Ikazuchi Dojo: An Aikido School Done Right! by Stanley Pranin

On March 18th through the 20th, I was invited to join Haruo Matsuoka Sensei, Josh Gold, and members of the Ikazuchi Dojo in Irvine, California for an activity-packed weekend. To give you an idea of what my schedule was like, here was my itinerary:

Stanley Pranin’s Ikazuchi Dojo Visit Itinerary

Friday March 18
Arrival – Pick up at Orange County airport
12-2pm: Lunch / Blizzard Entertainment Tour
2-4pm: On the mat with Haruo Matsuoka Sensei
6:30-7:15pm: Matsuoka Sensei’s aikido class
7:15-8pm: Q&A with Stanley Pranin and Ikazuchi Dojo students (ended up lasting over 2 hours!)

Saturday March 19
10am-1pm: Stan and Josh Gold, discussion and lunch
2-4pm: Knife Knowledge workshop with Dr. Mark Cheng (thoroughly enjoyed this session. Dr. Mark is an excellent teacher.)
5:30pm: Dinner with Matsuoka Sensei, Dr. Mark Cheng, Josh Gold and Anne Lee

Sunday March 20
10am-12pm: Q&A / get-together with Ikazuchi Dojo instructors
12:30-3:30pm: Interview with Haruo Matsuoka Sensei (videotaped in gorgeous setting with Seiseki Abe calligraphy as backdrop)
Return flight

Aikido Journal has collaborated with the Ikazuchi Dojo and co-founder Josh Gold Sensei at regular intervals for the last several years. There are various reasons for this. First and formost is the fact that this dojo is exemplary in many regards. Many aikido schools throughout the world could greatly benefit from studying the organizational and business strategies used by the highly successful Ikazuchi Dojo.

The weekend’s events provided a large number of video and photographic assets that will be jointly published for Aikido Journal readers in the near future. Consider the above as merely a teaser for what’s to come!