Aikido Abroad
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Urban Aldenklint Sensei Seminar in Bath UK
Inside Bath Abbey One week ago I was traveling around & sightseeing in Bath, which is an absolutely beautiful place with its architecture and spectacular Roman baths.
However the one thing that did strike me was the amount of dog poo left on the pavement by pet owners. This added to the difficulty one experiences while stumbling over the several hundred year old paving stones, as you are taking in the marvelous sights. Thankfully the majority of the pooches that I did see were not all of the large variety...as I only have small feet.
Slipping right along, the following week I was kindly invited to attend a seminar to be held back in Bath and arranged by an organization known as the Kobayashi Dojo’s.
Justin Marchant Sensei is just one of the many aikido fanatic’s / extremists worthy of mention training with Chris Diacopulous Sensei whose branch Kobayashi Dojo is based in the heart of London.
This was to be my first real opportunity to experience Aikido in the United Kingdom on a seminar scale. Surprisingly the average cost of seminars over here is quite reasonable at $25 pounds for two days training or roughly $75 NZD.
Urban Aldenklint Sensei The guest instructor at the seminar was Urban Aldenklint Sensei 6th Dan from Stockholm, Sweden. The seminar was held at the University of Bath within their sports complex, which can only be described as a magnificent facility. The size of the dojo is at least 250 tatami and is the training location for the 2012 Olympic Judo Team.
Urban Sensei is a jovial man of sizeable girth and height and whose appreciation and understanding of Aikido welcomes the difference in technique shown by that of fellow Aikido practitioners from around the world. I was invited to sit down with Urban Sensei during the seminar dinner and we began to discuss our individual teachers and their influences on not only our physical application but also our understanding of Aikido.
Urban Sensei demonstarting a technique We both agreed that Aikido is very individual as we are all shaped differently and think differently from one another. So with that in mind there can never be “the” right way or wrong way of practicing Aikido? Every individual has had and will have varying influences and life experiences compared to others and also for this reason we should not compare or criticize others technique, unless we wish to show the limits of our own understanding of Aikido.
The attendees and myself enjoyed Urban Sensei’s expertise not forgetting his sense of humor over the course of the weekend. We covered numerous techniques with the emphasis on nage relaxing, finding ones centre and relinquishing our strength during the application of a technique.
Bokken and Kumi Tachi techniques was also a main focus for the weekend and it was enjoyable to see and experience a different approach to weapons, compared to the instruction we receive from Takase Shihan and Sawada Shihan. The Kobayashi members and visitors from other organizations tended to have a very front on kamai, with more emphasis on parrying and blocking uke’s cuts and tsuki’s.
Overall the weekend was a great success and everyone had a wonderful time training with those who attended.
Walking along the beautiful water-ways of Bath Click here for more Seminar Photos from Bath UK
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Kimori Dojo My Second Home
Aaron McConnell Sensei - Kimori Dojo I came to Japan three years ago on a scholarship to study Japanese at a university inKyoto. Kyoto is a great city, I think it is very similar to Christchurch in many ways and I still enjoy going back there occasionally to visit friends. The year I spent in Kyoto passed very quickly, time flies when you are drinking constantly, working when you are supposed to be in class and hanging out with friends when you should be studying. I can’t understand why but for some reason my Japanese did not improve at all that year. Anyway the weekends were what I really looked forward to while living there. I would get up on a Friday morning and work at the dormitory’s cafeteria from 6am. I would finish around 10am then happily pack my bags and head to town to catch a bus from Kyoto to Nagoya(all the while my poor teachers where wondering where I was). I would spend the weekend training and drinking with the Sensei and members of Kimori Dojo. Great!
Then it was time to finish up at Uni (although I never really started) and move to Nagoya. I moved a couple of weeks early so I could meet up with Simon Puffet who was in Japan for a short period of time. The training was great….until I got myself nailed by one of Sawada Sensei’s Ikkyos! Remember that Simon?? I watch the video every once and a while and it still makes me cringe.
Sawada Shihan & Aaron McConnell That year, the second year was really tough. I had come to Japan with the intention of training and learning as much of Kimori Dojo’s Aikido as I possibly could in one year. Unfortunately I found myself working at least 12 hours a day 7 days a week (well, I only worked 6 hours on a Sunday, my day off). I was building foundations for houses, doing a lot of the grunt work. As you can expect, this affected my training quite seriously. I was always late or missing classes completely, and became very stiff. I was also diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (the doctors here are way too eager to operate, scary!). I continued that job for around 9 months but then gradually started replacing it with odd English teaching jobs here and there. I was also lucky enough to have Sawada Sensei offer me various kinds of work at his company.
My second year here in Japan finished up and I started out my third year with a trip back home. I had a great time in New Zealand when I visited with Sawada Sensei in March last year. Catching up with family and friends and seeing how everyone’s Aikido had developed. I especially liked reacquainting myself with good coffee and pies! After I came back to Japan I started a couple of new Jobs. One was teaching at a private English school, and the other working at a kindergarten. I love kids and working at the kindergarten was a dream come true compared to the construction work I had been doing. With the new jobs I had more energy, regained my flexibility and got back into serious training.
Aaron McConnell during taijutsu class at Kimori Dojo So now I find myself entering into my fourth year here in Japan. It doesn’t really seem like that long. Nothing much has changed, my grasp of the Japanese language still resembles my grasp on Aikido, I am always totally confused and messing everything up. The only noticeable difference I am aware of since coming here is the stiffness in my joints and the concerning amount of grey hairs that seem to be appearing, I hope I am just imagining those.
In the three years I have been here things have been very up and down, but one constant thing, one of the best things about living and training at Kimori Dojo is the absolute pleasure I get when friends (old and new) from abroad come to stay and train. There is nothing like sitting down after training, having a few beers and talking in English (sometimes in a Kiwi accent, yeah! Sometimes in that incomprehensible American accent, Cheers Neil! And I can never seem to get my head around the way Canadians speak aye!).
So if you ever get the chance to come to Japan, please put a few days aside to come and train here at Kimori Dojo. It makes my 2nd home feel like home. NZ will always be home but while I am here, at my second home Its wonderful to hear the good old kiwi accent.
Weapons Seminar February 2008 by Aaron McConnell - 13/03/2008
- Aikido in New Zealand – Self defense, fitness, confidence -
Aikido
Shinryukan
Hombu Dojo
16 Aberfoyle Street
Mt Eden,
Auckland
New Zealand
Email:
A/Hrs
0064 021 779 179