In 2013 I set in motion a series of steps to move to Germany on a permanent basis.
I was not particularly concerned with finding an apartment or other mundane stuff (despite my total lack of German) but I was more worried about being able to keep up with regular Aikido and Shodo practice.
For this reasons one of the very first things I did was to visit a dojo in Rostock to get an idea if I could work regularly there (key word: regularly, I was lucky to find a very nice place who even had exactly the same schedule I was accustomed to in Italy, so I still practice 3 times a week, every week).
Shodo I can afford to be less regular with (actually this is a lie: I should definitely practice more - especially on my own) but there was no-one offering lessons in Rostock. Berlin is relatively easy to reach by train or bus, though, so I started looking for a teacher there.
Again, I asked for a "trial lesson" first - here you can see a few pics from it - and again I was very lucky in finding Juju who has helped me improving significantly (if only I'd put more effort in it…).
For this lesson I choose 間合 (ma-ai). Literally it means "Interval", and it is used in various different fields (music, art, architecture…) but I learned it through aikido practice: in martial arts it defines the "correct distance" between two opponents.
In this case it assumes even more nuances because the correct "interval" is dynamic and has to constantly be adjusted in order to be able to strike without exposing yourself as a target.
I was not particularly concerned with finding an apartment or other mundane stuff (despite my total lack of German) but I was more worried about being able to keep up with regular Aikido and Shodo practice.
For this reasons one of the very first things I did was to visit a dojo in Rostock to get an idea if I could work regularly there (key word: regularly, I was lucky to find a very nice place who even had exactly the same schedule I was accustomed to in Italy, so I still practice 3 times a week, every week).
Shodo I can afford to be less regular with (actually this is a lie: I should definitely practice more - especially on my own) but there was no-one offering lessons in Rostock. Berlin is relatively easy to reach by train or bus, though, so I started looking for a teacher there.
Again, I asked for a "trial lesson" first - here you can see a few pics from it - and again I was very lucky in finding Juju who has helped me improving significantly (if only I'd put more effort in it…).
For this lesson I choose 間合 (ma-ai). Literally it means "Interval", and it is used in various different fields (music, art, architecture…) but I learned it through aikido practice: in martial arts it defines the "correct distance" between two opponents.
In this case it assumes even more nuances because the correct "interval" is dynamic and has to constantly be adjusted in order to be able to strike without exposing yourself as a target.
Juju prepares some models for my lesson
間合 (ma-ai)
This was my best result
Juju found a different place later.
This location was just temporary…
Traditionally a special orange ink is used to correct the student's work.