Drink After Keiko #2: A Packed February and Upcoming Aikido Events
Reflecting on a busy month and what’s ahead for our Aikido community
Hello everybody,
I usually hibernate in February, but this year, the month was unexpectedly intense. Now, as it ends, let’s catch up over a warm (or cold) drink!
How’s your winter been? ☕❄️
I spent almost two weeks traveling and/or working around Aikido and one of the events I attended in February was
Seminar for Kids Teachers in Berlin
Do you also love meeting friends in different places, practicing together, sharing inspiration, and chatting over good food? Because that’s exactly how this seminar felt:
Organized by Ilka and Axel from Kikentai Berlin dojo, the event brought together around 30 teachers and assistants, plus 10 teenagers from different dojos. We shared rich keiko, valuable insights, and a warm, friendly atmosphere.
I was especially inspired by the fantastic Social Skills and Non-Competitive Games session led by Martina Loos from Aikido School Athens. As for my contribution, I led a lesson and discussion on Growing Up in the Dojo: Aikido with Teenagers—a topic I also love writing about here on Aikido: Art for Life.
The next workshop in this series is planned for 27-29 June 2025—I’ll share more details soon!
Aikido Seminars in Prague & Beyond (2025)
To keep the spirit of shared practice alive, here’s a list of upcoming Aikido seminars and summer schools we’re organizing this year. We’d love to see you there!
Jan Nevelius (7th dan Shihan)
4th – 6th April 2025, Prague, Czechia
More information
Gaston Nicolessi (6th dan)
6th – 8th June 2025, Prague, Czechia
More information
Aikido Summer School: Martin Švihla (5th dan)
4th – 10th August 2025, Třešt' u Jihlavy (Czech countryside)
More information and registration
Aikido Summer School for Youth (15-20yo)
12th – 17th August 2025, Třešt' u Jihlavy (Czech countryside)
Martin Švihla, 5th Dan & Pavel Linhart, 2nd dan
More information and registration
Aikido Summer in Berlin
28th – 31st August 2025, Berlin, Germany
Cath Davies, 6th Dan IE & UK; Jorma Lyly, 6th Dan SE
Andrea Arobba, 5th Dan UY; Martin Švihla, 5th Dan CZ
Terhi Kallonen, 6th Dan FI; Reiner Buchholz, 4th Dan DE
Heidi Grot, 5th Dan DE; Gaston Nicolessi, 6th Dan FR
More information
Aiki4kids – International Aikido Seminar for Children & Youth 2025
8th November 2025, Prague, Czechia
More information and registration
Aikido Seminar: Zdenko Reguli (6th dan)
6th December 2025, Prague, Czechia
More information
February Recap & What’s Coming in March
I’m surprised we managed to post three new articles despite such a packed month! Here they are:
Warm-up In Martial Arts: A Waste of Time or Essential Practice?
Aikido Practice: More Than Meets the Eye (Guest article by Misha Rogach from Ukraine/Slovakia)
These articles sparked some nice discussions on Facebook—don’t miss them!
Looking ahead, we have insightful articles planned for March. We’ll continue exploring warm-ups and movement, and we’re preparing a practical guide for students and teachers: Learning to Roll Without Dizziness by Aikidoka and Feldenkrais practitioner Cheryl Whitelaw from Canada.