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Old 02-03-2014, 08:35 PM   #16
robin_jet_alt
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 716
Australia
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Re: The History of Aikido in Australia?

Quote:
Diana Hope wrote: View Post
Nice! If you are coming for the 50th Anniversary, or train at one of our dojos, say ahoy
Oh? Are those of us who learned our aikido elsewhere welcome? My experience is that Aikikai Australia does not even approve of people such as myself who received their black belt from Aikikai in Japan, let alone non-affiliated organisations.

You said that you have never met someone who does aikido outside of Aikikai Australia, and I find this is a remarkably common state of affairs. As Tony said, Aikido organizations in Australia can be very insular.

For our part, we always invite all the local schools to our major events, and we often have people from the local Tomiki school attend. We also have people who train with us as well as the local A.K.I. dojo on a regular basis and I have attended seminars at the A.K.I. dojo as well. Insurance has always covered everyone who attends our seminars and the same goes for the other schools. In spite of our invitations, we have never had anyone from Aikikai Australia join us for one of our events, and it is my understanding (although I'm happy to be corrected) that their students are forbidden from doing so by the organisation.

I know this is getting sidetracked a little, but as Tony said, this insularity is a particularly Australian quality and is an important element of the history of Aikido in Australia.
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