Aikido Kenkyukai Orange

Great to see our friends at Bentleigh Dojo are hosting a Spring Seminar led by Steve Seymour Sensei over the October long weekend. Members of Orange Dojo will be attending and we look forward to gathering again with the Aikido Kenkyukai family.

We are proud to be hosting AKI Spring Seminar 2026 with Stephen Seymour sensei 7th Dan. Registration from our website!

So nice to have long-term member of the Orange Dojo family on the mat tonight 😊 Freya visiting from Wollongong 😃 special keiko

At the 60th Anniversary of Aikido in Australia event today, at Homebush Olympic Park ... 2 hour class this morning with the Dojocho was a highlight

Always good to have Jeffrey James Sensei 'drop in' for a visit and join us on the mat, very enjoyable keiko last Thursday 👍🙏😃

Birthday cake in the dojo after keiko last night, thanks Carol and happy birthday Tom 🎉🥳

Congratulations to Bailey, Conor and George on their strong and composed ikkyu gradings at the Aikido Kenkyukai Winter Gasshuku in Orange - very proud of your efforts!

Aikido in everyday life (post #2): Learning pathways in AKI and other sports

Some contemplation as we come into Winter Camp (Orange NSW, 27–28 June), which should be a terrific experience. There are some great young people coming up, and in Orange we’re helping support them and others through billeting and running the camp as a whole, with Steve Seymour Sensei (7th dan) imparting his hard-earned wisdom. Our dojo also has some strong young folk coming through.

I want to focus on the young and the experienced at once. In particular, how does AKI build pathways for those newer to training, while also continuing to support our more experienced practitioners?

NSW AKI did a small survey-based study on this, looking at how we can better attract, retain, and develop new participants while still supporting existing members.

One of the clearer takeaways was that people don’t all come to Aikido for the same reasons, and they don’t all stay for the same ones either. Three broad groups stood out: a majority looking for practical, immediate benefits; a substantial minority engaging with Aikido more as a long-term, holistic (i.e., mind-body) practice; and a smaller group focused mainly on martial effectiveness.

That mix of motivations, combined with the range of experience levels on the mat, creates a real challenge for Senseis. Newer people are often looking for something quite different from those who’ve been training for years.

It’s obvious at one level, but it does highlight a key point: for those who are a good fit, the pathway from beginner to more experienced practice needs to be clear and motivating. And that’s more than just moving through belts. In many sports, people are sorted fairly cleanly by age or level. In Aikido, we tend to carry that mix through everyday training, with very different experience levels all on the mat.

That has its challenges, but it’s also one of the real strengths. Training at the coming winter camp brings that into focus. People who are still developing get to train with and learn from more experienced aikidoka, and everyone gets to socialise together around training.

Perhaps something to chew on over dinner. Either way, it should be a great weekend.

Cheers,
Patrick D

The survey referenced here was led by Patrick Driver and Fabrice Odefrey, with support from the NSW AKI “Ideas for Attracting New Students” working group, which included Jeffrey James, Stephen Nugent, Nigel Carruthers-Taylor, Fiona Hawke, Jeff Standen, Conor Pogson, Stephen Saulwick, and Tom Harper and broader discussions within the AKI community.

Just a reminder that today is the last day for early bird registration for Winter Camp 2026! Winter Camp just under 2 weeks away now. Looking forward to hosting you all in Orange.