New Year Message from our Chairman

To all Members as we begin a New Year,
Firstly on behalf of the committee, our thanks to you all for your support during the last year.
As another year comes to an end we look back at the highs and lows of 2018. Unfortunately the low point of the year came on hearing the news that Kanetsuka Sensei  had been taken ill. During the year he was unable to attend the Spring Course and to our great disappointment was also not able to attend Summer School, and indeed following that Sensei could not make Dojo Cho’s visit to Manchester. Also, the courses at Oxford, Bristol and Cardiff which Sensei has taken over many,many years, he was sadly missed.
We send our Best Wishes to Kanetsuka Sensei and look forward to his full recovery in the New Year and his return to the Dojo to share his Aikido once more with us all.
The visit of Dojo Cho to the UK to help celebrate the BAF’s 50th anniversary was a great success all round. Many thanks to the support of Dojo Cho over the weekend, and for the efforts of Sue and Dave Yates which made the event a great success. It was also special that Dojo Cho brought with him a group of young Japanese students to take part and share the practice, this I’m sure with an eye to the future. I hope we can strengthen the connection between the British Aikido Federation and the Hombu Dojo.
    As Dojo Cho said in his speech, he looks forward to returning for our 60th and we certainly do!
Now we must look forward to 2019 and what that will bring…
As I have said before, firstly we hope for Kanetsuka Sensei’s return to health, also to Holland Sensei’s full recovery and we look forward to his support as always during the year.
We also look forward to Kanazawa Sensei returning to Chester this year and we will give our full support for Summer School.
A New Year means a new beginning, to look at our own practice, Kyu grade or Dan grade, student or instructor, is our individual practice developing, is our Dojo developing? Both these things are important to build for the future of Aikido. In todays world were will that future take us? For a strong future we must build on a strong past. As each year passes we move further away from the Founder’s time but we must not move further away from O’Sensei’s Aikido principles, and we must ask ourselves what will we pass on.
So lets look forward to the next 50 years of the British Aikido Federation, developing through each and everyone of it’s members, it’s practice, and understanding of Aikido
A Happy New Year to Everyone
Peter Gillard
BAF Chair
Rhaid i chi fod yn ddewr i fod yn greadigol