Saitama Prefecture Aikido Meet

Aikido is a non competitive sport so instead of tournaments, the organization arranges display meet ups. This year it was held at Koshigaya, about an hours drive away.

This was a kids meet up and about 170 kids were there. Normally, at his own dojo I can spot Ebi-kun easily because he is the only one with an orange belt but here there were belts of every colour and some tiny kids in the mix too.

After the warm up, the big sensei demonstrated a move then the kids paired up to practice, it was a bit dangerous having so many kids on the mats at once! They could have done with a few more mats down I think.

The sensei's wandered among the kids checking that they were doing it correctly and they also got to practice with kids from other dojo's. There are a couple of kids or 'the naughty boys' as Ebi-kun calls them that mess around a lot so he doesn't like working with them.

After an hour of practice, it was display time. Each Dojo had 4 minutes to strut their stuff. Ebi-kun was paired up with 'big naughty boy'! You can't see the belt but he's the one with his feet in the air!

The kids seemed to enjoy it and it was the right time of year, in the winter the dojo is freezing and in the summer it's like a hothouse! They finished off with a group shot but I couldn't quite get everyone in, 10p if you can spot the boy...

Next Sunday it's back to the regular dojo and the Sunday after that my mom will be here to watch!

Aikido at the Budokan

This is completely out of sync, I was the unofficial photographer for the day and it took me forever to edit all the pics of all the kids!

It was an annual national Aikido meet for the kids, we missed it last year because it clashed with our flights.

Let's play spot the Ebi-kun... I'll give you a hint, he has an orange belt and is sat next to someone with black hair...

It's an all day event and they start with warm ups and group training. Then in the afternoon each attending dojo gets a few minutes to show off their skills.

Waiting for their dojo's turn...

This year Ebi-kun is the highest ranking in the kids from his dojo but still one of the smallest (but not the youngest, he just happens to be a bit of a squirt!)

It was a fun day and not too hot in the dojo but outside was awfully hot! We finished off having dinner at a nice Italian place.

Aikido Grading

Yesterday was grading day at Aikido. There were only 4 kids being tested this time round, you have to attend a certain amount of practices to be eligible for grading, Ebi-kun rarely misses training so I think he has done every grading since he started.

His opponent is a JH student and quite a bit bigger than him! This lads family all do Aikido. I can't tell you the names of the moves, so here are some pictures instead!

The final part is when one of the adults throws the kids 10 times...

Turned out to be a busy day, after the grading we went into Omiya. Had a lovely lunch at an Italian place then the boys went off to watch the opening match for the new football season, and I went for a mooch around the shops and a nice coffee with my book! I don't like to strain myself!

We have to wait about a month to find out if he passed his test, I will let you know...

Aikido and blow darts...

Recently, we have been the first to arrive at Aikido so Ebi-kun has been getting some 1:1 lesson, bonus! The other kids seem to arrive 30 minutes late.

I think we only have a week or two left at this dojo and then we go back to the usual place, it has been refurbished so we weren't able to train there for a few months.

This week there was a stamp rally going on in the rest of the building and one of the activities was traditional dart blowing. Somehow I got roped into having a go, it was  good fun and I'm pretty chuffed with my score - plus I beat all the lads hahahaha.

This is a sport I could take up!

The boys went off and did the rest of the rally and Ebi-kun ended up winning a pot plant. Fun for all concerned, I love these random festivals that we accidentally stumble upon!

Aikido BBQ

Waaaaay behind with my posts thanks to Halloween! So the day after the halloween party we had the Aikido group BBQ held at Maruyama park. I didn't know until last year they even had cabins and BBQ spot! 

In good Japanese style, the drinking started early - which was actually just topping up for me since I'd had a glass or two! at the halloween party.

We were, of course, back to our gorgeous selves. The food was excellent but i always feel a bit like a spare part, it's mostly the blokes there and you know what blokes and BBQs are like!

The kids spent most of the time racing around, stopping only for food.

Oh yes, and then there was bingo, once you had a line you could pick a prize but then had to do a pose for the camera, the guy even had a set of 'pose' cards!

We finished up a round three and headed back, great weekend, very busy which means I could have done with a day off on Monday! If I wasn't already taking Friday off I might have been tempted to do that.