Last weekend took place a major celebration for our friends in Korea, with the 30th anniversary of the Korea Aikido Federation. Yokohama AikiDojo Dojo-cho Guillaume Erard and instructor Mihaly Dobroka were invited to participate and teach classes during the event, along with Igarashi Kazuo Shihan (8th dan), Takimoto Seizo Shihan (8th dan), and Yoon Junhwan Sensei (5th dan).
The Korea Aikido Federation was officially established in 1994, when its founder, Yoon Dae-Hyun (6th dan) invited Yasuo Kobayashi Shihan, a direct student of the founder of Aikido, to Korea for the first time. Yoon Sensei’s dedication to Aikido has almost single-handedly grown the Aikido population in Korea to several hundreds, which is no small feat considering that just a few years ago, the Anti-National Behavior Punishment Act banned Japanese cultural items in Korea.
The event has since been held each year and has frequently featured Kobayashi Shihan, as well as his most prominent student, Igarashi Kazuo Shihan, and subsequently Takimoto Seizo Shihan. According to Yoon Sensei, this year’s event constitutes a passing of the torch between generations, since with the aging leaders are planing to progressively reduce their frequency of traveling, The federation must thus celebrate it rich history but also keep looking forward.
First and foremost, we are witnessing the transition between Yoon Sensei and his son Yoon Junhwan (5th dan), who is the Head of the central dojo in Korea and who spent time in Japan as a resident student at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. Yoon Junhwan is clearly amongst the most gifted and dynamic Aikido teachers of his generation, which guarantees the technical solidity of the organization, as well as the that of its ties with Japan.
Moreover, according to one of Yoon’s articles on the federation's website, while the first generation of teachers focused on accurately conveying the techniques and philosophy of Aikido, the next generation can be said to be a generation that expresses it with their bodies and shows depth with their knowledge. It is for this purpose that they opted to invite Mihaly Dobroka (4th Dan) and Guillaume Erard (6th Dan), who are both renown outside of Japan as competent teachers but also prominent researchers on the history of Aikido, to participate in this event.
We flew to Korea on Friday and were greeted by Yoon Sensei and his son at the airport. Saturday morning, we were taken for a sightseeing trip by two members of the Korea Aikido Federation and were able to enjoy the wonderful sights of Seoul, in particular the Deoksugung Palace, which was built by the kings of the Joseon dynasty.
We enjoyed some traditional chicken soup and then headed to the Kyunghee University Gymnasium. It was wonderful to see again all the friends that we had made on our previous visit during the 2019 Martial Arts Masterships.
Takimoto Seizo Sensei, the President of the Nagoya Aikido Association, was in charge of the first class, and he set a very high level of energy. Even though more than two hundred people were on the mat, space was sufficient to guarantee an enjoyable practice with lots of ukemi.
Igarashi Kazuo Sensei, the President of the Hachimoto City Aikido, then took charge of the second class. He made sure to focus on the core principles of tai sabaki, as well as concepts such as axis of action, and the intention that one should have when performing movements, in particular, the fact of not trying to do the technique on someone, but rather, move from one’s point of view. His explanations were fascinating since even though we had never taken a class with Igarashi Sensei, his approach felt quite close to what we try to explain during our own classes at Yokohama AikiDojo.
After the classes, the All Korea Aikido Demonstration took place, with almost fifty demonstrations given by dojos, groups, and instructors. This was a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the variety of practices in Korea, ranging from all possible levels of experience. It was fantastic to see Yoon Sensei’s wife, Shin Mi-ae lead a demonstration. Mihaly Sensei and Guillaume Sensei also both gave demonstrations, using as uke members of the Korea Aikido Federation.
After the demonstration, we moved to the nearby venue to participate in the celebration party. A mouth-watering buffet had been set up, and with some very talented musicians providing entertainment mixing traditional Korean music and famous pop songs. The five teachers of the day received some commemorative trophies. We also received a number of commemorative items such as T-shirts and books, including Yoon Sensei’s biography, so much so that we were starting to have some concerns about luggage excess on our way back! What a testimony to Korean generosity and hospitality!
The next day, we rose early for the second part of the event, which focused on the new generation of instructors. Yoon Junhwan Sensei taught the first class, going over the important basics of tai sabaki, as emphasized the day before by Igarashi Sensei.
Mihaly Sensei followed up with a class focused on ukemi training and developing both core strength and coordination. Mihaly has been developing his pedagogy in that regard for quite a while now, and it was very interesting to see how efficiently people were able to pick up the details, regardless of their level of technicality and fitness. It is also of course very indicative of the excellent general level of the Korean practitioners.
The last class was taught by Guillaume Sensei, who made frequent callbacks to the notions that had been taught over the weekend by the different teachers, and offered ways to apply those basics in a swift, economical way, that made use of the body’s natural central axis, without resorting to rearranging the partner.
In spite of this busy schedule, we also managed to find the time to conduct a long interview with Yoon Sensei, going over his rich journey as a martial artist.
After this last class, we took ample time to thank everyone and take commemorative pictures, and we headed to town for a last lunch with Junhwan Sensei, before heading back to the airport.
This event was truly magnificent in its scope, spirit and content, and we are very confident about the fact that the future of Aikido in Korea is very bright. Indeed, we regard the country as one of the future powerhouses of Aikido in the region. It will be our pride and privilege to provide friendship and support to the Korea Aikido Federation for the years to come.
