Chicago Aikikai aikido dojo

An inclusive community for exploring the Japanese martial art of aikido

Chicago Aikikai

Making Movies at Chicago Aikikai

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On Sunday, April 13, regular morning class was cancelled at Chicago Aikikai to accommodate the filming of Blade of the Waning Kingdom, an independently produced feature-length martial arts movie being made in Chicago.

 

Aside from training, Sundays are usually pretty sedate around Chicago Aikikai and its surrounding neighborhood, and usually only get really busy during seminars. Today, however, it was buzzing with cast and crew, as parts of the dojo served as makeup and wardrobe rooms and multiple different locations.

Chicago Aikikai members were invited to participate or observe the production. Joe Guerrier and his daughter Dee came for a while in the morning to watch the production process. Dwight Sora served as liaison between the dojo and production and also assisted the fight choreographer. Rob Brose and Christian Boswell also performed fight choreography as featured extras in a training scene, and Christian later did double-duty as part of a ninja entourage.

All in all, the filmmakers had a lot of thanks and praise for Chicago Aikikai’s willingness to let them film in the dojo. Cast and crew were asked to attend the regular Sunday intro class one week prior to receive proper orientation in conduct and care of the space, and many expressed in signing up as regular or trial students.

Blade of the Waning Kingdom is a low-budget adventure film set in a mythic world inspired by classic Japanese and Chinese martial arts films. Once completed, the filmmakers hope to submit it to film festivals and make it available for streaming viewing.

Congratulations to New ASU Shihan

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World Aikido Headquarters (Hombu Dojo) has officiallly recognized several nanadan (7th degree black belt) instructors within our parent organization, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU), as Shihan (Master Instructors). These include Tres Hofmeister (Boulder Aikikai) and Robin Cooper (Aikido of Madison), guest instructors at our 2023 Nanadan Seminar, and George Ledyard (Aikido Eastside) and Chuck Weber (Baltimore Aikido), guest instructors at our 2024 Nanadan Seminar. Congratulations to all. The complete list of those recognized may be found at the ASU website.

2025 Seminars at Chicago Aikikai

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Please come join us for our last three seminars in our current space

June 6-8

Tres Hofmeister Sensei

7th dan, Senior Instructor at Boulder Aikikai, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU)

Classses: Friday (6:30 pm – 8:30 pm), Saturday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm), Sunday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)

Register for full weekend or per class here.

 

September 12-14

Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan

8th dan, Founder and Chief Instructor of Boulder Aikikai, Aikido Shimbokukai

Classses: Friday (6:30 pm – 8:30 pm), Saturday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm), Sunday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)

Register for full weekend or per class here.

October 3-5

Mitsugi Saotome Shihan

Uchi deshi of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, Founder and Chief Instructor of Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU)

Seminar will also feature classes taught by ASU Senior Instructors TBA

Part of a year-long celebration of Saotome Sensei’s 50th years of teaching in the United States.

Classses: Friday (6:30 pm – 8:30 pm), Saturday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm), Sunday (10:00 am – 12:00 pm)

Register for full weekend or per class here. Non-training guests attending Saturday dinner must also register as a “Celebration guest”.

Please note that due to anticipated demand, registration will be closed Friday, September 19.

Financial support to attend available via the ASU grant program.

 

 

Sunday Furoshiki Workshop

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On Sunday, November 10, Chicago Aikikai hosted a public workshop teaching the history, meaning and use of furoshiki (風呂敷).

Furoshiki literally means “bath” (furo) + “spread” (shiki); originating as cloth used by noble families and feudal lords to wrap their clothes when visiting public baths. This evolved into  pieces of reusable fabric for wrapping gifts, carrying tools, packing lunches, and countless other things. While the term emerged during Japan’s Muromachi period (1136-1573), its usage dates all the way back to the Nara period (710-794), thus the custom has been around for over 1,300 years.

Chicago Aikikai member Satoko Ogura Bourdaghs, a native of Sendai in Japan and former Japanese language instructor at University of Chicago, led the workshop. Over tea and Japanese okashi (お菓子; sweets) she explained the history and use of furoshiki with a slideshow on her laptop. Afterward, participants were given the opportunity to practice wrapping furoshiki cloth around different objects and shapes (boxes, bottles, balls) to better understand its versatility, and take home their own furoshiki if they wished to do so.

While not directly tied to the practice of aikido, furoshiki does embody similar principles of economy and efficiency. Japan’s status as a geographically small country with limited natural resources has long influenced the development of practices and atittudes geared towards re-use and minimizing waste. The circular movements of aikido find an analogue in furoshiki as a tool that can be used and re-used countless times (furoshiki used for wrapping gifts is always returned, for example). Lack of resources is one of the reason Japanese clothing (including aikido dōgi and hakama) use only knots for wearing, not buttons or clasps, just like the combinations of folds and knots used to turn furoshiki into bags or wrapping.

The event was the first of its kind for Chicago Aikikai, and was also a fundraiser to help support the maintenance and upkeep of the dojo. Similar events are currently being planned for the future.

Our thanks to Satoko for leading this workshop, and all the preparation that went into it.