It's 10 a.m. on a Saturday at the Shobu Dojo and Zen Center of Toledo.

Sunlight filters through a garage door at the end of the room onto the mat. The room is enormous, but for its use, the size is completely necessary.

Sensei Jay "Chikyo" Weik mills around the "living room" portion of the dojo, outfitted with a futon and coffee table. Next to the living room is the kitchen. If a wall was built where the mat starts, it could be a regular, functional apartment in Anytown, U.S.A.

But that's not the case.

Sensei Weik and his wife Karen have designed this dojo with every last detail in mind. And his mind and body have traveled all over the county in pursuit of higher education and understanding.

Rambling man

He grew up in the area, graduating from St. Francis De Sales in 1987, but his pursuit of music and the martial arts lead him to the Berklee College of Music where he studied with legendary jazz musician Gary Peacock. After receiving his bachelor's degree he earned a Master's degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory. He was 23 years old.

Meanwhile, the seeds of Zen study had already started germinating. With the practice of martial arts Weik realized that he was uncomfortable with the violence and competitive atmosphere wasn't as comfortable as planned. One year after he graduated high school, Weik made a decision that most 19-year-olds would have been apprehensive about — practicing Zen at the Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York, one of the most respected Zen centers in the Western world.

At a Boston dojo in 1992, Weik met his wife Karen. They decided to continue their Boston Zen experience in Toledo.

"Toledo is on the cusp (of Zen consciouness). It's not big deal in Boston or New York to find a Zen center, but when this finds its way to a Midwest town, you know you're on the edge of a cultural renaissance," he said.

He and Karen wanted to raise a family in Toledo, so they would need to make the city feel like home. In 2001, they opened the dojo. "The Zen center started as a sitting group within the dojo...one of the things that really drew me back to Toledo was to bring things that aren't here," he said.

Today, Sensei Weik teaches jazz guitar at the University of Toledo, aikido lessons at the dojo, and helps home school his daughter, Isabella. He is a 4th degree black belt, still managing to have a jam session with fellow UT faculty members once a week at Murphy's Jazz Club.

But despite Weik's busy life, the Zen center has maintained a somewhat private reputation. Nestled in a long row of brick buildings on Angola Road, the only way to know it exists was to notice the little sign by the side of the road,. Now the Zen Center is going public by holding a series of retreats designed to introduce Toledo to the world of Zen meditation.

And to think, everything Weik has pursued intellectually and musically comes from a childhood stuffed animal named Funky.

Let's Get Funky

According to Weik, Funky, his childhood teddy bear, was a model of what he could grow up to be.

"Funky was always three things: a priest, a martial arts guy and a guitar player," he said. If Funky could do all three, why couldn't Jay?

Sitting in Murphy's on a Monday watching him with the University of Toledo Jazz Faculty Group, his jazz students and peers alike stare at him intently. Some are here to fulfill a classroom requirement. During the set, they listen closely as each soloist plays, bobbing their heads along with the musicians. If he isn't sure of the music, Weik doesn't fret — he just breathes.

One student, Mike Costas, a senior in jazz performance at UT, admits that Weik as his teacher, his eyes have opened up to a different way of thinking about music. Completely different. "I will follow this guy wherever he wants to teach," Costas said.

Breathing is the first lesson. Something that he and his family believe in. Breathing is a way to center (calm down) and focus at the same time. "When you get anxious about the music all you have to do is breathe, it's so simple. And when I do that, I know that really, there is no way to play a wrong note," Weik said.

So the teddy bear's profession of guitar player was filled and the "martial arts guy" thing was working. There was only one thing left to do — look to Funky, whose priestly duties were still being actualized. After becoming a formal Zen student in 1995, he studied with Sensai Bonnie "Myotai" Treace in the Zen Mountain Monastery, earning the nickname "Chikyo." The moniker translates to "wisdom mirror." Weik continues to further his studies in Zen and regularly drives with his family up the monastery to study. Myotai now heads the Buddhist organization Hermitage Heart.

"There's a lot of lightweight teaching about Zen and meditation. The main reason that I was drawn back to Toledo was to bring (authentic and deeper learning) to the area."

And he did. Two things, specifically — Zen and aikido.

Breathe deep

This Saturday morning the aikido class will be taught as it always is. In a room with otherwise completely bare walls, one is filled entirely by a mirror. The mat creates a huge, white, slightly bouncy floor. Kind of like walking on a bed covered by just a sheet, tucked in tight. Students are supposed to look at two things — Weik and themselves, hence the mirrored wall.

Weik is not a showy martial arts instructor. Aside from the gi — the white, tied robe usually seen in martial arts classes — and the hakama (giant, dark pants with seven pleats and a complicated, tied belt), the only way that you would know his profession is to listen to him talk.

And hearing Weik talk can be quite surreal. Words fly out of his mouth like you've been there to learn their definition with him. Terms like "dharma," "za-zen" and "hara" are peppered in the conversation as casually as the rest of us would talk about the weather. Simply but oh-so-confusingly put, dharma is the nature of things. A cat is a dharma. Everything is itself. Easy enough. "Za-zen" is a Japanese word for seated meditation and a "hara" is a spot about two fingers below the belly button that acts as the body's center of gravity.

Weik doesn't mind that you don't know. You get the feeling that he's glad you're asking. You also get the feeling that he's used to being asked. Aikido is the martial art of samurais, which explains the hakama. The art prefers to deflect an attacker instead of blocking them directly.

"It's kind of like a matador and a bull," he said. "The matador doesn't block the bull's attack, that would be stupid, he is not as strong, so the matador leads the bull away from him." Students of aikido move fluidly with their opponents and resemble a movie where the fight scenes are in extremely slow motion.

"Most people know that they want to do aikido before they do it, they've always known, they just don't have the resources or the time," Weik said.

Aikido student Chelsea Tipton II — conductor for the Toledo Symphony Orchestra — agreed, "This is embarrassing, but you know those Steven Segal movies? That's where I got the idea," he said.

After all of the Japanese words have been translated, after the people have filtered out of the dojo, after chatting, sweeping the dust from class out the garage door and tying the straps of their hakamas, some students stay behind to talk further with Weik. Talking about personal issues like divorce, finances or friendship is completely welcome.

Despite a busy schedule, Weik remains centered.

"Every morning Isabella and I have hot chocolate and do our lessons. Karen and I meditate for about an hour and then we go on about our day," he said. If there is no time for meditation, it's okay. If he doesn't do everything that he needs to do that day, it's fine. It will all work out.

As Weik says it, you know that it will.

The Shobo Dojo and Zen Center of Toledo is located at 6537 Angola Rd. Weekly mediation group meets every Wednesday evening at 7:15 p.m. The half-day public retreat "The Basics of Zen Practice" will be held Sunday, October 28. Visit www.toledozen.org for info. 419-861-1163.