Tuesday, 30th August, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

Having missed Saturday’s class, we were pumped up and ready for action as soon as we hit the mat. After a brief warm up session, we embarked on the techniques of the day;

-Suwari waza shomen uchi ikkyo omote and ura
-Suwari waza gyaku hanmi katate dori ikkyo omote
-Suwari waza ai hanmi katate dori ikkyo omote and ura
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori ikkyo omote

Apparently the Embassy is open once again, and normal schedule can resume as from the 6th of September 2016.

Next session; Thursday, September 1, 2016
Place; Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands
Time; 6.30pm-8.30pm
Damages; 300 bob
Welcome all!

Tuesday, 23rd August, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

The afternoon rain (which for some reason begins at exactly 5pm) kept most people away due to the heavy traffic jams and overall confusion. However, we still managed to keep the class going as we explored various techniques as outlined below;

-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori juji nage omote and ura
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori yonkyo omote and ura
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori sumi otoshi
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori koshi nage (only opening, without nage)
-Tachi waza ryoute dori ude garame
-Tachi waza ryoute dori koshi nage (only opening, without nage)
-Tachi waza ryoute dori irimi nage omote and ura
-Tachi waza gyaku hanmi katate dori kokyu nage

Due to the low turnout and number of techniques, it turned out to be an unusually sweaty and tiring session.

Next session; Thursday, August 25, 2016
Place; Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands,
Time; 6.30pm-8.30pm
Damages; 300 bob

Thursday, 18th August 2016, and Saturday, 20th August, 2016

On these two days, the focus was on attacks from ai hanmi katate dori and ryoute dori.

We did the following techniques;
- Ai hanmi katate dori juji nage omote
- Ai hanmi katate dori yonkyo omote
- Ai hanmi katate dori sumi otoshi omote
- Ai hanmi katate dori koshi nage (opening only)
- Ryoute dori tenchi nage omote
- Ryoute dori kokyu nage omote

Next session; Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands
Time; 6.30pm-8.30pm
Damages; 300 bob

Tuesday, 17th August, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

It was nice to see Anthony Owino spotting a keikogi for the first time ever. He looked brand new in his all white attire, which he had recently bought from Nairobi Sports House. Apparently there is a sale ongoing, where most of the items can be got at a bargain price. This is a nice opportunity for all those who have no keikogi to get themselves a set, before stocks run out.

The session kicked off with various ukemi, which included introduction to breakfalls, among other calisthenics, all aimed at conditioning our bodies.

We then settled down to the techniques of the day, which were;

- Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo omote gedan
- Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo omote chudan
- Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo omote jodan
- Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori uchi kaiten variation

All these techniques were courtesy of our teacher, Piotr Sensei, 6 dan, who had earlier sent us a video recording of the techniques. This was after we had realized that we needed more direction, and therefore requested for his help.

Some members expressed their wish to practice more of the same, so that it sticks. We shall endeavor to do this in our future classes.

Next session will be on Thursday, 18th August 2016, at the same place, at the same time. Please carry 300bob to cater for the gym’s basic expenses. All are welcome.

Saturday, 13th August at FAMA Gym, Ngara

Being a weekend, we decided to do a mock exam, and managed to go through all the gokyu techniques.

In addition, we started on yonkyu techniques, but were only able to cover techniques from gyaku hanmi katate dori attack.

Maybe we will continue with the same next Saturday.

Thursday, 11th August 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

On this day, we revisited morote dori techniques, and were able to go through the following:

-Tachi waza morote dori kokyu nage omote
-Tachi waza morote dori kokyu nage ura
-Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo omote
-Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo ura

To break the monotony, we also had fun with uchi kaiten, where we went through the following:

-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori uchi kaiten nage omote
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori uchi kaiten nage ura
-Tachi waza ai hanmi katate dori uchi kaiten with a pinning technique at the end

We also tried a popular morote dori technique, which is a preparation for shiho nage.

Piotr Sensei had a few comments on the above-mentioned techniques, especially regarding kamae. We will adopt and use them to improve our training experiences.

Next session: Tuesday, 16th August 2016. Same place. Same time. Damages; 300 bob.

Tuesday, 9th August, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

During this class, we tried to focus on ukemi, which has always been a challenge for me. I am always inspired by the variety and usefulness of ukemi. In theory, anyway. I imagine that in real life, there is no time to do proper ukemi. Much in the same way we panic when faced with an opponent outside class. Anyway, I guess I am too young to understand.

We introduced ourselves to break falls, and a bit of the front feather fall (wave). There was some excitement when someone mentioned making some progress in the feather fall.

The techniques we tried were:
- Suwari waza kata dori ikkyo omote
- Tachi waza kata dori ikkyo omote
- Tachi waza yokomen uchi ikkyo omote and
- Tachi waza gyaku hanmi katate dori kokyu nage

Piotr sensei is back from Croatia. He said that his experience of the place can be compared to Mombasa, Kenya, but cheaper. About our classes, he mentioned that we make many mistakes, but are headed in the right direction. So, let’s keep practicing until we make perfect.


NEXT SESSION: Thursday, 11th August, 2016. Same Place: 6.30pm - 8.30pm Damages: 300bob

Thursday, 4th August 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

We had a visiting guest from Scotland. His name is Angus. He explained that he was born in Kenya, but has always lived in Scotland. He holds the rank of Godan, Okuden.


During the first half of the session, we tried to remind ourselves how to do Tachi waza ryoute dori ikkyo omote. We have been focusing on this technique for some time now.
Next, we tried Tachi waza yokomen uchi shiho nage omote.


During the second half, Angus took some time to expound on a few aikido basics. One of them was something called the ‘ki test’. Its not something I can explain in writing, so I will leave it there. He took us through a few basic techniques including ushiro ryoute dori kote gaeshi, and gyaku hanmi katate dori shiho nage omote. Angus had a wealth of information to share with us, but time was not on our side. However, we shall treasure and keep what we were able to learn from him. More about him can be found in the following link; http://www.highlandkisociety.co.uk/


As a parting gift, he left us a book, titled ‘The Spirit of Aikido’ by Kisshoumaru Ueshiba. This will be added to our library collection, and the first borrower is Anthony Cutter.

NEXT SESSION; Tuesday, 9th August 2016, same venue. 6.30pm - 8.30pm. Damages: 300 bob. Welcome.




Below is a photo that we took with our guest after class.

Tuesday, 2nd August, 2016 at Titanium Fitness Gym, Westlands

This session was about corrections. Having got a few tips from our home dojo in Wro, we revisited some of the techniques that we did last week, namely; - Suwari waza shomen uchi ikkyo ura - Tachi waza shomen uchi ikkyo ura - Tachi waza morote dori ikkyo - Tachi waza ai hanmi irimi nage omote (jo-ge) and - Hanmi handachi waza showmen uchi irimi nage omote We tried to focus on the general movements rather than the details. This was not so easy given that the mats kept shifting under our feet, making movements very cumbersome. Next time, we will break down some of the techniques and try to understand them better. This will be on Thursday, 4th August, same place, same time (6.30pm – 8.30pm). There were some discussions on WhatsApp about being given tatami free of charge from Switzerland. Since I am not privy to the details…

Thursday, 28th July 2016, and Saturday, 30th July 2016

On Thursday, the focus was on morote dori techniques. We were able to introduce ourselves to the advanced versions on this technique by differentiating chudan, jodan, and gedan. Due to the complexity of the techniques, we were only able to do kokyu nage and ikkyo. On Saturday, we had more fun as we combined a few attacks. We had suwari waza ikkyo ura, tachi waza shomen uchi ikkyo ura, chudan and jodan versions of ai hanmi irimi nage, kata dori ikkyo, nikyo, sankyo, and finally gyaku hanmi katate dori kata gatame. We hope to meet again on Tuesday, 2nd August at Titanium Gym in Westlands. Don’t forget to bring your damages, totaling 300bob.