Yoshinkan Aikido Munich Seminar

At the end of September, I made my first trip back to Munich in 9 years. This trip was at the invitation of Nagano Sensei of Yoshinkan Aikido Munich. Nagano Sensei and I were uchi deshi together in the days when the Honbu Dojo was in Koganei. Besides being uchi deshi together we were also drinking buddies! Mr Isaka (who accompanied me on this trip, along with Mr Umeda; Mr Morita and my uchi deshi Mitsuhashi Shidoin) has also been good friends with Nagano Sensei for many years. We were met at the airport by Nagano Sensei and Mr Watanabe. Mr Watanabe has been many times to stay at Ryu Dojo and he often acts as a contact between Ryu Dojo and Yoshinkan Aikido Munich.

Altogether, we held 7 sessions with about 60 people attending each time. I feel that everybody at Yoshinkan Aikido Munich is improving steadily.



We were lucky to visit Munich at the time of the world famous Oktoberfes. This festival is held in the middle of an amusement park with roller coasters and other attractions. There are 7 beer halls - each beer hall holds about 5000 people!



We also visited Neuschwanstein Castle. This fairy-tale castle, built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, was the model for Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland.





This trip was particularly enjoyable because of the chance to meet people like Stefan Bill and Mr Watanabe who come and stay at Ryu Dojo. Unforunately I drank too much of the delicious beer and put on lots of weight! Thank you to everyone at Yoshinkan Aikdio Munich for a wonderful time.