On Saturday 11th of May, our dojo held a very special event in order to celebrate some recent milestones, with a special class and an evening social.
The year 2024 will go down as a very significant year for our dojo’s history. Our dojo-cho, Guillaume Erard Sensei was promoted by the Hombu Dojo to the rank of 6th dan during the Kagamibiraki, and a few weeks later, some of his writing was published within Christian Tissier Shihan’s most recent book on Aikido. As a dojo, we have recently received the news that Yokohama AikiDojo is now fully recognized by the Aikikai Foundation, having successfully proven that it could operate for three continuous years, in spite of starting in the midst of the pandemic. Finally, as a group, ten of our adult members have been selected by the Kanagawa Aikido Federation to participate in the All Japan Aikido Demonstration at the end of May.
Certificate of official recognition of Yokohama AikiDojo by the Aikikai Public Interest Incorporated Foundation signed by Ueshiba Moriteru Doshu
For all those reasons, we felt that celebration was in order. Therefore, our instructors, led by Katsuura-san and Megumi-san, started to make arrangements to make this a memorable day. The Saturday classes were exceptionally moved to the main Gym of the Cougar Café and Sports Center, and we doubled the surface of mats in order to guarantee a dynamic and safe practice. Mihaly Sensei taught a very exciting children’s class, who were absolutely delighted to make use of the added space, and who all took the opportunity to practice much more mae ukemi and even breakfalls!
A number of our friends from France came to participate in the event, including regular visitors such as Odilon Regnard, Fabrice Rios, and Gerald Garzonio, and the adults class was placed under the direction of their teacher, Philippe Gouttard Shihan, 7th dan.
Our members got the opportunity to train with many very experienced French practitioners in a very demanding class technically and physically, but all did an exceptional job in trying to understand this alternative way of practice, in spite of the language and cultural barrier. Everybody was quite exhausted at the end of the three hours, and while some went to rest for a while, others made their way to the nearby sento in order to relax for a while.
We then all met at Minatomirai’s Pukari Pier, where we boarded the Yakatabune Hamashin, a traditional Japanese houseboat. After Mihaly Sensei’s campai speech, everybody got to enjoy wonderful Japanese food, with free-flow drinks, while admiring the unequalled view of the Yokohama Bay area.
Adults and children also participated in fun games organized by the team of adult members, and the best in each category was offered a present. Guillaume Sensei was also presented with a brand-new set of keikogi and hakama, on behalf of the dojo members, and he made a speech, thanking everyone for the recent achievements of the dojo.
The evening was wrapped up with everybody moving on the roof of the boat, to admire some fireworks, before returning to the pier, heading for a well deserved rest. We would like to thank everyone for participating in this very special events and for your dedicated practice. The dojo has not only grown in number, but also, we are very lucky that it has maintained a very warm, family-like atmosphere, and we hope that we can continue to hit this balance of hard work on the tatami and friendliness, for the many years to come.
Now our members will be preparing of the upcoming All Japan Aikido Demonstration, and of course, we will report about it when it is done!
