AIKIDO KEIKOKAI OF BANGKOK -

FOLLOWING THE PRINCIPLES OF NISHIO SENSEI

Aikido Keikokai of Bangkok is a practice group focusing on Aikido principles as developed by the late Shoji Nishio Sensei, who used sword-drawing (iai) kata and paired bokken and jo kata to show how mai-ai (positioning relative to your training partner) and atemi (strikes) are used to achieve kuzushi (taking your training partner’s balance) to allow the application of the various throws and pins of aikido.

Nishio Sensei developed Toho Iai, a set of 15 katas, to illustrate the correlation between the sword forms and the principles underlying aikido techniques.

The senior members of this keikokai (practice group) are long-term students of Takao Arisue Sensei and Nakamichi Sensei of Tokyo, and were until a few years ago studying under Tony Tartaglia Sensei, to whom we owe profound gratitude for the depth and breadth of his instruction over the years in Nishio principles and various Aikikai styles of aikido.

The senior members visit our aikido instructors in Tokyo each year. New members whose attendance has been regular may be invited to join us.

The principles of Nishio Sensei's aikido are practiced under the umbrella of the Aikikai Hombu and the leadership of the Ueshiba family. Although the entries and applications of techniques differ in some ways from those taught at the Hombu Dojo, the principles of mai-ai, atemi, kuzushi, centering and relaxation are the same.