Club Noticeboard

Please note: there will be no training session on Weds 6th Jan 2016, and no further training sessions at the Innox Road dojo. We are making arrangements for an alternative venue for Wednesday evening sessions, and will post details here shortly.

We are delighted to welcome Hanan Janiv Shihan, 7th Dan aikikai, for a fourth Spring keiko visit to Wiltshire, all the way from Canberra. He is one of three former pupils of Sugano Sensei in Australia to be appointed 7th Dan, and last visited us in 2016 to lead the Spring keiko weekend.

Janiv Shihan is also a Fellow of the Sugano Foundation, and was one of 30 senior instructors from around the world to lead a session at the 50th Anniversary Summer School in Melbourne, Jan. 2015.

Practical details: our Spring keiko for 2017 will consist of the usual 3 sessions: Weds 22nd, Sat 25th and Sun 126th March. All sessions will be held at the West Ashton CoE Primary School (see home page for directions).
There will be a grading session including yudansha gradings.

Timings:
Weds. 22nd: 18:30 - 20:30 (normal mat fee)

Sat. 25th: 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00
Sun. 26th: 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00

Weekend mat fees:
Single day: £15
Full weekend: £25

Saturday and Sunday lunch/afternoon session times may be adjusted.

Australia was Sugano Sensei's first teaching assignment when he left Hombu Dojo in the mid-60s. From there, after 15 years, he would go on to teach in Europe for 8 years and then New York for over two decades... but each time Sugano Sensei moved on, he left behind a thriving aikido community which would continue to grow, guided by his regular return visits to teach and train.

Aikikai Australia's 2015 Summer School, 19th-24th January, celebrated the 50th anniversary of aikido in Australia, and was our opportunity to acknowledge the unique international legacy of Sugano Sensei's teaching.

The Summer School, hosted by Tony Smibert Shihan, 7th Dan aikikai, welcomed Ueshiba Moriteru Doshu on three of the six days of training. Doshu also led an aikido demonstration and embu in central Melbourne to close the Summer School.

As usual, our seasonal keiko consisted of three training days with the goal of creating a progressive and sustained development of our aikido practice.

However, in spring of 2014 we were also privileged to have Louis van Thieghem Shihan, 6th Dan aikikai, as our visiting instructor. Louis Sensei is a student of the late Sugano Shihan, a senior instructor in the Belgian aikido community, and a regular contributor to the Inner Aikido Seminars at Maredsous. Louis' international aikido work includes instructing in Russia, Ukraine and Africa.

This keiko marked a significant step in the life of our small dojo because Aikikai hombu dojo granted us permission to conduct yudansha tests for the first time.