Food for Thought

by Vivien Heal (Cheddar Club)

23nd June 2007

We celebrated our Summer BBQ in fine style at the Cox's Mill Hotel in Cheddar.  Proceedings commenced at 5pm with a few of us pictured in front of the magnificent water fall with a view of Cheddar Gorge in the background. The food was plentiful and excellent and the company in fine form and we were very luck with the weather as the evening stayed dry.

My Reasons for Starting

by Nick Palmer(Southbourne Club)

6th June 2007

I recently started Aikido as way of becoming more flexible (as I suffer with stiffness/lack of flexibility in my feet, legs and lower back), to help learn to relax and provide a good form of exercise.

Although I have only been practising about 5 months, I have found it provides all of these things very well, and in addition it provides much more besides, including learning to not meet confrontation with force (in everyday life as well as on the mat), helping improve my natural balance, it will lead to a good form of self defence, and most importantly I have made some great new friends.

How It All Began

by Sensei Simón Granell (Southbourne Club)

2nd May 2007

Some time in 1987 I was having a conversation with a friend about how since choosing to do art as a career my sporting activities had been severely curtailed. I said that I had toyed with the idea of taking up a martial art, but didn’t really know much about any of them, apart from a few months practicing judo in Spain as a child. This constituted joining the conveyor belt of spotty kids forward rolling for the whole class, or being relentlessly impaled into the very cold mat. This friend (a Second Dan in Shotokan Karate at the time) suggested aikido to me.....

Aikido Part of My Daily Life

by Debbie Humphries (Cheddar Club)

22nd April 2007

I started Ki Aikido some four years ago.  It took me a while to get into it but it has now become a very important part of my life.

Ki Aikido helps keep me physically active and also helps me with confidence in my general daily life.  Ki Aikido also increases my social life and social contacts.  I practice with a wonderful group of people.  I now cannot imagine my life without Ki Aikido.

Ki Aikido Modern Day Budo

by Mike (Cheddar Club)

18th April 2007

About five/six years ago I found myself wanting to of a martial art (Budo) type of thing having tried a few things when I was younger, so I so I spent some time looking around at what was on offer in my local area, I realised that I wanted something that involved practice with someone that would help/prove if it was going to work.  I went along to a Ki Aikido session one night and saw what I had been looking for....