Our visiting aikidoka from New Zealand, Simon Puffett has posted a review of the course on his home association Aikido Shinryukan website here. Well worth a read.
All the details for the Saturday course are now finalised. The venue is confirmed as the Meidokan dojo in Kilburn. Thanks to Dave Rubens Sensei for the use of his facility for the day! Course details and poster here.
Details are still being finalised for the open course on Saturday 12th April. As soon as we have these we will email everyone on our list. Mean time try to keep the date free!
To whet your appetite we have updated Jim's bio here.
XMAS London Open Course - 8th December 11 am- 5pm
There will be a dinner after - somewhere, at some point, costing some money.
New extra classes in London OAA. Along the lines of, 'If you build it they will come'...
Well so many are coming that we need an extra night just to fit everyone in. So from November 5th we are now running classes 4 nights a week in the dojo. We've added Monday nights to our regular training schedule. Same time, same place, quite similar people.
This either means you have extra choice (and extra value of course) or you can train 4 times every week and reduce your exposure to non-aikido things.
Excellent and very inspiring course by Kobayashi Shihan in Bath. 4 days of fun and sweat. Very good attendance, with lots of people from many different associations. Exhausting and exhilarating. Photos to come soon (hopefully).
Congratulations to Michael for passing nidan on the course!
Thanks to Jeff and everyone for all their hard work organising everything.
Another excellent course by Hiroaki Sensei - well attended with lots of energy throughout all the sessions and into the evening. Thanks to everyone who took part!
Congratulations to Myra on passing her shodan grading with flying colours.
Course photos are on the way - certainly before August anyway. Don't forget about Bath in October.
It's almost time for the London Open Course.
Hiroaki Sensei will be arriving mid-week and it may even have stopped raining by Saturday. Don't forget your weapons!
News from Bristol - Jeff reports strong sales of tickets for Kobyashi Shihan's seminar in October. This is by ticket only, and numbers are limited, so contact Jeff to make sure of a place. Follow the links....
October 2007 Bath. Kobayashi Yasuo Shihan, 8th Dan, is coming to England for the 1st time to give a 4 day seminar.
Organised by the Tenchikan Dojo as part of Kobayashi Dojos UK, this should be an excellent course. It's in the Bath University dojo again which is a lovely facility. It is likely to be very well attended so register for your place early!
June 2007 London. At the end of June our regular course with Hiroaki Sensei is in London in the Colombo Leisure Centre. An excellent opportunity to train with the next generation of Aikido Kobayashi Dojo's UK and a good run up to the October seminar in Bath!
For both seminars check the courses page for details. Concessionary and group rates available in advance. Contact us at info@openaikido.co.uk for details.
As ever an excellent course led by Hiroaki Sensei - a lot of fun and good practice. Very well attended in the Bath University dojo - a luxurious venue! Many thanks are due to Jeff Mills for organising everything.
Photos to follow.
Gradings. Congratulations to everyone who graded. Everybody passed. Thanks also to all the uke's who stepped in to take part!
3rd Dan - Matthew Riley
2nd Dan - Justin Marchant & Barney Wilkinson
1st Dan - Julie Abbot & Paul Davidson
Well it was an excellent course in a lovely church hall, but unfortunately no pictures from it as we were all too busy on the mat.
Saturday Open Course at the Dengie Dojo in Essex - check the Course page for details
Note - the Venue for the course has changed - it is NOT at the normal sports centre!
Like buses, our first courses of 2006 have arrived. London on Saturday 18th February and Bristol on Sunday 19th February. Check the courses page for details.
Now even more 'fully matted' than before! The London dojo has been completely rematted, with that unmistakeable new mat aroma. The first chance to practice on the new mats (other than Barney's sneaky forward breakfall after we laid them) is on Tuesday 13th December - they'll never be this new again! So soft you'll wish we did zagi practice non-stop.
But seriously, this is excellent news. A photo for those with mat (not Matt) fetishes here!
On his most recent visit to Japan, Jeff took his Nidan grading at Hombu Dojo with Aikido Kobayahi Dojos. No mean achievement. We even have Justin as a gaijin witness!
Saturday Open Course at the London Dojo for November. Date confirmed - check the Course page for details. Pictures from the course are now in the gallery!
To follow his exploits tune into his blog (be warned - it's explicit!).
Another highly enjoyable (and tiring) seminar by Hiroaki Sensei. Unfortunately, so much fun that no one wanted to take pictures. We only seem to have this one from the end!
Many thanks to Hiroaki Sensei and congratulations to Wayne White and Harry who graded to Shodan (have a look in the Gallery for a pic).
June 2003. First Yudansha Grading as part of Aikido Kobayashi Dojos held, successfully concluding our annual international seminar.
Congratulations to all involved! Everyone passed!
Nidan : Mathew Riley
Shodan : Dewinder Bachu, Mark Diacopoulos, Jeff Mills, John Philips, George Smith, Barney Wilkinson.
Many thanks to the guys from Iceland for adding to the seminar. Click here for pix!
March 2003. We've moved! We are now at the Finsbury Leisure Centre near Old Street.
The new dojo is fully matted and we now have 3 nights practice per week, in one central location. The full address is the Finsbury Leisure Centre, Iron Monger Row, London EC1V 3PU.
March 2002. OAA appointed as official UK representatives of Aikido Kobayashi Dojos, Japan.
Following our 2002 International Seminar, the OAA were offered the opportunity to become Aikido Kobayashi Dojos' official UK representatives. This is a great honour for everyone in the OAA and a very important step for us. Click here for details.