Aikido Summit 2024

Aikido Summit 2024 is October 12!

Denver Aikikai is so pleased to be hosting the 2024 Aikido Summit on Saturday October 12th at the Denver Buddhist Temple, plus bonus classes at Denver Aikikai the evening before.

Here’s the current instructor line-up for Saturday:

  • Abel Villacorta, 5th dan, Boulder Ki Aikido
  • Bruce Wonnacott, 5th dan, Aikido West
  • Kei Izawa, 7th dan, Aikikai Tanshinjuku
  • Seiji Tanaka, 8th dan, Hyland Hill Tomiki Aikido*
  • Ron Abo, 6th dan, Denver Buddhist Temple Aikido*
      • LUNCH
  • Edgar Johansson, 5th dan, Denver Aikikai
  • Toby Threadgill, Menkyo Kaiden, Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu
  • Hiroshi Ikeda, 7th dan, Boulder Aikikai

* Co-teaching

Location: Denver Buddhist Temple, 1947 Lawrence St, Denver, CO 80202
Date: Saturday October 12th, 2024 (bonus classes Friday evening – see below)
Time: 8:30am-4:30pm, party to follow (registration begins at 8am)

BONUS CLASSES classes at Denver Aikikai – Friday October 11th 6-8pm
*Open to all Summit Participants *Optional donation towards our upcoming dojo move
*6-7pm – Kamenna Lee Sensei *7-8pm – Edgar Johansson Sensei

Cost/Registration:

Pre-registration for the 2024 Aikido Summit is now closed.
Cost is $100 at the door and everyone is most welcome!
Cash or check is preferred but PayPal will be available as well.
Please bring your own lunch if you did not pre-register.

See you there!

Event details for attendees:

Location & Parking: The main event on Saturday takes place at the Denver Buddhist Temple, 1947 Lawrence St, Denver, CO 80202. There is free parking for the event in the Sakura Square parking garage at Larimer St. and 20th St. We will have a QR code available inside to pull up the parking website and another to validate the parking when prompted. Please park on the second floor and above. The second floor has a walkway directly to the event space.

Saturday Schedule: On Saturday the 12th we will have 7 classes of 50 minutes each (one is 60 minutes that is co-taught)  representing a wide variety of Aikido styles and associated arts. Classes begin at 8:30 and end at 4:30 with a 10 minute break between each and an hour for lunch. There will be a short guided warm up before classes begin but we recommend leaving some time to warm up on your own as well.
Take care of yourself, drink lots of water and take breaks when you need to!

Detailed schedule:

  • 8-8:30: Registration and solo warm ups
  • 8:30-8:40: Welcome and (short) guided warm-ups
  • 8:40-9:30: Abel Villacorta, 5th dan, Boulder Ki Aikido
  • 9:40-10:30: Bruce Wonnacott, 5th dan, Aikido West
  • 10:40-11:30: Kei Izawa, 7th dan, Aikikai Tanshinjuku
  • 11:40-12:40: Seiji Tanaka, 8th dan, Hyland Hill Tomiki Aikido
    WITH Ron Abo, 6th dan, Denver Buddhist Temple Aikido
  • 12:40-1:40: LUNCH
  • 1:40-2:30: Edgar Johansson, 5th dan, Denver Aikikai
  • 2:40-3:30: Toby Threadgill, Menkyo Kaiden, Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu
  • 3:40-4:30: Hiroshi Ikeda, 7th dan, Boulder Aikikai
  • 4:30: Closing circle and clean-up

Saturday details:

  • IF you pre-registered (up until Oct 5), we will have a bento box lunch waiting for you. If not, please bring your own.
  • We suggest that you bring a pair of sandals to wear between the changing rooms and the mat to help keep the mat clean.
  • Please bring a water bottle and remember to hydrate – water refill stations will be available.

Potluck Party: The Summit Potluck Party will take place at Edgar Sensei’s house starting at 6pm on Saturday. All participants are welcome along with your partners, etc. Please sign up to bring something using this spreadsheet so we can be sure to have a good variety of things to share.

Friday Evening: We would like to welcome you to join our “bonus classes” at Denver Aikikai on Friday the 11th from 6-8pm. The first hour will be led by Kamenna Lee Sensei and the second hour by Edgar Johansson Sensei. There is no fee but donations towards our upcoming dojo move will be accepted via cash, check or paypal should you want to contribute. This will be the final Summit event in our Broadway dojo – we move at the end of the month (more details on that later).

Last but not least, if you like our t-shirt art the last couple years, consider buying one of the matted prints of the recent designs that we will have for sale at the event ($25 each, attached to this email for your reference) and please visit the website of our amazing dojo artist, Katie Struk and take a look at her other work. We will also have some extra t-shirts for sale for $25 each at the end of the event if you just can’t live with only one :).

See you soon!