I decided to travel from Sweden to Nottingham to study Aikido fulltime under Narita Sensei for the period of May and June 2012.
As Shoshinkan is the ’home’ dojo for me, I was anxiously looking forward to this trip. To meet up with Tadashi Narita sensei is always a great experience, and to train with all Shoshinkan students once again, since I haven’t seen them for over a year!
I would like to say that my stay has been very pleasant, and although it did hurt alot and made me a few pounds lighter, I did learn alot on Aikido and cooking fronts! Shoshinkan students welcomed me back once again and Narita sensei was a very pleasant host! Even the cultural experience in York and Japanese Gardens was great to say the least, thanks to Naoko Sensei! And did I mention the morning classes from 6 to 8am? Oh, you have to be there in order to experience that, so if you are thinking of training Aikido in Nottingham, Shoshinkan is THE place to be! The level of Shoshinkan students was high and training with them was pleasing. Teaching kids was another great experience, which really shows you the joy of developing their discipline, spirit and attitude.
One of the biggest thing about the dojo, is it has a link to some of the best dojos in the world. I have had a pleasure to study my aikido further at Aikido Shudokan in Melbourne under Joe Thambu shihan. It was a great honour and a privilege to study there, and I could not have been able to do that without studying under Narita Sensei and Shoshinkan.
The 2 months of stay was such a short time and flew by but I am already looking forward to having an opportunity of visiting Shoshinkan again!
