On the weekend of January 24th and 25th 2026, Muden juku Ireland participated in a friendship seminar with five other IMAC member aikido organisations.
Dublin Tomiki Aikido, Takemusu Aikido Society, Aikido Wexford, North East Aikido, Shoshin Aikido and Muden Juku Ireland.
It was a collegial event, with an instructor from each organisation taking the lead instruction for one of the six sessions.
Through exposure to other approaches, I think we all gained insight, expanded our understanding of various aikido principles and challenged ourselves to step outside our habitual practices.
I felt the event was a great success. Practitioners genuinely engaged with the approaches of other groups and found surprising commonalities among the perceived differences. A few lightbulbs went off for myself.
We also created new friendships along with as renewing old ones.
I was impressed with the general level of instruction and practice from the various organisations. The traditions of a diverse range of aikidoka were on display including those of: Saito Morihiro, Kenji Tomiki, Seigo Yamaguchi/Atsushi Mimuro and Hirokazu Kobayashi.
I felt that the community and inclusive ethos of the event underlined core values of IMAC ones which Muden Juku fully subscribe to.
I look forward to the next one!
Domo Arigatou Gozaimashita!
Photos by Kim Farrelly
