Western Canadian Aikido Teen Leadership Gasshuku 2022

Posted on by Sensei Steve Erickson

BigRock Aikikai hosts students and instructors from Rock Water Aikikai (Victoria) and Aikidaily International Academy (Squamish) for the first ever teen leadership retreat for junior instructors.


 

From Wednesday March 23rd to Sunday March 27th, BigRock Aikikai held its first ever Western Canadian Aikido Teen Leadership Gasshuku, where both our own teens and students from British Columbia came together for an incredible, five day training retreat. Rock Water Aikikai and Aikidaily International Academy, the two B.C. dojos, travelled hours upon end to participate in this amazing retreat! The event aimed to cultivate Aikido’s younger generation of senior practitioners into phenomenal leaders, teachers, and guardians of the Art of Peace, as well as give the students a chance to bond and connect with each other through once in a lifetime activities. Especially for being the first event of its kind for our dojo, this retreat was a blast! Every participant had the chance to share and apply new teaching methods during BigRock Aikikai’s regular classes, sleep over at the dojo, play an exciting assortment of games, and even go on exhilarating field trips, such as a visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and a C-Train-filled escapade to downtown Calgary! On Friday, all of the participants were able to attend Yumi Nakumura Sensei’s special Teen class, giving them memories and knowledge to last them a lifetime. They also attended the Young Adults class, led by Max Webber, Dylan Gordon, and Steve Sensei from BigRock Aikikai, as well as Martin Moreau Sensei from Rockwater Aikikai and Grant and Rie Babin, Senseis from Aikidaily International Academy. On top of all of that, they were even able to stay for the BigRock Aikikai Spring Equinox Seminar. By the end of the retreat, the students were exhausted, but left with smiles on their faces as they looked forward to the next Teen Leadership Gasshuku!

~Cassie Chan