Having attended Hokuso Aikikai's 30th Anniversary Celebration in Narita, Japan, couple Eugene Ang and Goh Chen Chen, share their experience with us in this write up.
Written by Goh Chen Chen
Hokuso Aikikai recently held its 30th anniversary celebration in March, and we were honored to have been invited to this event. It included a 2-day Aikido seminar conducted by Hiroshi Tada Shihan. Here’s what hubby has to say about his experience:
Tada Shihan shared with us some of the principles and philosophies of Aikido, such as maintaining the right attitude in training and becoming one with every situation instead of retaliating to attacks. It is not about how strong, but rather how correct one is, that affects the efficiency of the action. To achieve this, one should clear the mind and throw away all aggression during practice. This is not only a fundamental principle in Aikido, but also one that we can apply in our daily lives.
Another highlight of the event was the demonstrations by the different dojos, Yamada Shihan and the Doshu himself. We were awed by the elegance of both Doshu’s and Yamada Shihan's movements, and were honored to be able to witness some of the best Aikidokas from all over the world in action. From the soft and fluid movements, to the more robust techniques, the demonstrations opened our eyes to the different styles of Aikido and left us with a better appreciation of the things we’ve learnt in our own dojo.
This has been the most memorable Aikido experience we’ve had, and I am grateful to have learnt so much in the seminar. I also had a great time interacting, having fun and bonding with Kelly Sensei, the other Kenshin-Kai family members and one other “Big Bro” from Impact Aikido during this trip!
