Hello from Toronto !

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[daniel76]

Yellow everybody,

I'm new on this board, new in Toronto(ON) and several years of Aikidoka. Any Torontonians here? This web site is a GREAT source of Aiki information and I would love to participate in this shaping of Aiki community. Well, as long as I will have something to say ... :-)

Thanks for reading my post,

Good Luck everybody!

Daniel

[PeterR]

Welcome

So who in Toronto do you train with and where before that?

[akiy]

Hi Daniel,

Welcome to the AikiWeb Forums and thanks for the compliments on the site! Please feel very welcome to jump right into the discussions here and encouraged to start new ones, too.

-- Jun

[DaveO]

Hi, Daniel! Not T/O but close enough; Kitchener here!

[daniel76]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for the warm welcome!

PeterR-> I'm browsing dojos in T.O. trying to find the right one for me now. Before I came here, I trained in Prague with M.Kodym under technical supervision of M. Ikeda(shihan). Great dojo and everything. See http://www.aikikai.cz . Now I'm trying to find new Aikido home, but so far it seems that Yoshinkai is the main stream here. Thinking whether it is reasonable to switch from Aikikai only for the reason that Yoshinkai dojo is more developed in my area ...

DaveO-> Kitchener is really close enough! It would be great to materialize our 'internet presence' and meet on tatami one day. Till then, would you give me any tips on dojos in GTA? Rumours, anything :-) ?

Thank you all,

Daniel

[KevinS]

While visiting, I have had the pleasure of training a couple of times at the Yoshinkai dojo in Toronto. Here is the link - Kimeda is the instructor:

http://www.aikido-yoshinkai.org/Kimeda.htm

They were very welcoming, even though I was from a dojo classified as "aikikai" - they even invited me out for their after class drinking. Kimeda sensei is very powerful.

[rachmass]

Hey Daniel,

I live in Ann Arbor (Michigan), but come to TO often. When I am in town, I typically train with Fran Turner Sensei of Aikido Shugyo dojo over on Broadview. George Hewson Sensei is also very good. They are both aikikai, CAF affiliated.

http://www.aikidoonline.com/

has the links to both of these sites.

Also, Bob Zimmerman Sensei teaches in Toronto, and he is very good too. He is a student of Kanai Sensei and a member of the USAF-ER. Check him out too:

http://www.torontoaikikai.com/

hope to see you on the mat,

Rachel

[Nathanael]

Hi,

I train periodically with the the group on Broadview as I have fam in TO- lots of good people there! My Sensei is in Kitchener also. I come from Iowa to uchideshi with him.... He teaches traditional Iwama-style Aikido and has trained quite a bit in Japan. http://www.goldentriangleaikido.ca

if you're interested in checking it out. I'll be backl there soon myself to be an uchideshi.

Best of luck

Nathanael

[PeterR]

Yoshinkan is the main stream since you have Kimeda 8th Dan teaching on Young Street. Never met the man but I trained a couple of days with his son at a gaijin seminar organized a few years ago near Kyoto and visited the Toronto dojo and took a class with Philip Atkin (5th Dan). I am not Yoshinkan either - but if I lived in Toronto that is where I would train. It really depends on how much time you have invested in Aikikai (will a dojo change be any worse than a style change).

By the way I train where ever there is good Aikido - my style can't be found just everywhere either. I have never regretted it. Of course what you judge to be good Aikido usually is referenced to what you did before so you never really switch.

Good luck in your hunt - finding a new dojo is never easy.
="Daniel Maly (daniel76)"PeterR-> I'm browsing dojos in T.O. trying to find the right one for me now. Before I came here, I trained in Prague with M.Kodym under technical supervision of M. Ikeda(shihan). Great dojo and everything. See http://www.aikikai.cz . Now I'm trying to find new Aikido home, but so far it seems that Yoshinkai is the main stream here. Thinking whether it is reasonable to switch from Aikikai only for the reason that Yoshinkai dojo is more developed in my area ...

[PeterR]

Curious as I have family in Waterloo. I was actually looking for a dojo to practice with a visiting yudansha from my home dojo in Osaka when we were both in the KW area but phones weren't answered and time was short. Next time perhaps.

What do you mean uchideshi - the way your e-mail reads it sounds like short visits or does your sensei have an uchideshi program.

Peter R.
Hi,

I train periodically with the the group on Broadview as I have fam in TO- lots of good people there! My Sensei is in Kitchener also. I come from Iowa to uchideshi with him.... He teaches traditional Iwama-style Aikido and has trained quite a bit in Japan. http://www.goldentriangleaikido.ca

if you're interested in checking it out. I'll be backl there soon myself to be an uchideshi.

[Nathanael]

Hi Peter,

My Sensei does have an uchideshi program. It's not very big right now, but there's always something to work on, especially if you'll be coming with a training partner. He's had people for as long as a year, but you're welcome to stay for as long or short as you like. Finding his dojo was great luck, esp cuz I'm doing Iwama-style. Hope this helps!

Ja mata ne

Nathanael
What do you mean uchideshi - the way your e-mail reads it sounds like short visits or does your sensei have an uchideshi program.

Peter R.

[daniel76]

Hello everybody,

Thanks for the great feedback! I appreciate all the links and info you sent me.

Rachel -> Would be great to meet on mat, hope you are coming to T.O sometime soon!

PeterR -> You hit the spot with sensei Kimeda's dojo, but I'm still not sure what it takes to switch from aikikai to yoshinkan. I trained with yoshinkan guys before and it was not the smoothest flow of KI at all in our production :-). Quite different styles, I would say. I'm also not advanced enough to benefit from styles merge, I guess. There are lots of +/- ... at last, sensei Kimeda's dojo is practically next door :-)

Thank you all, any comments are sincerely welcome.

Daniel

[aikido_fudoshin]

I trained with yoshinkan guys before and it was not the smoothest flow of KI at all in our production :-).

Depends who you train with and who has taught them. Yoshinkan is ment to be very smooth and flowing.

[daniel76]

aikido_fudoshin wrote:

>Depends who you train with and who has taught them. Yoshinkan is meant to be very smooth and flowing.

>

To clarify my statement - I didn't mean there was something wrong, not flowing or not smooth in Yoshinkan Aikido. Those occurred with my yoshinkan partner and me(aikikai). Straight and more dynamic approach and techniques finishing at the point I thought it is about in the middle put me in problems. Sure, those are connected with my Aikido advancement. I wrote about that to explain my current situation of looking for a new dojo in T.O

Thanks for your post.

Daniel

[rachmass]

Hi Daniel,

Did you check to see if any of Ikeda Sensei's students are in the area? All the folks I listed were Yamada Sensei's students (to some degree or another). I know there are differences between the organizations although they are all aikikai based.

It is tough moving to a new city, let alone a new dojo! I understand your desire to go with something that is close to what you practiced before, that is completely natural. I suggest you go check out the different dojos in your area, both the aikikai dojos and the Yoshinkan dojos (and there are possibly more as well) and just train where it feels most natural.

Best of luck to you on this, and I too, hope to see you on the mat some day.

Rachel

[Peter Malecek]

Daniel

From your post you seem to say that the Yoshinkai application of aikido techniques surpised you . Funny, I said the same to my training partners when I came to train at my current dojo, the Aikiki based Sei Aikido Dojo in Prague ! I guess this Aikikai/Yoshinkai ,"...what techique are we doing noooooooow " thing is more common than I thought !

I started my training with Kimeda Sensei so I can honestly recommend him as a teacher of good Aikido. If you do go to his dojo say hi to him for me, its been a long time.

More importantly, when living in Toronto never ever become a fan of the Totonto Maple Leafs. Your blood will turn blue and they'll only break your heart !!!!

Next time you're in Prague pop in and tell me what my home town is like (beer's on me).