Welcome to
Aikikai Aikido Dulwich
Aikido, Meditation, Mindfulness
ABOUT US
Aikikai Aikido Dulwich offers Aikido training every Tuesday and
Thursday in West Dulwich, London. Aikido is an unique, dynamic Japanese
martial art combined with mindfulness. We relate to Aikido as "Zen in
motion".
Practising "Zen in motion" will see you quickly gain the benefits of
mindfulness bringing not only greater focus and technical improvement,
but a general sense of peace and well-being. Zen in Motion helps many overcome the mental and physical struggles we face in our daily life. This can be very personal and everybody has a different way of dealing with stressful situations day-to-day. At Aikikai Aikido Dulwich, we believe in individuals and appreciate all the differences we have as human beings. Our training is guided by a specific tradition of martial arts, but we don`t want to force tradition on people, instead we try to bring people into the tradition. We want to help everyone improve in their own space and to recognise the qualities of every individual, and how each person's unique qualities can improve our tradition. We want to bring out the best in each person, so that each of us becomes a better, healthier member of the community around us, in their own unique way.
"Aikido is not a technique to fight with or defeat
an enemy. It is the way to reconcile the world
and make human beings one family."
Morihei Ueshiba
Aikido is open to everyone: men and women, young and old, all physiques and levels of fitness. The approach to martial arts in Aikido is not to learn to fight but rather to learn to control the mind and find peace within oneself.
Aikido is a responsive martial art, which means we learn to expand and focus our awareness and act fluidly and harmoniously. This makes Aikido effective for training not just the body but the mind too. The methods in this martial art work for every type of body and ability. As we progress, we learn to roll, fall, throw and learn evasive manoeuvres, build physical fitness, endurance and stamina, with joint locks and pinning techniques to help build flexibility. We each work with a partner rather than fight opponents, and this non-competitive aspect helps each person learn at their own pace and have fun. Aikido doesn't have limits to its combinations of techniques or its ideas, and each time you practice, you discover new depths, new strengths, and new talents within yourself.
We are a probationary member of the Lancashire Aikikai and affiliated with Yokohama International Aikido Club (横浜国際合気道会). The Yokohama Club was established in 1997 by Atsushi Mimuro Shihan. He is the technical director of Aikido Dulwich and Lancashire Aikikai. Mimuro Shihan is a direct student of Seigo Yamaguchi.
Seigo Yamaguchi was born April 13, 1924 in Fukuoka, Japan. He was introduced to Morihei Ueshiba in 1950, and entered the Aikikai in 1951. Seigo Yamaguchi was a 9th dan Aikido instructor and important teacher in the Aikikai. Yamaguchi Shihan died on 24 January 1996, peacefully passing away in his sleep.
Aikido is a non-competitive Japanese martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba (December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969). He is referred to as Osensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher" or "The Founder" Kaiso (開祖).
The Founder was inspired by his broad study and knowledge of martial arts and his religious beliefs. He strongly believed that Aikido is the way for a happy and healthy life for humankind. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of the harmonious spirit". The founder's goal was to create a martial art that is highly effective self-defence, whilst simultaneously leaving the attacker uninjured.
GALLERY
Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, December 14,
1883– April 26, 1969) was a martial artist and founder of the Japanese
martial art of Aikido. The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba studied
a number of martial arts in his youth, and served in the Japanese Army
duringthe Russo-Japanese War. After being discharged in 1907,he moved
to Hokkaidōas the head of a pioneer settlement; here he met and studied
with Takeda Sōkaku, the founder of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. On leaving Hokkaido in 1919, Ueshiba joined the Ōmoto-kyō movement, a Shinto sect, in Ayabe, where he served as a martial arts instructor and opened his first dojo. He accompanied the head of the Ōmoto-kyō group, Onisaburo Deguchi, on an expedition to Mongolia in 1924, where they were captured by Chinese troops and returned to Japan. The following year, he had a profound spiritual experience, stating that, "a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one." After this experience, his martial arts skill appeared to be greatly increased.
“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for
anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's
mind there are many possibilities, but in the
expert's mind there are few. ”
Shunryu Suzuki
Ueshiba moved to Tokyo in 1926, where he set up the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. By now he was comparatively famous in martial arts circles, and taught at this dojo and others around Japan, including in several military academies. In the aftermath of World War II the Hombu dojo was temporarily closed, but Ueshiba had by this point left Tokyo and retired to Iwama, and he continued training at the dojo he had set up there. From the end of the war until the 1960s, he worked to promote aikido throughout Japan and abroad. He died from liver cancer in 1969.
After Ueshiba's death, aikido continued to be promulgated by his students (many of whom became noted martial artists in their own right). It is now practiced around the world.
Aikikai Foundation (財団法人合気会 Zaidan Hōjin Aikikai) is
the original aikido organization. It has been an incorporated entity in Japan
since 1940. It is headed by the doshu, the living successor of the founder
of aikido. In its name, Kai (会) simply means assembly or club. The Aikikai
Foundation operates Hombu dojo, which is also named Aikido World
Headquarters. It is sometimes called the Aikikai Hombu to distinguish it
from the headquarters of later aikido organisations. It is located in Tokyo.
The term Hombu may sometimes be used loosely to refer to the upper echelons of instructors at Hombu dojo, or to the Aikikai Foundation itself. The Aikikai Foundation also currently manages one satellite dojo, the historical Iwama dojo in Ibaraki (about 100 km northeast of Tokyo). The Aikikai Foundation sends instructors around Japan on a continual basis. It also issues certificates of grading and instructor titles legitimated by the Doshu throughout the world.
"Budo is full of such opposite concepts. Movement in stillness,
stillness in motion. In motion, yet immovable. They sound like Zen
koans. But with our bodies, We can gain clear understanding of such
ideas. We forge such a body, and such a mind, rather than simply
trying to learn techniques."
Seigo Yamaguchi Shihan
OUR TEACHERS
7th Dan Aikido (2014/1/12 “Aikikai Foundation” Kagami Biraki)
6th Dan Aikido (1995/1/8 “Aikikai Foundation” No.661)
Coach of Meiji University AIKIDO Club For 20 Years
Mimuro has been trained for more than 20 years under Seigo Yamaguchi Shihan(Master) of AIKIKAI Foundation HQ since he was a student of AIKIDO club of Meiji University.
"Enjoy Practice Aikido Together"
Atsushi Mimuro
For 2 and half years from 1991 Mimuro was working in the Tahiti (French Polynesia) and instructed AIKIDO.
The Yokohama international Aikido Club was established in September 1997.
From June 2008, He concentrates on the guidance of the aikido in Japan and foreign countries.
Born in November 1954.
He has taught at UWC Maastricht Netherlands from 2014-2016
He is currently teaching at UWC ISAK Japan.
相手の中心を感じる
Istvan Koloh
1st DAN
Japanese: 初段 Hepburn: Shodan
Dojo Cho
Istvan began his aikido training in 2013, in Croydon.
In January 2014, he joined Aikikai Aikido Wimbledon club where he met Sensei Karol Hoffer.
There, during the summer of 2014, he met Atsushi Mimuro Shihan. Istvan received his Shodan (black belt 1 dan) grade from Mimuro Shihan in the summer of 2017.
He is still practices in Wimbledon whenever possible.
He always wanted to give something back to his local community. So, with the help of Mimuro Shihan, Karol Hoffer Sensei and other fellow aikidokas, Istvan opened Aikikai Aikido club in Dulwich. He joined the Lancashire Aikikai in the autumn of 2018.
"Aikido derived from a combat system, Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujitsu. However, it`s aim is self-defence but not through combat but through self-improvement.
For me, it is a life long spiritual journey,"
Istvan Koloh
It was also the journey of a lifetime, when Istvan travelled to Japan in 2018. Not only he met up with Mimuro Shihan at his hometown, he also had the opportunity to be his uke (training partner) for the 56th All Japan Aikido Demonstration.
While in Japan, Istvan attended many classes at the Hombu Dojo (Aikido central dojo) in Tokyo, trained with several senior students of Mimuro Shihan. He also visited one of the new generation of aikido teachers, Shirakawa Ryuji Sensei at his dojo in Sendai.
The trip to the birthplace of Aikido only strengthened Istvan’s commitment to introduce Aikido philosophy and practice to his community, to help people of different ages to gain confidence and improve their health.
Aikido Coach Level 1 (CL1)
