Articles

A dream comes true - Practice at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo

Written by Susan Hensel
I felt a bit like a pilgrim arriving at the destination of her pilgrimage when I made my way to the Aikikai Hombu Dojo on a Monday morning in September 2009. It was very early on that Monday morning, as the class that I had chosen to attend was scheduled to start at 7.00am. Read more... Comments (2)

How to find a job in Japan ?

Written by Guillaume Erard

In a previous article, I covered the main requirements for obtaining a working holiday visa in Japan. I would now like to go through the job hunting process which should logically follow. Like in every country, finding a job in Japan can be difficult, particularly at the moment, in a time of economic moroseness. But take heart however, it is not impossible and on many aspects, if you have the right profile and the right approach, you might find the Japanese job market more flexible and full of opportunities than the one of your country of origin. In some cases, some people have been able to completely reinvent themselves professionally in Japan!

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How to get a working holiday visa in Japan?

Written by Guillaume Erard

yokoso_japan_wide1 I got a lot of demands for an English translation to this one. It took some time but here it is, the translation of my original article. While I was preparing my application for a working holiday visa, I obviously had to read through a great deal of web pages, blogs and forums only to find very inconsistent and contradictory information. In this article, I would like to sum up the main points that I think are essential to make your application successful.

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Interview with Guillaume Erard, 3rd Dan Aikikai

Written by Aurore Mamet

As soon as he stepped in the dojo, Guillaume set the tone of the class with a very tonic warm up which we realized was very necessary in order to prepare our bodies for the extensive nage waza that was to come. The students of the Gonojukan mixed up with the crew from the Dublin Aikikai composed of practitioners from Ireland, Poland, France, Canada, the US and Spain. We were delighted to see that all this occurred in a very open and friendly manner. The local Aikidoka had to dig into their notions of English before realising that the language of Aikido was more universal than any other. In front of such a diverse crowd, even Guillaume got mixed up on a couple of occasions, involuntarily switching to English during his demonstration until a timid hand rose and a voice asked "in French please", provoking a general hilarity.

After this intense class, we all headed to the Chinese restaurant and we took the opportunity to ask Guillaume about the ideas that he particularly liked to bring across while teaching.

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Why are Budo not supposed to work in real fight

Written by Guillaume Erard

Please accept my apologizes for the voluntarily provocative title but I think it sums up well what a little research on the word Budo can teach you. The word Budo is now ubiquitous in the popular culture and it is safe to say that along with sushi, karaoke, bonsai and manga, it figures amongst the most successful exports of the Japanese culture. It is however one of the most misunderstood of all. Today I would like to provide some clues on what Budo is really about. I will first try to explain the origins of the word and then, discuss their implications on nowadays practice.

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Mondays
19h30-21h30	Henshin
20h15-21h30	Foley St.
Tuesdays
20h00-21h30	DCU
Wednesdays
20h00-21h30	Foley St.
19h30-21h30	Henshin
Saturdays
10h15-11h30	Henshin
12h00-13h30	DCU