Akeru Aikido Manchester

Despite temperatures pushing 30 degrees this evening we had an amazing session

A total number of 5 children and young people from 5 families attended.

After some work on Ukemi, foot movements and handblade movements we learned 9 and 10 from basic kata.

I utilised some obstacle course tiles to supplement our sensory regulation circuit which was useful and something I’ll use again.

To finish off the session we learnt two Tanto techniques from the Dai San that I’ve been practicing for my 2nd Dan.

Today marks the club’s 3rd birthday.

I wanted to take the time to thank all the SEND community of Tameside for their valuable support.

What started as an idea on paper whilst I was undergoing cancer treatment has grown to a thriving club with 12 children/young people attending with their families.

There isn’t much more to say other than Domo arigatogozaimasu (Thank you very much!).

For anyone who may be thinking of joining the club or would like to know more, please message me.

Alex Sensei

We had our monthly Saturday session last weekend (25th July). 4 families with a total number of 4 children attended.

After warming up focusing on Ukemi, we revisited 1-7 from basic kata and used this in our Kakarigeiko practice.

As part of our session we had our club awards.

Please see below for the list of nominations for our ‘fighting spirit award’ and list of club award winners.

*Kaizen quarterly challenge award (Discipline and Etiquette)

Winner: AK
Runner up: JW

*Nakama award (Most supportive team mate)

Winner: SW
Runner up: IH

*Fighting Spirit award

Winner: IK
Runner up: SW

Nominations received from parents for IH, SW, TC, FTP and AK

Our next quarterly challenge will focus on building basic Aikido knowledge and skills (breakfalls, foot movements, hand blade movements, breaking balance).

From a coaching point of view the focus on building discipline and etiquette has resulted in the children building on their resilience too. It’s not a link I’ve made before on a personal level which has provided much food for thought myself as I approach attempting 2nd Dan in November

Alex Sensei

Well done to everyone for tonight. It was a warm session and the children were amazing as always!

A total number of 4 families and 5 children/young people attended this evening.

Slight deviation from the lesson plan but one thing I’ve learnt as a coach over the years is sometimes it’s better to coach in the moment keeping the passion and interest going rather than forcing new material especially in a heat wave.

After warm up and some Ukemi we looked at grabs using 6, 8 and 13 from basic kata. We also lightly touched on number 14 from basic kata.

So although we’ve learnt these techniques before, we covered them from a different application. Familiar enough not to rock the boat too much in a hot dojo but different enough to keep interest and focus.

Special thanks to Gillian Sullivan for travelling and training with us tonight. It was very warm in the dojo!

A total number of 6 families with 7 children attended this evening.

After a light warm up we covered backwards and sideward rolls.

We covered 1-4 of basic kata, light Ninin Dori and finished up with a game of Tag the Coach.

All the children did well, especially given the heat and it was lovely to see them support each other. We’re also building up our confidence to try new things and developing resilience.

Some great leadership skills are starting to develop amongst the older and also more experienced children.

Our next session will be Thursday 9th July.

Although we only had small class this evening of 3 families and 3 children we still managed to cover quite a large part of the Junior Syllabus.

After our warm up including back and side breakfalls we had a run through of our foot movements and 1-4 of the handblade movements. We also started to learn the footwork for the 5th handblade movement.

We started our kata practice with number 6, before moving on to learn 7 and 8. We looked at using 6 and 8 from a right handed grab and had a go at Iriminage.

To finish off kata practice we learnt a combination of using number 6 and number 12 from basic kata.

We then moved onto Tanto Kakarigeiko before warming down with Tanto Avoidance from 2 attackers.

The children then enjoyed a game of ‘Sensei Tanto Tag’ working together as a Team to get me moving!

Photos for now with videos to follow in a few days

Our next two sessions will be Thursday 11th June and Saturday 27th June.

We should have a guest instructor visiting us on Saturday 27th June.

There will be no session on Saturday 23rd May, sincerest apologies but I am away at Spring Seminar in Whinchester. I will be working on some of my own preparation for 2nd Dan later in the year and learning some new concepts to bring back to families.

We had our monthly Thursday session this evening.

7 families with 8 children and young people attended.

After warming up, we covered backward, side and backwards rolling breakfalls. We covered all the foot movements and 1-4 of the handblade movements looking at how these are based on sword cuts.

We covered Shomen-ate right and left handed and from a right handed grab before finishing with some Tanto Kakarigeiko.

We also had a discussion about self defence, what weapons work is covered in Tomiki Aikido and about competitive practice.

I attended the Open Randori session in Bradford on Saturday and assisted as a corner referee. It was a great event and something I would certainly encourage everyone to attend next year. Special thanks goes to Bradlee Clarkson for organising.