Organic Classes and the Dojo of Now.

In the days of the old Masters, perhaps long before those with whom we are familiar, I imagine things happening in a very different manner, something very much organic as opposed to mechanistic.
Wherever you happened to find yourself when these things happened, that is where you were and that spot has just become sacred until things were finished 'happening' and you found yourself in another spot as the process continued.

'Do' meant the Way, 'Jo' meant place - Dao Jang?? I'm uncertain about that translation and a lot of people are not too fond of semantics, but I think this aversion to semantics has robbed us of our understanding as to what the power behind the 'word' truly is.
The word is the pointing finger, as the old saying goes, the point is understanding what the word truly means - not just a cold definition, but truly knowing.

A Dojo is not truly a place, not just a training hall, now-a-days we have set places where things 'happen' at a specific time, according to a specific schedule; one can still learn many things by not missing scheduled classes, but one needs to be open to always letting things 'happen' wherever they are, because when things happen organically it can be a truly deep and life-changing experience.
I have always said that the world is my Dojo as life is all about learning, that life is constantly 'happening' and does not truly have a schedule; just as the ancient Daoists did not have a set time and place to follow the Dao, wherever they went, there they were, immersed in the happening, that was their Dao Jang.

When you leave the Dojo you may leave that mentality on the Dojo Floor as you bow out of class and pick it up as you bow in - that is fine, but what do you take with you and how do you apply it in other areas? Life should be the Dojo, the Training Hall you attend is where you go for guidance as you continue the 'happening' endlessly no matter where you find yourself.
Recently Wilder Sensei told me that the first Dojo of Mas Oyama was something akin to a run-down Garage, I had also read that prior to his first actual Dojo he accepted students and trained them in an empty grassy lot.
Myself? I have trained in nice places, and not so nice places, my back yard in many different locations has served as a great Dojo, my basement, garages, hills, mountains - in the extreme heat of Spokane's summers, in the extreme cold of Spokane's winters, no matter where you go, there you are, and it doesn't end until you end, until you are no longer 'happening.'

Last night my friend Logan and I were having a discussion on many different things, then it turned to Martial Arts, as he had studied Kendo and wanted to study Karate. It turned into an on-the-spot class in the living room - a living exploration of concepts, ranging from Sanchin posture, to 'Crossing the T' as a sole basis for escaping holds and Ground Fighting, to the concept of seeing the body as a wheel or sphere with various points of imbalance that can facilitate throwing and takedowns.
We switched back and forth between using Bokken to empty hand, with a little bit of Bo thrown in as an interesting aside to explore these principles.
It was less like what you would see in a formal setting, more like a physically involved whole-body and mind discussion.
Now he is spreading the word and more people would like to join in the discussion. When it happens, it will happen.
These organic on-the-spot things always go deep and I have been blessed with few students who think deeply rather than many students who go through the motions. The process is never-ending and class is never out of session.