In June, the Lochaber club hosted its first area course in Roy Bridge, taught by Sensei O’Connell over two days. We felt that, because we were asking people to travel a long way to join us, we should offer them an entire weekend of training.
Over thirty people turned up to the Lochaber course from as far afield as Bristol and London. Of course, most were from the Scottish clubs, but they still had to travel at least three hours to find us.
We spent a lot of time on ki development exercises such as rolling and sideways exercise, with the emphasis on extending your mind. On the second day, we focused on leading and following as a way to improve ukemi. These were interpersed with aikido exercises to put the study points into action.
At the end of the first day, we had a kyu grading with 16 applicants from yellow belt to brown belt. All performed admirably and were able to wear their new belts on the Sunday!
Of course, it was a challenge to ensure adequate food supplies for this influx of hungry aikidoists so Mai – our resident kitchen genius – prepared several delicious lunches and a variety of tea-time cakes. All were devoured without a crumb left untasted. Her efforts in preparing ahead of the weekend and producing the meals on time over the weekend were matched by the willingness of visiting members to make tea, wash up, and clear up afterwards.
We didn’t know quite what to expect in hosting the Lochaber course, so it was hugely enjoyable to see it unfold, and to see the boost it gave to our local club – allowing them to see more clearly how they are part of a larger family of clubs.
We are grateful to Sensei O’Connell for his generous and patient teaching, and to all the friends from other clubs who made the long effort to join us for the weekend.