The twentieth edition of the Kanagawa Prefecture Aikido Federation Demonstration took place on Saturday, July 27th, at the Kanagawa Prefecture Budokan located within Kishine-kōen. This year being such a milestone, the event welcomed as guest of honor Aikido Hombu Dojo-cho Ueshiba Mitsuteru, the great-grandson of the founder of Aikido.
Yokohama AikiDojo was invited to participate in both the dojo demonstration and the instructors’ demonstration. Considering that our adult members recently got the chance to participate in the All Japan Aikido Demonstration, we decided that this time, it is the members of our Saturday children class who would be representing our dojo.
Ten children of levels ranging from 11th to 8th kyu responded to our call for volunteers a few weeks prior, and during the sessions leading to the demonstration, they trained very conscientiously in order to memorize the moves, perform them to the best of the respective abilities, and to make sure that the 2-minute timing of the demonstration was accurate. There are indeed many moving pieces during such kinds of events, with more than seventy demonstrations taking place on the day.
Yokohama AikiDojo kids class demonstration
In spite of the daunting prospect of having to demonstrate in front of the leader of Aikido worldwide, and the fact that they would be the only children demonstrating that day, our kids did a wonderful job under the direction of our assistant instructors Katsuura Emi (3rd dan), Katsuura Akihito (2nd dan), and with the help of Allan Fontaine (2nd dan) and Shimotori Ryutaro (shodan).
During the second part of the program, Yokohama AikiDojo-cho Guillaume Erard Sensei (6th dan) then gave a demonstration, with the help Mihaly Dobroka Sensei (4th dan) as uke, as well as Allan Fontaine (2nd dan), who recently relocated to Japan from his native Reunion Island.
Shidosha Enbu by Guillaume Erard Sensei
The final demonstration was performed by Ueshiba Mitsurteru, Hombu Dojo-cho in his usual fluid and dynamic manner, with as his uke Nakamura Hitomi (4th dan) and Arima Hayato (4th dan).
Demonstration by Ueshiba Mitsuteru, Hombu Dojo-cho
The event concluded with the customary group picture. It gave us the opportunity to greet a number of friends and colleagues from other dojos. We then headed to a nearby hotel for the official party.
Final group photo
We are glad to once again have been able to participate in this event, and we look forward to having even more members of our dojo representing us next year!
