End of Year Break
We’ll have our last class for 2023 on Thursday 21 December. Then back in action on Thursday 4 January 2024.
Juniors aikido will resume on Tuesday 23 January 2024.
QKR December Seminar
Some good results at the QKR Seminar on Saturday 9 December. Kyle McInnes was successful in passing 2 Dan Iaido as well as Nakula Wrightson who was awarded 1 Kyu Iaido. Congratulations to the Northside Budokai crew as well: Tom Garwood and James Langston 2 Kyu Iaido also Tom Garwood, James Langston and Roy Quek Jodo 4 Kyu. Massive effort everyone.
Juniors Aikido
We had our last Juniors Aikido class for the year on 28 November. This included a couple of grading tests. Congratulations to Azumi Masuda-Kevans junior 3 Kyu and Omkara Wrightson junior 1 Kyu. A great effort by both of you. Juniors will resume on Tuesday 23 January 2024. And yes, we have room for new members.
Canberra Jodo Seminar
I was fortunate to attend a Jodo Seminar in Canberra conducted on 18/19 November. Very detailed and valuable instruction was provided by Otake Sensei 8 Dan. My sincere appreciation to Sensei and also the AKR Jodo Board for providing this opportunity.
Sue Reilly 5 Dan Iaido
Our congratulations to Bayside Budokai member Sue Reilly who was successful in passing the exam for 5 Dan in Iaido in Gifu, Japan on 19 November. A great result that shows dedicated training pays off.
Singapore Visit
Gotaro Kitayama (Gold Coast Budokai), Lee Walsh (Kuroyama Budokai Canberra) and I made a quick visit to Singapore to attend the Aikido Shinju-Kai 35th Anniversary Seminar on the 28/29 October. Here we are with Phillip Lee Sensei and the team from the Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo. This includes Daisuke Yamashita Sensei who did an amazing job of teaching classes and representing Shimamoto Shihan.
Thank you very much to our hosts in Singapore for your hospitality and allowing us to participate in your event.
AKR Iaido Seminar
Sue Reilly and I made it over to Perth to attend the AKR National Iaido Seminar on 23-24 September 2023. This was a really fantastic opportunity to receive instruction from the guest instructors from Japan, Ishido and Morishima Sensei both 8 Dan.
QKR Gradings
Congratulations to Nakula Wrightson for passing 2 kyu iaido at the QKR Grading on 16 September 2023. Also to the Northside Budokai crew: Tom Garwood, James Langston and Roy Quek who all made 3 kyu.
Shoryukai Gradings
We had a great morning on 10 September 2023, hosting Aikido Shoryukai Australia gradings, with members from Bayside Budokai, Northside Budokai, Gold Coast Budokai and Kuroyama Budokai (Canberra) coming together for some aikido training and tests. Congratulations to all who were successful in their gradings: Yosif Al Kylaney 5kyu, James Langston 2kyu, Sasha Hanford 1kyu, Leeland Cruickshanks 1kyu, Lee Walsh Shodan and Jeff Nesterowich Shodan.
Special thanks also to those who assisted by taking ukemi and families who came along to lend support.
Junior Aikido Grading
It was a pleasure to present certificates for junior aikido gradings conducted on Tuesday 1 August 2023. Congratulations on your first step to Junior 10 kyu for Zoe Tashiro Northey, Gabriella Oliveira, Ulisses Oliveira and Cedric Hioux.
Japan July 2023
I headed to Japan for about 10 days from 13 July 2023 for some hot weather, training and to have a go at an iaido test. The obvious highlights were practising aikido at Shosenji Dojo and trying to improve my iaido under the guidance of our teachers in Osaka. Pictured are Shimamoto Tamayuki taking the Kids Class at Shosenji and me with Hongo and Mitsuyuki Sensei, Dai Ken Kyo 8 Dan teachers at the Osaka Shudokan.
I didn’t get over the line with the iaido test, but the good news was that Russell Lawrence from WA passed 7 Dan whilst Terri Gallear (WA) and Sugio Takenori from the Gold Coast both passed 6 Dan. Amazing effort.
Iaido Training with Tsukadaira Sensei
Northside Budokai hosted an iaido training session with Tsukadaira Sensei 7 Dan from the Gold Coast on 24 June 2023. Many thanks to Sensei and Hiroko san for making the trip up the M1 to help us with our practice.
Joint Training and Grading
We had a great gathering on Sunday 14 May to practice and for our first ever Aikido Shoryukai Australia Kyu Shinsa. Thank you to everyone that attended and well done to everyone in their tests.
Congratulations to:
- Victor Tashiro Northey Junior 7kyu (Bayside)
- Ayanoshin Kitayama Junior 6kyu (GC)
- Ai 5kyu (GC)
- Haru 5kyu (GC)
- Natsuko Yamaoka 5kyu (GC)
- Mayumi Swan 4kyu (GC)
- Louie Swan 4kyu (GC)
- Kaiden Dykstra 4kyu (GC)
- Simon James 3kyu (Bayside)
- Nakula Wrightson 2kyu (Bayside)
- Roy Quek 1kyu (Northside)
David Brown Sensei Visit
It was standing room only on the Bayside on Sunday 23 April for a visit by David Brown Sensei from Melbourne. Whilst in town Sensei also took classes at Northside Budokai at Nundah and the Gold Coast Budokai. Thank you to Sensei and everyone that came along.
AKR Jodo Seminar 2023
We had a great weekend of jodo training on 15/16 April in Canberra for the National Jodo Seminar. Many thanks to guest 8 Dan instructors Shiiya and Tsubaki Sensei from Japan for their invaluable teaching along with Butsui Sensei for making the trip and bringing it all together.
Inception of Aikido Shoryukai Australia
The start of 2023 also sees the inception of Aikido Shoryukai Australia, our new affiliation under the Aikikai Foundation with Shimamoto Katsuyuki Shihan and the Toyonaka Shosenji Dojo. This brings some formality to our long standing relationship with Shimamoto Sensei and will initially involve Bayside Budokai, Gold Coast Budokai Kitayama Dojo, and the Northside Budokai at Nundah.
It comes about after some discussion with Shimamoto Shihan late last year when he kindly granted us permission to utilise the Shoryukai name, similar to other groups in Europe and act as his representatives in Australia. As the world opens up again, we are looking forward to more interaction and developing our aikido under his guidance.
Welcome to 2023
Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to 2023. All our classes resumed from the start of January and are in full swing.