Chida Sensei Seminar in Oz

Over the ANZAC Day Long Weekend in April 2010, Chida Tsutomu Shihan will be visiting Melbourne Australia for the first time in over 12 years as a guest of Aikido Shudokan. Chida Shihan was a top uchi-deshi of the Founder of Yoshinkan Aikido and can claim the longest career at Yoshinkan headquarters. All the details can be found in our seminar section, for those who need reminding here is Chida Shihan in action.

Miranda Sensei – 26 Sept 2009

The Miranda Sensei seminar was thoroughly enjoyable, and all the students who attended were great to train with. On entering the dojo, my first reaction was “erm… where area the mats?” The floor seemed to consist of nothing but a canvas sheet, which I winced at when thinking about doing flip-falls.

We started with a fairly energetic warm-up followed by kihon dosa (a little easier on the canvas surface). Miranda Sensei then showed us variations of techniques (for example, katate mochi nikajjo-hijishime). Throughout the seminar he focussed on the importance of kihon dosa in techniques – highlighted by the fact that many of us could attempt techniques we had never tried before by using the appropriate combination of kihon dosa.

Miranda Sensei also explained the importance of shitei’s centreline and attacking uke along a line where they weak. He demonstrated this by telling stories of his experiences and then using an uke to give a visual aid. One of the interesting aspects of the seminar was how to turn a ni technique into an ichi technique, usually by using tai no henko.

The Goryukan Stafford students made attending the seminar enjoyable with their friendly attitude towards us Nottingham folk. I thank them for their warm hospitality (which extended to making cups of coffee for us before the seminar started).

Davie Elliott

New Seminars Added

We have added two new seminar being held in May 2010 to our Seminars page. The first is with Toshishiro Obata Kaiso in Milton Keynes, UK which has been opened to Yoshinkan aikido groups at this time with places limited. The second is with Chida Hanshi of Aikido Renshinkai in Kiev, Ukraine former dojo-cho of Yoshinkan Honbu. Further details can be found on our Seminars page located here.

New Seminars Page

We have now created a seminars section on our website to record upcoming Aikido events taking place around the world. I believe you should take every opportunity to train with the many top instructors who make themselves available through seminars and workshops. Seminars provide the opportunity to learn new ideas and train with other students of Aikido. If you are organising a seminar, workshop or event and would like us to promote it on our website and to our students then please contact us with all the relevant details.

Aikido Shudokan Poland Summer Gasshukku July 2009

This annual Aikido Shudokan event that Sensei Pawel has in Poland was a fantastic experience and most of all a great holiday! A whole week of Aikido and some Vodka and BBQ in the evenings, what more can you ask for…. We drove nearly 3-4 hours up in the mountains from Gliwice to somewhere called Karpacz. Lovely countryside and the location had a great facility for kids and adults. It really reminded me of the summer camps you see in the American movies. Training was 2 session of Aikido in the morning, and Grappling (Jujitsu) in the afternoon. The training was hard but very focused and rewarding sessions. Especially the grappling class was very eye opening, as we leant some set throws and holds and then we did some grapple wrestling!! It was a great opportunity to put the aikido moves and pins into practice in more difficult situations. I think there is something about all Aikidoka as everyone I ever meet wherever in the world are always pleasant and everyone from Sensei Pawel’s dojo were no exception. Everyone was really nice and they all came up to speak to me whenever possible. Obviously the topic of the conversation was nothing other than Aikido!! Swigging down numerous “Cytrynówka” (vodka with lemon juice) that gets topped up every 10 minutes in front of the barbecue was an unforgettable experience!!! Lastly I would like to thank everyone who was at the summer camp for making the last week a really great holiday for me. Sensei Pawel thank you very much for your teaching and arrangements for me during the stay, and thanks to everyone who I trained with and shared the Cytrynówka!! We hope to bring some more students next year and see you soon. Osu!