Chicago Aikikai had a nice turnout for the “Aikido & Mental Health” workshop that it hosted at the dojo. The event was organized by the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois with sponsorship from Aetna as part of their “TEA Talks” series to spread awareness of therapy and other mental health strategies combined with an introduction to a practice rooted in the Asian American community. Past workshops featured traditional Karate and Muy Thai kickboxing.
(photos by Ellyn Iwaoka)
Aikido instruction was led by Dwight Sora and Qin Coe with support from Chris Dignan and Xiaolu Wang. The therapy and mental health portion was led by and Dr. Ken Kikuchi (psychologist) and Bohao Zhang (licensed professional counselor). Megan Nakano, Executive Director of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, was also on hand to kick things off. Lunch was provided during a break by Tanoshii Sushi restaurant.
A special treat was an appearance by Ellyn Iwaoka, who came to observe the workshop. Ellyn was a member of the Illinois Aikido Club (as Chicago was originallly called) and trained at the dojo in the 1960s (Photo by Megan Nakano. Insert of Ellyn and Jon Eley from a May 1966 Chicago Tribune article).
