Aikido Seminars

Guest Seminars

Aikido Eastside is an internationally recognized center for specialized Aikido training that might not be available to many instructors and practitioners at their own dojos or nearby. We have had folks from as far away as Australia, England, Spain, and Finland come to attend seminars at our school as well as folks from all over the US and Canada.

In addition to George Ledyard Sensei, some of the finest Aikido teachers in the world have taught seminars at Aikido Eastside. Senseis like Mitsugi Saotome and Hiroshi Ikeda, Frank Doran, Mary Heiny, Tom Read, Bruce Bookman, Kimberly Richardson, Kayla Feder, Raso Hultgren, John Messores, Tres Hofmeister, Kevin Choate, Dennis Hooker, and William Gleason have been hosted by our school.

In addition Aikido Eastside hosts teachers from other styles who are willing to share their knowledge with the Aikido community. Ellis Amdur, Toby Threadgill - Takamura Ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu, Howard Popkin - Daito Ryu, Dan Harden - Internal Power, Akuzawa Minoru - Internal Power, Kaizen Taki - Systema, Jim King - Systema, etc. have all offered training to the Aikido community through our dojo..

So the “Transmission Seminar” was created to be a vehicle through which serious, up and coming instructors and practitioners of Aikido, specifically our ASU members (but not limited to them) can get personal attention and instruction both on the areas I feel they need to address but also in the areas they feel they need to work on themselves. The training is intimate, intense and is designed to take folks up a another level each time they attend. Space is limited. If you feel this may be for you, please read the mission statement before contacting George Ledyard Sensei about appyling.

One Day Intensives

The average student these days cannot train six or seven days per week. A serious student is probably attending class three times a week consistently. This does not allow for exposure to the full range of Aikido technique as taught to Ledyard Sensei by his teacher, Saotome Sensei. The One Day Intensives give the student a chance to address very specific areas of concentration such as Two Sword, Sword / Empty hand Relationship, Striking Technique, Falling, Paired Sword and Staff forms, etc. These classes are various Sundays throughout the year from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. The classes are taught by Ledyard Sensei or members of our senior staff.

4-Day Randori & Weapons Intensives

Students from all over the United States and Canada journey here to attend these intensive training sessions which focus on multiple attacker defense (Randori) and weapons work. Run twice a year on President's day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend, the Randori and Weapons Intensive is the product of twenty plus years of refinement.

Most Aikido styles require Randori on their Yudansha exams. This training is perfect for teachers who wish to better prepare their students for testing or for students who wish to use the Intensives to "peak" just before their actual tests. A number of dojos around the country regularly send their students to an intensive as part of their test preparation.