Charity Martial Arts Demo - Bath, England

Hi

I'm performing an Aikido Demonstration on 16th May 2010 in Bath University.

Its one of 12 demonstrations from local Martial arts clubs...several of the others are professionals so the 'competition' is very strong.

Am expecting it will be a great day and along with my team, am hoping to show a range of skills within Aikido in a positive light despite the strength of some of the other demonstration teams.

Would really appreciate any support from other local clubs and anyone that knows me, a good showing will increase interest in Aikido which can benefit all of us after all.

So please check out www.RotaryMAF.com for more details and watch the local press.

Bath Chronicle is running an article on 1st April so look out for this too.

It is for 2 very worthwhile charities so the more the merrier.

Thanks

Daren Sims
Templegate Dojo
National Aikido Federation

Looks like a great lineup of different martial arts. And I guess the more aikido people turn up the merrier!

Definitely two worthwhile charities to support!!!!

Eva

Cheers Eva - yep should be a great day. They are hoping for up to 2,000 watching so should be fantastic.

Will be just like my days as a footballer...except the crowd was about 2 plus a dog !

Well - this will be my last post on the subject before the event itself.

Last night we had a really good session with almost a full turnout of those involved.

On first run through there was some tiredness and some tension ...its not easy after a days work and other life stuff,

After that though things got better and better and by the end of it I think we were producing exactly what I hope we can demonstrate on the day.

Obviously doing it in the dojo is not the same as doing it in front of 2000 spectators ( including a large contingent of martial artist from around the region but it is a good indicator and for all of us shows that if you set yourself high targets, then with the right effort they can be achieved.

Regardless of how it goes on the day, I'm really pleased and impressed with the efforts from within the team to contribute to a demonstration that shows the high level of technical skill, wide range of activities and the underpinning friendship that make Templegate what it is.

I read an article yesterday by Gakku Homma - a senior instructor in the USA. He said that it is not enough to claim to incorporate Aikido principles in our daily life but that true Aikidoists should seek to make a difference for humanity through their actions.

I believe that through our contribution to this charity event, at much personal cost in time, effort, frayed nerves and of course dealing with creative temperament of an instructor who does not want to fall on his butt in front of the assembled seniors of local martial arts and the large crowd, we are making just such a contribution to change and in a small way fulfilling O'Sensei's hopes for Aikido in the world.

Domo arigato.

Daren

One word for the team yesterday ...AWESOME !!

Don't get me wrong...we wern't the best there and am no way claiming anything like that, we were up against some very excellent and professional outfits who do this sort of thing on a regular basis.

We had never done anything like it before , but the demo we put together was pretty much faultless :-) and impressive enough to get some great words of encouragement from the other teams and the public.

It was fantastic to have so many supporters and despite the nerves it was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Aikido.

Immense thanks to everyone in the demo team and extras who have helped out for giving considerable efforts into making this happen.

Respect.

D