for organic fabrics:

Both conventional and organic fabrics are finished by the same machines. To avoid the organic fabrics to get in touch with toxic chemicals remaining from conventional treatment, the finishers have to clean all the machines with special care before processing a series of organic fabrics.

At the end, a controller scrutinizes each meter of fabric for errors. In a lab, tests are performed to check various quality aspects such as the fabric’s resistance to pilling and tearing. Then, the fabric is ready for shipping.

How are organic textiles finished?

Using large amounts of toxic chemicals, the finishing process counts amongst the most polluting industries. Together with the farming methods, this is where organic cotton can make a real difference in environmental terms: GOTS certified textiles are finished using only mechanical and thermic processes, natural additives and harmless chemicals.

Although organic fabrics are made with environmental friendly methods, their market share is so small yet that they are, in most cases, made by conventional mills alongside conventional fabrics. Thus, waste water treatment is an issue. Our finishing mill is situated in an industrial area with a common state-run sewage works, unfortunately out of the scope of my interlocutors. Questions remain for the future…

My day ended with a wonderful training with the Aikido Club of Denizli. What a pleasure to have such a global practice enabling us to find friends wherever we go!denizli-aikido

Next chapter

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TJR Part V – Organic Cotton in the World

My journey back to Berlin coincided with a workshop on organic cotton organised in the frame of the IFOAM Organic World Congress 2014 in Istanbul. The event came just at the right time to complement the learnings of my journey with further insights on the sector.

It was a unique opportunity to meet stakeholders from all over the world: India, Tadjikistan, Kirgistan, Côte d’Ivoire, USA, China, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and of course Turkey. The participants were a mix of representatives from farmers associations, NGOs, scientists and brands. They used this opportunity to exchange their experience and views, which was, of course, super interesting for a newcomer to the cotton world like me.

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We discussed various challenges

  • Genetically modified cotton seeds overflow the market. Organic cotton tries to stay GMO-free. What measures can be taken to avoid contamination?
  • Teething troubles of the young organic cotton market: After a phase of overproduction (!) of organic cotton peaking in 2008/2009 at 250.000 t, the production has decreased in the last years. In the meantime, demand is rapidly growing and going to exceed supply shortly. How can supply and demand be better connected?
  • Transition from conventional to organic cotton farming involves many challenges and risks. How can farmers be better supported to change to organic methods?
  • The cotton market is challenged by strong price fluctuations and a lack of long-term commitments by customers. This makes it very difficult for farmer cooperatives to make the right investments . How can losses and benefits be better distributed along the supply chain?
  • There is a lot of prejudice against organic cotton, in terms of performance, quality, price and complexity. How can communication on organic cotton enhance its success?

I was surprised to learn how basic education is still viewed as a major barrier at the farmers’ level: many cotton farmers can’t read and have no choice but to trust information they receive from their (conventional) seed and chemicals’ supplier. Reading skills may enable them to get access to further information and help them to form an own opinion.

Organic cotton farming methods are completely different from conventional methods. For example, a successful method in organic cotton farming is crop rotation, uncommon on conventional farms. This means that organic cotton farmers often grow the cotton alongside other agricultural products. Thus they need training and access to further organic product markets. They also need better access to natural fertilizers and pesticides.

During the transition period, the cotton yields often drop during 2-4 years before increasing again, once the soil has recovered from the conventional conditioning. There is still little support offered to help the farmers to overcome this difficult period. Once they made it however, they often have a better life quality than before.

A few initiatives were presented that foster solutions and promote organic cotton. You’ll find plenty of further information on organic cotton there:

organic-cotton

Organic Cotton

Global Organic Cotton Community Platform is a joint Swiss-Dutch web platform for the world organic cotton community sharing knowledge on organic and fair trade cotton.

textile-exchange

Textile Exchange

Textile Exchange is a US-based organization promoting sustainable practices in the textile value chain.

oca

OC Accelerator

Organic Cotton Accelerator is a new initiative from large companies such as C&A and H&M and cotton associations promoting the organic cotton market.

I went home with a brochure called “Future Shapers: A Decade of Innovation in Textile Sustainability 2002 – 2012” in my pocket. The booklet features a collection of inspiring stories about 10 successful sustainable textile pioneers, such as Patagonia, hessnatur and veja. Well, the efforts by H&M, Nike and C&A are also featured. Anyway, after all the discussions on the challenges the young organic sector needs to overcome to establish itself on the market, this brochure encouraged me to go on with the Misogi Dogi adventure and to face my own challenges with bravery.

 

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Survey Results

We listened to you

While developing MISOGI DOGI’s first aikidogi, we didn’t just take an existing uniform and copy its design. Our ambition is to offer the best ever uniform. In addition to improving environmental and social protection practices, we also want to use the opportunity to improve details such as comfort, design, and service. And we decided not just to trust our own opinions, but to make sure we get the right picture of our future customers. Thus, we invited our aikido and martial arts’ fellows to share their experience, wishes and dreams with us through an online survey on our first website. We received more than 100 responses from all over Europe, featuring a wide range of wishes and preferences. The aikido community is definitely not homogenous!

Summary of the 5 Main Findings

1. What would you like us to develop? Organic Cotton or Hemp?

Answer

While everyone would love or like an organic cotton dogi, a quarter feels unease at the idea of a dogi made of hemp.

Our feedback

We asked this question because hemp has a series of qualities fitting well for a sustainable uniform: hemp is much more environmental friendly during production than organic cotton, it is a very robust fibre with a natural anti-bacterial effect.

However, we understood that some people fear that it might be less skin-friendly than cotton, not have a nice, pure look or even develop a funny smell. Anyway, we are not going to start with hemp dogis for other reasons: the minimal fabric order quantities are very high for a start-up and the fabric is much more expensive than organic cotton. We also considered other materials such as linen and ramin, with similar issues.

If a hemp dogi attracts you, check out hemp dogis for BJJ. There are a few brands, mainly from USA. And in case you order one, please share your experience with us. Hemp stays in our minds for future developments.

2. Heavy or Light Uniforms?

Answer

Currently, half wear heavy uniforms, a sixth wear light uniforms and a third wear both, depending on season or practice type. A larger majority would love or like us to develop a heavy uniform, but still most would also love or like a light uniform. 30% would dislike a light uniform, while only 12% would disklike a heavy one.

Our feedback

There was a flaw in this question. What is meant by a ‘light uniform’? Some commented that while they appreciate light judogi-type jackets, they dislike the karategi-type jackets for their aikido training.

We are very happy that we found a weaving mill in Austria that will produce organic judogi-type canvas exclusively for MISOGI DOGI (it was not easy to find this weaving mill!!). We will start with a rather light-medium canvas, similar to the one we observe most of us currently wear. Those who only feel good in heavy double-weave jackets will have to wait some more time, sorry!

3. Innovative vs traditional design?

Answer

Two-thirds are open for an innovative design, a third want the dogi to stay as they are.

Our feedback

This answer really encouraged us not to just copy an existing design, but to have a deeper look at how we could improve it. We loved to read through all the comments on what aspects could be improved. Mostly the collar that has the bad habit to open up during training and some physionomy types that are not covered by standard sizing. We agree design is important and many beginners look as if they were wearing a pyjama. However, the functionality of the clothes stays more important. And we discovered that the traditional design truely is a masterpiece of functionality. Thus, we ended up not changing the design very much. We carefully chose different details. And we developed a size system to fit a wider range of physionomies, from scratch.

4. Pricing

Answer

In terms of price sensitivity, about half care more, the other half care less or not at all about the price. A third spent less than 60 EUR per (conventional) gi, a quarter more than 100 EUR. Thus, no clearcut preference for any price category appeared, but 20% would not buy an expensive sustainable uniform vs. 12% who would not buy a cheap sustainable dogi.

Our feedback

What a difficult topic..! First of all, because there is a proven general gap between survey results and actual shopping practice on this aspect. Second, because whether something is worth the money depends on much more than just the price (i.e. iphone). And finally, because our freedom of price setting is constrained by external factors. Anyway, we wanted to test the waters, aware that only the product launch will tell us the true price tolerance for our products. Due to various constraints – and we guess this is no surprise – our first MISOGI DOGI collection will be part of the high price segment, even if we keep it simple and plain. However, we will do our very best to assure an according high standard quality and service. And we will be transparent on pricing and the costs behind, for you to understand what you are paying for.

5. Drawstring vs. Elastic Waistband

Answer

Most of us like both elastic and drawstring waistbands, and as many practitioners have a strong preference for one and against the other as the contrary.

Our feedback

We had no choice but to give the priority to one. So, we decided to start with the more traditional drawstrings and offer elastic waistband as soon as possible. Update 2022: Meanwhile we offer both.

Profile of the Participants

We received exactly 110 responses from all over Europe and even USA. Half of the answers come from Germany. The age distribution of the participants is quite even, 30% are female.

10 referred to aikido teaching as their main profession. A bunch of participants practice various martial arts, four don’t practice aikido at all. 70% have at least six years of practice, another quarter two to five years. One in five practice intensely – at least four times per week – while most (70%) practice two to three times per week.

The practitioners declared a high level of sustainable purchase practice: 70% always or often choose sustainable food&drinks; 50% always or often choose sustainable mobility means; 35% always or often choose sustainable clothes. Further 30-40% declared they would sometimes buy the sustainable options. In summary, most of the answers came from experienced European aikido practitioners who care about environment and fairness in their daily lives. We thank them very much for their input and support.

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Short Stories of a Long Adventure

Our adventure of setting up dogi fully in line with the budo spirit of purity and harmony has lead us to making plenty of exciting discoveries on issues as diverse as O-Sensei’s spiritual teachings and the yet widely infamous world of textiles. Discover the milestones of MISOGI DOGI’s fantastic adventure so far:

hana

Wanted – a pure dogi for aikido pilgrimage

Summer 2013 – It all started when Lucile had an opportunity to visit Japan again. During high school she had spent an exchange year in the land of the rising sun, and it became her adoptive home country. By chance, the exchange organisation had sent her to Tanabe, the aikido founder’s hometown. This is how she discovered and fell in love with aikido. 15 years later, she decided to make an aikido pilgrimage through Japan: to train in various dojos in Kyoto, Tokyo and Tanabe, to visit the aiki shrine in Iwama, O-Sensei’s grave in Tanabe and the Kumano shrines.

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Shortly before starting her journey, she looked for a new dogi. As an environmentalist, she wanted one made of organic cotton and produced under fair conditions. However, no aikido uniform on the market was explicitly meeting her expectations. Her 2013 agenda book cover quoted Lily Tomlin:

I said: ‘Somebody should do shomething about that.’ Then I realized I am somebody.

Lucile decided to follow in Tomlin’s footsteps: not to wait for the conventional industry to make it happen, but ‘simply’ to give it a try herself and take care of this market gap.

In Kyoto and Tokyo, she met Japanese sustainability and entrepreneurship experts and visited the headquarters of a Japanese aikidogi brand. The director was very friendly and supportive and gave her precious insights into the supply chain of aikidogis. His advice however: rather develop a supply chain directly in Europe than in Japan.

pinkhana

 

Brand Name

September 2013 | communication – The name MISOGI DOGI came up after a series of intense brainstorming and research days. Lucile was quite enthousiastic: it has a well-fitting Japanese meaning an experienced aikidoka would immediately understand. Containing a core principle of aikido, it expresses the philosophy of the project in two simple words. And last but not least, the brand can be easily pronounced in any language and sounds good. Yay!!

(further milestones coming soon…)

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Emptying Your Cup Before Stepping Onto the Tatami

A famous Zen story goes as follows:

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

This story illuminates that also when we study and practice aikido, it is important to always inquire within ourselves whether our cup might be full. Are we carrying weight into our dojo that limits our experience and development? The burden we carry can take many shapes and forms; beliefs, expectations, fears, or other factors that limit us. Holding on to what we believe we know or to what is familiar or right, prevents an open attitude and can be in our way of what we are yet to learn. Remembering to actively let go of our burdens empties our cup and creates room for new insight, experience and growth. In the words of O-Sensei:

Cast off limiting thoughts and return to true emptiness. Stand in the midst of the Great Void. This is the secret of the Way of the Warrior.

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Dojo Misogi

Do you perform misogi to your dojo?

In some dojos, I am delighted to find a series of brooms on a wall or in a corner. They recall me of my first aikido trainings in Tanabe, Japan, back in 1998. There as well, at the end of each aikido lesson, the students would grab a broom and sweep the tatami together, from the outer area to the centre. A very nice way – pure Japanese tradition – to take care of the dojo.

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Dogi & Deserts

What does a martial art uniform have to do with over 60.000 square kilometers of desert?

This desert, only a few years ago, was one of the largest lakes on the planet. April 22 is Earth Day, a day where we humans are asked to reflect upon the relationship we have with the earth we live on. Since MISOGI DOGI is creating a sustainable cotton product (our dogi!), we would like to highlight an important example of the impact that regular cotton production has on our planet.

Not so long ago, the Aral Sea was the world’s fourth largest lake, home to a variety of fish and surrounded by fishing communities, lush forests and wetlands. While the lake was salt water, the rivers that fed it were filled with fresh water.

Aral_sea_1985_from_STS

Aral Sea 1985 (cc by nasa)

In the 1950s, the Soviet Union began using the rivers to irrigate the surrounding agricultural area, a process that has been continued to this day by Uzbekistan. Water usage rose explosively, and soon the immense body of water started to shrink. Wetlands dried up and the lake bottom turned into a desert.

AralSeaModis

Aral Sea 2010 (cc by nasa)

The cotton industry has an important role to play in this environmental disaster due to its enormous water usage. In the area around the Aral Sea, 1.47 million hectares of cotton are grown. Cotton is a hugely water intensive crop (For example, in order to make a regular cotton uniform, a staggering 30.000-50.000 liters of water are used!).

Next to this, regular cotton production relies heavily on pesticides. Although it is only grown on 2.5% of the world’s agricultural land, it consumes 16% of all insecticides and 6,8% of all herbicides that are globally used. These chemicals are washed out of soils, and pollute rivers and groundwater. Pests often develop resistance to the pesticides that are constantly sprayed on the cotton fields, which requires even stronger chemicals and increasing dosages. These chemicals eliminate not just the pests, but also many other species. This interference with the ecosystem considerably reduces biodiversity.

The exposure of the bottom of the lake due to the ongoing drought, has released salts and pesticides into the atmosphere. These are poisoning both farm land and people alike. Carcinogenic dust is blown into villages causing throat cancers and respiratory diseases. Many small farmers fall ill or die due to pesticide exposure.

To us, the fact that uniforms worn by aikido practitioners are linked to these and other kinds of environmental and social conditions, doesn’t fit with the aikido spirit.

Fortunately there are promising solutions 🙂

Organic cotton provides the world with an alternative. Although still needing water for production, organic farming practices focus on creating healthy soils which make better use of water inputs. In this way the fields are more resilient in drought conditions. By eliminating the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, the water pollution impact of organic has been shown to be 98% less than non-organic cotton production.

cot2 ton field

On this Earth Day we encourage you to take a moment to think about your relationship with this beautiful planet you live on. Do you feel connected to your surroundings? Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of the things you are buying? Are there better alternatives? Little increases in awareness and small lifestyle changes are all valuable and contribute to a more balanced world.

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Misogi – My Quest for Purity and Balance

It’s easy to get lost..

It’s easy to get lost in the chaos and whirring of our modern day society. For many, keeping up with all the information, choices and expectations that everyday life puts upon us can be an overwhelming task. Our minds are racing back and forth between a multitude of tasks, desires, worries and regrets. Next to this, our bodies are strained by poor lifestyle choices and anthropogenic factors in our environment. The processed foods that are readily available everywhere impede our health, and many of our waking hours are spent sedentary. We are polluting our lands, water and air and are thereby also indirectly polluting ourselves. Wherever we go, we are constantly stimulated with information from screens, billboards and telephones. In this reality that we live in today, it is easy to accumulate emotional, mental and physical burdens.

A question that I (Amber Vriends) consider to be of vital importance, is how we can prevent ourselves from getting overwhelmed or internally blocked by all these internal and external influences. How can we remain light, and flow freely like a river past whatever realities and influences present in our lives?

Although I consider my personal lifestyle to be conscious and healthy, at times I still can’t help but find myself out of balance, whether emotionally or physically. Clearly then, there still is a lot of room for growth. How to be more like that river?

In Aikido, the concept of misogi takes up a central role. As part of my personal quest for more balance, I’ve been exploring how the application of this concept can serve as a way to create more lightness and balance in my life.

Misogi

Misogi is an ancient Japanese practice that is focused on purification. Its purpose is to cleanse you of all accumulated defilements. By doing so, you can reestablish a harmonious relationship with yourself and everything around you.

A misogi ritual can be performed in different ways. The approach that is probably best known, is the practice of rinsing off defilements with ice cold water. A person typically immerses him- or herself in a lake, waterfall or the sea. In Japan every year many people take pilgrimages to sacred bodies of water to perform misogi in this way. For other practical applications of misogi, the inner organs and mind are cleaned through chanting or through taking deep, regenerating breaths.

After performing misogi successfully, you enter Sumikiri – a state of pure clarity of body and mind. It is said that in this condition your heart is as bright and clear as a cloudless sky, untainted by obstructive thoughts or worldly concerns.

Misogi and Aikido

To Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, misogi was at the heart of the aikido practice. To him, purifying body and spirit is part of the Way of Harmony and helps aikido students to establish harmonious ways of being. It guides them in preparing their mind for training, in accessing and developing their Ki, as well as in achieving peace and calmness within. He put it this way:

Misogi is a washing away of all defilements, a removal of all obstacles, a separation from disorder, an abstention from negative thought, a radiant state of unadorned purity, the accomplishment of all things, a condition of lofty virtue, and a spotless environment. In misogi one returns to the very beginning, where there is no differentiation between oneself and the universe.

In aikido there are also misogi rituals that are practiced using weapons. These are Misogi no Ken (cleansing or purification with the sword) and Misogi no Jo (cleansing or purification with a wooden staff). These practices are described by some as a ‘divine dance’. These routines serve as an instrument for purification of the dojo before practice, and as nourishment for the body, mind and energy flow.

The plunge

As an ardent aikido practitioner I’ve been experiencing an increasing drive to incorporate misogi more actively and into more areas in my life. In the first period of my practice, for me, misogi had only been a concept I had read about in books and had sporadically touched upon on the tatami. Joining MISOGI DOGI was my first deep dive into the practical application of it. I started to understand better what it means to apply misogi to a wide range of areas in life. Since then, I’ve been learning about the significance of taking misogi beyond the mat and the personal sphere, and how we can apply it to all human relationships and the environment. Every day we are exploring ways for our practical application of misogi to the development of pure aikido uniforms. It’s a tremendous journey. But I didn’t want to stop there. I also grew increasingly curious about the traditional ceremonial ways of misogi; rinsing the body with ice cold water. In the early winter of this year, I decided it was time.

In early January I was visiting the Bodensee with a friend. The Bodensee is a large inland lake at the borders of Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The setting was perfect. A beautiful cold winter landscape, with about 25 centimeters of snow covering the ground surrounding the lake.

That early morning I decided to improvise my first personal misogi ritual to celebrate the new year. My friend and I found a nice and quiet spot at the lake where entering the water was relatively easy. Before we started, I took some time to really connect with myself. With my body and breath, but also with my intentions for this exercise. My main aim was to consciously wash away and take distance from some experiences and emotions that had been part of my reality the year before, and that I now wanted to let go of for the new year. I wanted to make a fresh start. And fresh it was!

Since the temperature outside was below freezing, just getting undressed was already an experience in itself! Now in our bathing suits, we still had a 50 meter barefoot walk through the thick layer of snow ahead of us to get to the shoreline. After a few steps my feet started to get really painful, as if a thousand needles were pricking them. We continued.

When I reached the shore I took a short moment to again connect with my intention for performing this ritual. Then it was time to get into the water. Initially the cold felt quite overwhelming. My heartbeat and breathing quickened. My body’s initial response was to tense up. However, a bit to my own surprise, being immersed in this water that was just above freezing wasn’t painful. After some moments I was actually able to relax. My breath became more calm and staying in the water wasn’t very uncomfortable anymore. While being immersed in the water and pouring water over myself, I focused on my intention of washing away some things that no longer served me with it.

did it!

did it!

When I felt ready and got out of the water, my whole body started tingling. I felt renewed and invigorated. My mind felt sharp and clear. I can’t say that I entered a pure state of Sumikiri, but I definitely felt like something had shifted in my body and mind. A freshness or renewal, as if there there was more space now.

The cold water immersion was an experience I will definitely have again in the future, and I think is worthwhile to explore for anyone interested, whether you are an aikidoka or not.

I personally think there isn’t just one practice of misogi, or one that is the best. I think in general it is very valuable for people to develop a personal routine for letting go of things that are no longer needed. In this way we can remain fresh and open. We prevent stagnation and our energy can keep flowing freely. I hope sharing my experience will maybe inspire you to think about your own misogi, and what it means or could mean in your life. Have fun exploring 🙂

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