Local Aikido club in London based in Kennington and Vauxhall areas.

About us

Its movements are graceful, flowing, effortless and powerful, and there is more to it than that...

There is great beauty in the way the movements of Aikido, even down to their smallest components, are an articulate expression of joy, gratitude and hope.

In fact if we look deeply, we can see that a whole philosophy of life is contained in its movements like a mass of coded messages.

It is this intimate connection between the actions and the thoughts behind them, that makes Aikido such a wonderful opportunity for life-enhancing practice.

To someone watching Aikido for the first time this might not be so obvious. They might simply see one person attacking another, and subsequently being thrown and subdued.

Aikido is a unique Martial Art devised to facilitate a Path of Abundant Peace. Our values are respect, gratitude, honesty and generosity, and we offer adults of all ages and dispositions, the chance to learn, through practice, how to diffuse any type of violence. Aikido is about mobility, inner stability and the co-ordination of mind and body.

The potential of Aikido has to be experienced to be believed, so we encourage you to come and try it out at our permanent London Dojo. Classes are taught by Emile swain (1st Dan) a student of Denis Burke sensei (7th Dan) who has over 30 years of experience and is the head and founder of the Isshinkai Association.

Learning and Practicing Aikido

Beginners are introduced to Aikido through both taught lessons and practice.

During Tuesday classes we will introduce you to the key concepts and ideas in the Aikido we practice. We achieve this by exploring and studying Curiosity, Honesty, Generosity, Respect and Gratitude.

Thursday practice is then encouraged as we believe that practice in addition to taught lessons is an integral part of learning aikido.

What to wear?

We ask that you bring clean light clothing to change into at the dojo, and light footwear (slippers/etc) to move between the mat and changing room.

When to arrive?

Classes start at 7pm so we ask that you arrive early to get changed and relax before class starts. The doors open about 6:30pm.