Meeting of aikidokas from all over the Czech Republic – one of this year’s teachers was Martin. And after the seminar several of us practiced for the dan grades. Who were they and how did it go? Read on!

Meeting of aikidokas from all over the Czech Republic – one of this year’s teachers was Martin. And after the seminar several of us practiced for the dan grades. Who were they and how did it go? Read on!
That Saturday in December was really busy – with training and meeting friends. How much aikido can be done in one day?
For the fourth time, we organized a large international seminar for children and young people in Prague: Aiki4Kids 2024.
Two weeks of exercise and twice daily training, that’s how the trip to the French island of Oleron could be described in a nutshell.
One of the best things about Aikido is that you can stop by virtually any club in the world and just work out with the locals. And also that aikido seminars are open events where people from all over the continent meet. So meeting new people and places through the practice of aikido is really easy. In this short text, we recap a few of our travels this spring.
At the end of May Gaston Nicolessi (6th dan Aikikai) visited us again – and this year it was really very intense…
This year we celebrated 30 years since the first seminar of Franck Noel in Prague. Aikidokas from all over the Czech Republic and indeed all over Europe came together again and had a great workout.
And will Franck come to Prague next year? Let’s be surprised!
A seminar with Jan Nevelius is always full of surprises, because every year he brings a new perspective on familiar things – and we can explore these new connections with him.
We’ve arrived to Berlin on Friday evening and slept the first day in Kranich dojo. Martin and Vanda were already training in the other dojo and before sleeping we all went to a Chinese restaurant to have some nice dumplings (and accidentally practiced a bit of Chinese)
In the dojo, right before sleeping, we’ve tried to click a button with “Ó‑Sensei” written on it.
An article about our suburban camps, summer schools and camps appeared in the magazine Archa, published by the Czech Council for Children and Youth. You can read it in full here.
We are very happy to organize trainings for teachers of the Czech Aikido Federation. It is an opportunity to share our way of teaching Aikido with other Czech clubs and also to get inspiration from their work. At the same time, these meetings broaden the pedagogical and human horizons of our young teachers. And also we can all practice together.
For us the Akimatsuri festival means meeting friends, lots of good Japanese food and culture… and also an aikido demonstration that we have to prepare and perform.
“I would say that the Aikido Marathon brought me a beautiful and unforgettable experience, a unique exploration of how fatigue affects me – and a huge surprise, because the training sessions and the unique atmosphere charged me so much that (despite all my initial assumptions) I kept practicing over and over, nights, mornings… and enjoyed it so much
At the same time, I think that I also learned in the “actual” aikido practice, the changing dynamics (thanks to the brisk change of teachers and their styles) added another amazing dimension to the aikido marathon. I experienced (for me) completely new approaches and what’s more, I found elements to take away in each one…
The more I think about it, the more I believe that putting all those wonderful impressions into words is impossible…”
Lenka, 18-years-old high school student
We have just created a graphic summary of our Aikido year 2022, that picture is a summary of what we experienced – and we experienced a lot last year! You’d be surprised how much can be accomplished in a year!
Behind the numbers are lots of lively people of all ages, exercising, laughing, spending time together. Behind those numbers is a lot of training, work, travel, events. Behind the numbers are us, our great club.
Aikido Summer is four days of aikido with eight teachers in Berlin. And it’s also a lot of friends, culture and good food. Berlin is just chic.
And because we partly organize the event, we went there in a big group.