Martial Weapons Academy

"Aikiflow is a really friendly open and welcoming club. Aikido is by it's nature non competitive, but don't let that fool you into thinking it is any less real or immediate. When someone is swinging a ken sword or jo staff at you it tends to focus the mind. Forging the mind and body whilst progressing your Aikido journey is what it's all about. You can leave testosterone and muscular strength at the door, Aikido creates a forging of ligaments and core stability in an atmosphere of mutual learning and respect. Being an Iwama Ryu club there is focus on both the wooden weapons and unarmed techniques from the start, following closely the style of Morihei Ueshiba (O'sensei) as taught by Morihiro Saito. The techniques are direct and devastatingly effective, often can be replicated to a simple degree in minutes but take a life time to master. There is opportunity to work on a variety of complimentary flowing arts, poi and indian clubs as well as wooden Aikido weapons and HEMA steel weapon sparring. There are also regular visiting seminars at home or away where the most accomplished Aikido practitioners from the UK and abroad share thier teaching. Something you will hear everyone in the club say often, "I wish I'd found it 20yrs earlier"."

"i have been very impressed by the club in terms of the high teaching standards of the aikido instructor as well as the friendly and welcoming members . There are also regular seminars that you can attend in the UK and overseas the most recent one was in St Petersburg Russia which was excellent and well worth a visit if you ever get the chance . The Tai Jitsu and Weapons training is also exceptional . Why not come along and try out a few classes ."

"A very friendly club with welcoming members. A sensei not afraid to answer questions, even awkward ones, and able to explain how and why techniques work. A lot of attention is paid to the correctness of the Jo and Bo katas which are used to correctly develop tai-jitsu forms, and to ensure a good core and an overall correct body structure. If you are up for it, test yourself sparring with different types of swords (from foam katanas to metallic long swords) - its lots of fun. Even if it was not my "local club" ( around 30 mns drive ), I would still visit it regularly."