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Friday,September 03,2010

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Trip to San Diego part 1

Trip to San Diego part 2

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Travels

One of the great things about Aikido is that you get to travel quite a bit and meeting people, sometimes sharing the same roof. For me, Aikido is one of the best way to visit a country because it makes you live with the locals rather than staying amongst tourists in an hotel...

Aikido Memorial Events 2010

Written by Guillaume Erard and Jordy Delage
Friday, 18 June 2010 07:05
In Japan, the months of April and May are quite busy in celebrations. Within the Aikido world, there are also a few events that are worth noting such as the anniversary of the founder's passing on April 26th 1969, the Aiki Shrine Festival and the 29th of April and the massive annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration on May 22nd.
Read more... [Aikido Memorial Events 2010]

Trip to Japan part 4: Kyoto, historic capital of Japan

Written by Guillaume Erard
Monday, 02 March 2009 17:57
After a fantastic day spent visiting the famous Himeji Castle, I feel really excited to be on the way to Kyoto. Although Tokyo is demographically, politically and economically the most important city of Japan, Kyoto is definitely its historic capital. Of all places, it this is probably in this particular city that my life long interest in Japanese history is going to be satisfied. Kyoto was actually the imperial capital until 1868, when the 17-year-old Meiji Emperor moved to Edo and changed its name to Tokyo (tō (east) + kyō (capital)), putting an end to 263 years of shogunate. Thankfully, Kyoto is one of the rare cities that got spared by the bombings during World War II; leaving its heritage intact for us to discover.
Read more... [Trip to Japan part 4: Kyoto, historic capital of Japan]

The Itinerant Aikidoka

Written by Bruno Mathis
Friday, 07 November 2008 09:19
Bruno Mathis, 4th dan Aikikai has been practicing and teaching for over 30 years. His numerous travels have allowed him to practice all around the world and to discover the richness of our art with the human bonds that it allows us to create, beyond social and cultural differences. From Beijing, his current residence, he talks to us today about his Aiki journey around the world.
Read more... [The Itinerant Aikidoka]

Trip to Japan part 3: The Group Goes South

Written by Guillaume Erard
Sunday, 05 October 2008 23:14
Our first weekend in Japan is approaching two days after our arrival. We have not yet gotten used to the Tokyoite environment but we already have to pack our stuff and in preparation to the trip that will take us south, to the historic cities of Himeji and Kyoto. This weekend is really be some sort of travel back in time, in particular when put in perspective with the modernity of what we have experienced in Tokyo until now. Our first stop of the day will be Himeji, which is a little off the road from Tokyo to Kyoto but the visit of its world famous castle makes it a worthwile detour.
Read more... [Trip to Japan part 3: The Group Goes South]

Trip to Japan part 7: Introduction to Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu

Written by Guillaume Erard
Sunday, 14 September 2008 12:34
This article is the seventh part of our series on the Dublin Aikikai Aikido trip to Japan that took place in May 2008. After the arrival to Tokyo, the first class in the Hombu Dojo and the first strolls around Tokyo, I am about to do a very interesting encounter and to experience an art that is at the roots of Aikido. The more we spend time in Tokyo, the more we realize that the world of Aikido is indeed very small. The beauty of this is that it is during random encounters and acquaintances that we end up making the most crucial experiences for our personal development. Such an acquaintance happened once again on the tatami of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. Today, I would like to take you for a journey through time, to the discovery of a discipline which is the ancestor of Aikido. Those of you a bit more erudite on the subject know of course that I am talking about the Daito-ryu Aiki- jujutsu.
Read more... [Trip to Japan part 7: Introduction to Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu]

Trip to Japan part 2: First Class at the Hombu Dojo

Written by Guillaume Erard
Wednesday, 10 September 2008 12:42
This is the second part of the series of articles on the Dublin Aikikai Aikido trip to Japan in May 2008. It is day two, the night has been short and full of surprises (not the least of which was an earthquake shaking their bed for a whole minute in the middle of the night) and the crew is heading in jolly mood for its first practice at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo.
Read more... [Trip to Japan part 2: First Class at the Hombu Dojo]

Trip to Japan part 1: Arrival to Japan

Written by Guillaume Erard
Saturday, 03 May 2008 19:13
The beginning the month of May saw the realisation of a very old dream of mine. As far as I can remember, I have always been interested in Asian countries, in particular Japan, and always had the wish to travel there. The way things turned up, it ended up happening much later than I had hoped, at the age of 27 and after 12 years practicing Aikido. In fact, things happened quite quickly and without me giving it much thought. A group of students from the Dublin Aikikai Aikido, led by Cyril Lagrasta had been planning a trip to the Aikikai for some time and quite spontaneously, I ended up buying myself a ticket along with them, never mind my PhD thesis that I was supposed to be working hard at completing.
Read more... [Trip to Japan part 1: Arrival to Japan]

Trip to San Diego Part 2: The Jiai Aikido

Written by Guillaume Erard
Saturday, 03 November 2007 11:12
In a previous article I talked about my wanderings in San Diego (California) and described my time in Chiba Sensei's dojo. Always looking for new experiences, I decided to use the little free time I had within my tight conference schedule to train at the San Diego Aikikai. Indeed I could have given in to the relaxation, the sandy beaches and the sun of the Californian coast but instead I decided to take the "Trolley" (tramway that crosses the city from north to south) and put on my keikogi (which due to the infernal heat and the tough training, was starting to look rather miserable) once more. This time, my choice settled on the Jiai Aikido dojo, affiliated to Mitsugi Saotome Sensei's organisation, the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba.
Read more... [Trip to San Diego Part 2: The Jiai Aikido]

Trip to San Diego Part 1: The San Diego Aikikai

Written by Guillaume
Sunday, 09 September 2007 21:03
There are some days I really love my job. Apart from banging my head on the walls in my lab because of some non-working experiments, I do get to travel a bit for scientific meetings everywhere in the world. It is nice because I also get to meet individuals as miserable as myself and we discuss the conditions of our respective failures. I can already hear you say "but what does it have to do with Aikido?" Let me explain...
Read more... [Trip to San Diego Part 1: The San Diego Aikikai]

Summer School in Mèze (South coast of France) with Philippe Gouttard

Written by Guillaume Erard
Thursday, 16 August 2007 10:08
At the beginning of July, just like every year for ten years running, a group of fanatical aikidoka went to Mèze (Herault, France) for a week of intensive training under heavy sun. The Taurus site, near the lake of Thau, is once again welcoming over a hundred aikidoka trainers on over 1000m² of mats.
Read more... [Summer School in Mèze (South coast of France) with Philippe Gouttard]

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