The 2025 Aikido Kanagawa Training and Exchange Practice was held on Saturday, December 27th. The final practice session of the year, it brought together aikido enthusiasts from the Kanto area for a lively end-of-year celebration of intense practice and networking. The event took place at the Kamakura Budokan near Yokohama. The three-hour training session was filled with a passionate atmosphere, defying the chill of the year-end weather.
As always, this year's practice session featured three special instructors from Japan and abroad, each sharing their own techniques and spirit.
The first session was headed by Rachid Gouffi, originally from France and currently teaching Aikido in the Netherlands. He emphasized the principles of breathing and flow in his instruction, eliciting flexible yet powerful movements from the participants. In particular, he emphasized techniques that emphasize harmony with the opponent, providing participants with a new perspective.
The second session was quite special since it was taught by Yuji Hoshi, a seventh-degree Yoshinkan Aikido instructor. He spent considerable amounts of time explaining some of the specifics of the Yoshinkan Aikido basic techniques, such as kotegaeshi or ikkyo, also insisting in particular on the way nikkyo is performed in Yoshinkan with two hands holding the opponent’s hand, rather than covering their arm.
The third instructor of the day was Ryota Oiwa, a sixth-degree student of Endo Seishiro Shihan. He elected to go through the particular concepts of relaxation that are at the core of his teacher’s Aikido, shedding some welcome light on some of its internal mechanics.
After practice, participants enjoyed a social gathering at a local izakaya. Over warming food, participants exchanged practice information and discussed techniques. Amid the end-of-year atmosphere, participants reflected on the past year and shared their aspirations for the coming year.
Many participants expressed a sense of fulfillment at the end of the year's final training session, saying, "I received new stimulation that I don't usually get in training." They also vowed to further improve themselves next year and looked forward to meeting again at the next training session.
After the party, Takeda Daiyu Sensei expressed his enthusiasm for next year's event, saying that the hall had already been booked for December 27th, 2026!
