Welcome to aikido seminars in St. Petersburg! Our organization, The Yamato Aikikai Aikido Foundation was founded in Russia, in 1994, to support the people who want to study Aikido of classical Aikikai style. The leading St. Petersburg Aikido school, which has been given Aikido Hombu Recognition in 2012.
Aikido keiko-ho (training methods)
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, instructors of Yamato AAF dojo’s teach in different cities of Russia. Our work is based on the teaching methods of the world’s leading aikido masters, first of all, our teacher Fujita Masatake Sensei (Tokyo, Japan), a student of Aikido Founder who had been coming to Saint-Petersburg several times a year for more than 15 years. Fujita Sensei is widely known as the creator of teaching method «4 tai sabaki» of the opponent’s attack entry.
The closest european student of Fujita Sensei, A.H.Bacas Sensei (Hague, Netherlands) also had been coming to Saint-Petersburg for many years. They helped to organize in Saint-Petersburg a lot of seminars of such famous masters of Aikikai aikido as Leisinger Sensei (Germany), Verona Sensei (Italy), Pagano Sensei (Italy) and many others.
After the sudden illness of Fujita Sensei, we continued our studies with Sugano Seiichi Sensei (8 dan Aikikai, NY, US), a student of Aikido Founder and the creator of a unique system of teaching traditional weapons (bokken, jo) in aikido. His senior student and head of the Sugano Foundation in Europe, Louis Van Thieghem Sensei (7 dan Aikikai, Brussels, Belgium) became a teacher and official curator of our organization from the Aikikai Foundation. During the years of work with the Sugano Foundation, such strong masters as Tony Smybert Sensei (7 dan Aikikai, Australia), Hanan Janiv Sensei (7 dan Aikikai, Australia), Jiko Sugano Sensei (6 dan Aikikai, Australia), Alain Dujardin Sensei (6 dan Aikikai, Brussels, Belgium), Frederic Heylbroeck Sensei (6 dan Aikikai, Brussels, Belgium) and other leading masters came to us, they became not only teachers, but also good friends of our organization.
The Yamato Foundation also maintains contacts with the leading masters of Japan. Makoto Ito Sensei (6 dan Aikikai, Tokyo, Japan) more than once visited us from Hombu dojo. Also at our suggestion and with the support of the Moscow organization, Minegishi Mutsuko Sensei (7 dan Aikikai, Guam) and Kubota Ikuhiro Sensei (8 dan Aikikai, Nara, Japan) came to St. Petersburg. Even during the difficult period of pandemic restrictions, Kubota Sensei was holding zoom classes for his students around the world, we took part in these trainings.
Saint-Petersburg City
Saint-Petersburg is a large (about 5 000 000 people) modern city, which was build 300 years ago by order of the Russian emperor Peter The Great who took European cities as a model. It was not only a fortress protecting country from Baltic invaders, but also became a new capital of Russian Empire. Magnificent palaces, cathedrals and parks attract tourists from all over the world.
As for aikido, our city came to be known after the Sport Accord World Combat Games’2013, IAF board meeting and the seminar with the best Aikikai Aikido masters from all over the world was organized in October 2013. This grand celebration of martial arts, and aikido in particular, was organized and conducted in our city at the highest level.
Yamato AAF has wide experience in the receiving of foreign guests willing to participate in aikido seminars and tourist trips. During the seminars or any time we can support an aikido friends and members of theirs families with getting of Russian visas, the hotel accommodation and sightseeing tours.
Welcome to St.-Petersburg!
Contact us:
George Zapryagaev (+7 921 9607509),
Dmitry Zaytsev (+7 921 7544814)
E-mail: spbaikikai@inbox.ru
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aikikaispb