It was Mr. Hatta who persuaded Yamada Sensei to come to England to teach.

The Kikusui Kai was founded by Senta Yamada Sensei in the early 60's when he opened his own dojo in the first floor of the Regency Club in north London. He stayed and taught in this country until 1965 when for family reasons he decided to return to Japan.

I was fortunate enough to be asked if I would assist Yamada Sensei in the first demonstration of Tomiki Aikido at the London Judo Society Festival of Judo and from that time became his senior student and assistant until he returned home.

Over the intervening years we have been in constant contact and in 1983 I was fortunate enough to visit Japan and once again resume my studies under him. In order to keep myself and my students up-to-date with the latest developments in Tomiki Aikido I have been to Japan no less than five occasions, the latest in 1993. We have also been fortunate in that Yamada Sensei has found the time to renew his contact with England and has been a regular visitor in more recent years, renewing his teaching of Judo and Aikido.

Aikido is based on developing a persons ability to anticipate another persons actions. Basically we call this "Avoidance of attack" but it is more than this. Because what we practise in the Dojo should be carried over to our daily lives. IF you can read and anticipate a persons actions you can either avoid it or counter-act it.

Aikido does what no other form of modern exercise does. It corrects structural imbalance - which many forms of modern exercise can in fact make worse. Many people are not even aware that they have a structural problem until they start to exhibit symptoms. Aikido works to gently strengthen joints and improve flexibility. This often improves blood supply and relieves tension. It strengthens muscles by aerobic and isometric exercise.