Robin Cooper, MSSW ’82, Combines a Social Work and Martial Arts Career
For more than 45 years, Robin Cooper, MSSW ’82 has combined two passions: working as a social worker and studying and teaching the Japanese martial art of Aikido, founding Aikido of Madison with her husband, John V. Stone in 1984. Akido, a modern Japanese art form with roots in the Samurai tradition, is based on the principle that, “confrontation should be dealt with in a way that minimizes harm to all parties.” Aikido, “trains us to join with our opponent rather than fight against them, and by doing so, we have the possibility to redirect the conflict.”
In her social work career, Robin worked primarily in the developmental disabilities area assisting state agencies in designing inclusive, individualized community-based services systems that in particular focused on individuals who were institutionalized.
Robin draws on social work’s commitment to inclusion in both pursuits, explaining:
I spent my whole career working with people with disabilities – I retired a few years ago – and to me, inclusion for everyone really means for everyone…. that includes people with intellectual disabilities, mental disabilities, physical disabilities, or PTSD, or whatever human beings experience. At the dojo, we can accommodate and work with people wherever they are, whether they are old, young, injured, flexible, that’s one thing about inclusion, and it also has to do with diversity; it has to do with people of color; it has to do with LGBTQ+. For example, in our dojo… we have gendered dressing rooms and gender-neutral dressing rooms. Our bathrooms are gender neutral. Inclusion is a courtesy to humans; it’s respect and we really try to embody that in how we support people in the dojo.
Robin’s work in the disabilities area began in 1973 at the inpatient unit of the Sauk County Counseling Center, then as a social worker at Lakeshore Manor in Madison and a case manager in California. In 1983, having returned to Wisconsin, she worked at the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services developing and managing the Community Integration Program (CIP). From 1994 until her retirement in 2020, she served as the Director of Technical Assistance for the National Association of State Directors of Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), which represents the nation’s agencies in 49 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia providing services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. There she provided a range of technical and consultation services throughout the country.
In her retirement, Robin remains active in Aikido recently receiving promotion to 7th degree black belt. She shares that she has been fortunate to have found two career passions that, while initially appearing quite disparate, have allowed her to use skills developed in both arenas to serve her communities and flourish professionally.