Aikido Yuishinkai

Williams Sensei’ Visit to Aikido Yuishinkai Warnbro, WA

September 25-27, 2010

During the long weekend in September the Aikido club at Warnbro was
fortunate enough to be visited by Michael Williams Sensei, International
Chief Instructor for Aikido Yuishinkai. During these three days he
managed to fit in an amazing 16 hours of Aikido instruction. He seemed
to have an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm. His teaching style
appealed to both beginners and advanced students having the ability to
clearly explain the important points of various techniques.

Day one started with a class for the juniors who are a very important
part of our club. Sensei focused on the importance of using your mind
and positive thoughts and went through a number of ki exercises that can
be used to develop this. Adult classes focused a lot on bokken and jo
etiquette and basic principles. All four weapon katas were covered in
great detail which was of benefit to all students. Throughout the
seminar Sensei emphasised the importance of musubi and kata regardless
on whether we were using weapons or not. He covered many different
exercises and katas that can be used to help improve our Aikido.

Both social events were very well attended and Sensei had an endless
supply of stories about Aikido the he has accumulated over his many
colourful years of training with such greats as Tohei Sensei, Maruyama
Sensei, Tamura Sensei and many others. After 3 days of solid training
the seminar was ended with two nidan gradings. Visitors from other
styles of Aikido also attended, the seminar enhancing interclub
friendships which is great to see. If you get the opportunity to
host Williams Sensei I would highly recommend it. His depth of knowledge
about techniques and weapons is astounding and his attitude towards
Aikido and life in general is an inspiration to everybody. Aikidoka on
the East coast are indeed very fortunate to have him so close at hand. I
hope they make the most of it.

You can also view some photos on our wiki site, www.akwa.wikispaces.com

David Matthews
Head Dojo Instructor
Aikido Yuishinkai Warnbro