After a three-year hiatus, the Aikido Kanagawa Rensei Koryu Keikokai (合気道かながわ錬成交流稽古会, Kanagawa Aikido training exchange practice session) could finally be held at the Yokohama Budokan on October 11th, 2022.
Those gatherings are informal events held under the auspices of Aikido Kenkyukai International and they are a wonderful opportunity for practitioners from several dojo of the Kanagawa prefecture to get to know each other and practice together. The keikokai lasts for two hours from 18:00 to 20:00, during which several instructors lead the class in succession in order to allow others to experience their practice. It is open to students and teachers of any Aikido dojo, in particular those of the Kanagawa area.
Yokohama AikiDojo was invited to take part in this training session, so five members of our adult class made their way to the Yokohama Budokan on a warm Monday evening. For some of us this would constitute the very first opportunity to take part in a seminar since starting Aikido.
The Yokohama Budokan
We were greeted at the entrance by Takeda Daiyu Sensei and upon entering the changing rooms, we noticed that several of our friends from Tokyo had also come to visit, including Tokyo Riverside Aikido’s Okawada Takamori Sensei and Aigo Ken Sensei from Chioda Ward Aikikai.
Upon stepping on the mat, a quick meeting was held with the various dojo-cho to decide which instructors would be teaching that night. Okawada Takamori Sensei would take care of the warm up and first session, followed by our own instructor, Guillaume Erard Sensei, and then Takeda Daiyu Sensei.
The group of dojo-cho
Okawada Sensei started his session with katatedori irimi tenkan and then followed up with kokyu nage, and irimi nage, insisting all along on maintaining a relaxed upper body while moving freely on one’s feet, experiencing with various angles and positions.
Okawada Sensei teaching with Mihaly Sensei as uke
Guillaume Sensei took over after a short break and he insisted on the importance of maintaining a vertical axis relative to which all movements should occur and upon which the various force vectors should be applied during the techniques, either upwards, or downwards.
Practitioner of different dojos and different levels enjoying aikido together.
Daiyu Sensei followed up on some of the notions approached earlier with an emphasis on the tangential movement of the body relative to the attack and on the opening in order to allow the redirection of forces without using much of one’s own strength.
The Yokohama AikiDojo group (from left to right: Derek-san, Atsumi-san, Guillaume Sensei, Mihaly Sensei, and Masaki-san)
Due to the fact that the COVID situation is not fully resolved yet, the customary social was not held afterwards but all participants did have some time to chat and get to know each other better.
As a dojo, it was the first time that our adult section was able to participate in such an event and everyone had a lot of fun. We left the Budokan quite exhausted but very happy, and each of us could reflect on some of the things we had seen tonight and how it could contribute to enrich our own practice.
