Ellis Amdur

Local dojos usually practice in the evening, whereas the Aikikai Honbu has classes morning, afternoon and evening.

The advantage of a local dojo is you get a family. There is a warmth and closeness that you definitely won't get at the Honbu - although you'll certainly be able to make lots of friends. At a local dojo, you'll be mostly with Japanese, which will make it a more powerful cultural experience - truly training in a Japanese martial art, and your language skills will improve. It is very easy to simply hang with your non-Japanese friends at the Honbu - in fact, although I found it easy enough to be <friendly. with Japanese at the Honbu, I never really got close to anyone.

The Kuwamori Dojo in Sakuradai (SEibu Ikebukuro line) is a wonderful community dojo - that's where I trained.

Also, depending on how much time you have, the best thing to do, in my opinion, is train at your local dojo - and join the Honbu as well - go to the latter a couple times a week, and train at your local regularly.