Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivan Chaika
Hi Ivan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello, my name is Ivan Chaika, and I’m from Ukraine. Thank you for inviting me to this interview.
Since childhood, I have been involved in sports: swimming, karate, basketball, triathlon, and more that I can hardly remember. At some point, I grew tired of competitions that were unfair and corrupt, both from the opponents and the judges. Incorrect weight categories, age groups, favoritism toward the “preferred” participants, and many other issues regarding the lesser-known or overlooked sides of sports can, quite literally, destroy lives.
I realized I didn’t want to be part of that world anymore and sought something new. I had seen martial arts clubs, but the term “sports” always pushed me away. Then, a Yoshinkan Aikido club opened in my city, and I decided to read about it to understand why it’s not just Aikido. It turned out to be a vast world with its branches and paths, sometimes running parallel and at other times diverging dramatically. The important thing I discovered is that Aikido is not a sport, it is a martial art, and the Yoshinkan style is studied by Japan’s special forces and police to this day.
Being in good physical shape from my sports background, I thought, “I’ll check this out,” as my understanding of Aikido came only from movies, and books could never replace practice. When I attended my first class, I felt that being in shape wasn’t everything needed to defend oneself and loved ones. Moreover, I learned how the culture and philosophy of martial arts work and why it isn’t a sport, how the psychology-reaction link operates, why strikes are often ineffective and dangerous in our world, and why it’s essential to know how to fall.
That’s how I met my teacher, Maxim Shilin. Over the following years, I also got to know many other teachers, including Japanese instructors from the school.
In my more than 13 years of practice, I became a teacher myself. I opened federations in various countries, but my main activity and students were in Ukraine.
Unfortunately, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, classes stopped. I volunteered in every possible way to fight the occupiers and help the Ukrainian army. However, after 1.5 years apart from my wife, who had to evacuate to Poland and lived there alone all this time, I suddenly began to reflect on where everything was heading. I realized that many of those with whom we fought back against the invaders mostly died, and those who survived had left the country. I tried to do everything I could while I had savings, but as the war continued, my family and I were left with almost nothing. I had to sell my business and even the equipment from the dojo to buy medical supplies for the military and myself, as the situation with corruption during the war was appalling, and everyone knew about it, yet ordinary citizens still tried to help.
Soon something changed in my government, and people began to be grabbed from the street like animals to be sent to war. My comments on social media displeased someone in higher circles. In the end, a familiar person from ‘high circles’ called me and recommended that I leave the country, as quote, ‘People like you are not needed here.’
After nearly two years of full-scale war in Ukraine, I was reunited with my wife. We immediately understood that we needed to start rebuilding our lives from scratch, with a clean slate, so to speak. However, Europe was already filled with refugees, and over this time, people had become quite cold in their willingness to help those in need. So, I reached out to an old friend who lived in America, Hi, Elijah, I know you see this :), we had trained under the same coach and were on the same team. He didn’t refuse to help and he with his family assisted my family in coming to the States and settling down.
Here in the cozy town of Anderson, my life story continued. Unfortunately, I am currently working in a job that isn’t my calling, but I am saving money and looking for investors to open a dojo (or maybe something more), in order to try to pass on my knowledge and experience to those who will find it interesting and necessary.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. It was probably harder for my family when I had early training sessions (starting at 5 or 6 a.m.), as I couldn’t quietly gather my things. Also, when the senseis came for big seminars and grading, it would go on for 2-3 days from early morning until late at night. I always felt like those days were too short, as I tried to absorb everything in detail, while my family missed me since I almost disappeared during that time. Looking back, it was a challenging journey, but so interesting that I would love to talk to the people I met at the dojo. To the teachers who shared their knowledge and wisdom, and who, unfortunately, are no longer in this world.
As for the war, I think it’s not even worth mentioning. It is always horrific, and unfortunately, it continues.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In my childhood, my parents worked a lot, and my active family consisted of my friends, with my coach stepping in as a parental figure. I didn’t understand how it worked back then, but my coach always knew and would approach me with the question, ‘Is everything okay?’ We knew he would listen and offer good advice.
In Aikido, my school and I have adopted experience from Japan and continued to train security personnel, police (privately), and simply interested individuals. Like my teacher, I particularly enjoy working with children and teenagers, as parents often do not know how to handle a difficult child or where to direct their child’s energy to guide it in the right direction. Conflicts in schools that escalate to physical violence often end tragically and with severe injuries. We teach how to avoid such situations or, if necessary for self-defense, how to inflict minimal harm on an aggressor.
Additionally, I personally enjoy watching how children and people grow beyond themselves. The ethics in the dojo and during training are quite strict and require self-restraint. People change, and this is evident.
Moreover, my specialty is, after getting to know a student and their parents, to try to explain to the parents that their child is a separate individual who develops sometimes faster and sometimes slower than they expect. Sometimes, children may not share their parents’ interests but might be afraid to express it directly. I aim to highlight gaps in parenting or the perception of their child, of course, when necessary.
Being a friend and mentor to a student is a default responsibility and a huge obligation for any self-respecting teacher.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like most is the rhythm and tranquility of the city. While my wife often talks about big cities, for me, comfort and warmth are the most important things. I’ll leave the large high-rises for movies and vacations to indulge my lovely wife.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gull_john/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004217613754
