Our last class before the winter break took place on Saturday, December 17th. Adult and children members of our dojo took this opportunity to gather after practice to celebrate our very first Bonenkai.
This was also the opportunity to celebrate our dojo’s second year of existence and the end of our first year of practice at Saint Maur International School. In support of this important date for us the school kindly offered to let us use the Cougar Café, which is conveniently located just above our regular practice room. We were also fortunate to be able to count on the support of Cezars Kitchen, who came specially to provide catering for us.
Saint Maur’s recently built Cougar Cafe, Activity and Sports Center
We kicked off this special day by greeting the children with some treats and seasonal Christmas hats, which they enthusiastically wore throughout practice, even during ukemi! In order to allow me to finalize the preparations, Derek Sensei, a nidan member of our adults class from America took on the bulk of the teaching during the childrens and adults classes.
Derek Sensei teaching the children's class
While the follow up adults class took place, the children were able to chill out while watching a movie in the adjacent activity room.
Activity room 2 was set up as a projection room for the children. We are very fortunate to be able to benefit from the numerous spaces offered by Saint Maur’s Cougar Café, Activity & Sports Center
Once the adults finished packing up the mats, everyone gathered upstairs in the Cougar Café, where Dantly from Cezars Kitchen was ready to serve us a special meal prepared for the occasion, including beef lasagna, freshly baked herb bread, roasted broccoli, caesars salad, and moist chocolate cake, with a selection of fountain drinks. As a special attention, he also prepared some of Cezar’s Kitchen's popular signature cookies, complemented with a drink pack for the guests to take home.
Cezars Kitchen always has mouth-watering and picturesque seasonal presentations.
When we first got the idea of hosting a bonenkai during, we were a little unsure whether people would be free to attend due to the many other commitments linked with this busy season, and also whether the recent epidemic rebound would prevent some from joining us. While sadly, a number of us were not able to join due to the aforementioned reasons, in the end, we were absolutely delighted by the fact that twenty-six of us were able to gather on this day. Notably, it was an opportunity for some of our Wednesday class members to meet those of the Saturday class.
Saint Maur International School’s recently built Cougar Café offers a very scenic view over the Yamate area.
After the meal, I was able to formally thank everyone for their attendance and support and to go over the origins of the club, from its inception at Yokohama Country and Athletics Club (YC&AC), to its recent opening of a weekly class at Saint Maur.
Guillaume Sensei explaining how he was encouraged to open a dojo by the International Aikido Federation’s chairman and vice-chairman Mr Wilko Vreisman and Mr Kei Izawa.
I explained that before the Coronavirus pandemic started, I had been training intensively at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo for over ten years and that I was starting to wonder what I should do next. At about that time, I had a conversation with my friend Mr Wilko Vriesman, who is the Chairman of the International Aikido Federation, and he said to me “Guillaume, you should open your own dojo, as it will consolidate you and your aikido”. I thought a lot about his words, but I was not sure that I wanted to make such a commitment.
Taking ukemi from Miyamoto Sensei (8th dan) at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 2012
Shortly after, the pandemic started and I was no longer able to commute to Tokyo to train, so I wondered how I could keep practicing. I thought some more about Wilko’s words and I decided that it might indeed be the time to start a dojo. It was the worst possible time because of the pandemic, but thanks to the support of the local community, I was able to secure a spot at YC&AC. Soon, the first students came. For a while, we were a very small number and in a few cases, it was just Kenshin and me!
One of the first classes held at YC&AC in late 2020
However, thanks to the dedication of those first students and the help of my fellow instructor Mihaly Sensei, more people started coming and the word about out dojo spread within the community.
Yokohama AikiDojo’s first public demonstration at YC&AC
We also benefited from the support of the Kanagawa Aikido Federation and the Takeda Dojo, who provided us with many opportunities to get the word out about our practice.
Some of our children members with Takeda Daiyu Sensei, during the 8th Totsuka Budo Demonstration.
Thanks to this support and seeing the consistently enthusiastic response from our members when asked to participate, I slowly started to realize that things could actually work out and now that we have moved to Saint Maur, I was very moved that we could all celebrate this fact together.
Our always dynamic children’s class
I followed up this brief overview with a special presentation about Aikido history through a display of Aikido pioneer’s André Nocquet Sensei’s historical artifacts, including a keikogi vest that was given to him directly by Aikido’s founder Ueshiba Morihei. I also distributed a number of 70 year-old Aikido Newspaper issues, as well as some of the first ever technical books about Aikido published in French language.
Presenting a very special vest that was given to André Nocquet Sensei by Ueshiba Morihei Sensei before Nocquet returned to France in 1957.
We spent the rest of the time chatting and enjoying some wine and soft drinks and around 3pm, everyone offered a hand to clean up the room and we all departed for a well deserved winter break. Our first class of 2023 is set to take place on Saturday, January 7th.
I would like to thank once again every member of Yokohama AikiDojo, past and present, for their hard work and support. I feel very fortunate to be able to interact with such a wonderful group of people. Reflecting back on Wilko’s words, opening a dojo has not only grounded my Aikido, but also, to a great extent, my life in the Yamate area.
