Earlier this week, I was in Velebit Croatia, enjoying the hospitality of the Aikido Drustvo Zagreb for their summer camp. It was a great experience with a bit of trekking, sea and partying along with a lot of Aikido.

Thanks everybody for making it a great few days together and I hope to see you all soon.

Last weekend, I traveled to the Swedish countryside in Mårdaklev to join Shihan Philip Burgess for the inauguration of the new Shuutoku Dojo. It was a fantastic weekend of training, deeply rooted in the principles of mind and body unification. A special thank you to Michael and Sueko Yamanishi Lebens for being incredibly gracious hosts and for cultivating such an excellent environment for the art. I look forward to returning to train together in the years ahead.”

Last weekend, I was in Gorizia, attending a weekend seminar taught by Maurizio Volpe Sensei and Micro Angeletti Sensei. It was good to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones on the course. Thanks Alberto Corrado for organising a great seminar and and I hope to see everyone again in Velebit in August.

The British Ki Society YouTube Channel is live. We have been recording some videos for the channel to promote Aikido.

https://www.youtube.com/@BritishKiSociety

Here is the one of the videos we have just uploaded.

Both of the club’s instructors were promoted in this years Kagami Biraki 2026 Ki No Kenkyukai 2026

Jayesh Karadia was awarded Rokudan (6th Dan) and David Royle was awarded Godan (5th Dan) by Shihan Philip Burgess Kudan (9th Dan)

Between the 10th-12th October I enjoyed the kind hospitality of Jan Ericsson Sensei and the Enköping Ki-Aikido for the seminar with Mirco Angeletti Sensei

Thanks everyone who made it a wonderful weekend and I look forward to training with everyone again soon.

We have started to collect some memories on why club members started practising AIkido in the first place. These can be found here Why I started Aikido

These aren’t necessarily why we are still practising, rather I hope they give an insight into some of our initial thoughts and motivations.

I just got back from the Ki No Kenkyukai Italia Seminar in Palermo which was hosted by Associazione Ki Aikido Palermo The seminar ran over three days taught by Shihan Mario Peloni, Shihan Phllip Burgess, Mirco Angeletti Sensei, Donata Campagna Sensei and Davide Rizzi Sensei. It was an another opportunity to be taught by some of Doshu Yoshigasaki’s highest graded students in the beautiful city of Palermo.

We’d like to thank Andrea Marcione and the team at Palermo Ki Aikido Association for being such welcoming and reassuring hosts. It was a great weekend and I hope to see everyone again soon.

Thanks to everyone who attended the seminar earlier this month. It was a unique opportunity to get taught by Doshu Yoshigaski’s highest-graded students over the weekend which I believe was appreciated by all the participants.