Dave Davies – 1st Kyu
Those two years have gone by so quickly since our last visit to Japan of 2023. It’s so great to be back, the colours of autumn we’re absolutely beautiful we’ve all taken some wonderful photos especially Bryan Sensei on his SLR camera.
Really great to see Nakao Sensei and Akiko San and spend an afternoon with Max. Fantastic to be back doing Keiko at Seibukan again, training with lovely people it always rejuvenates my Aikido. I’d like to thank Nakao Sensei for asking me to grade, that was an honour for me to to do a grading in Japan, I’d like to also thank everyone that helped me prepare for my grading especially Peter Sensei and Dave Barnard. Also thank Bryan Sensei for guiding us around Japan again I will always do my best to promote Aikido as it is a big part of my life on and off the mat, almost another year done have a wonderful Christmas with your families see you all on the mat in 2026
Dave Barnard – 1st Kyu
On my third visit to Japan we were again made so welcome by everyone that we met, the warmth and good humour always impresses me. There was respect and tradition paired with fun and laughter at every training sessions that I attended. On Saturday we were lucky enough to be invited along to a different club to train where the atmosphere was immediately full of noise and fun, I had a great session and met some more lovely people.
I was delighted and surprised during one class to be doing a form of sensitivity training that I know as che sau, for me this is a brilliant exercise, one that I hope we can work on in our own club. I would like to close by thanking everyone involved in the trip, our hosts and my travelling companions for once again making it a most enjoyable and memorable experience.