West Cumbria Aikido hosts international martial arts seminar

The martial arts, which was held at St. Bees School, was supported by a number of Aikido clubs from across the UK and Scotland

The seminar was hosted by West Cumbria Aikido's technical director Sensei Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros, sixth Dan Aikikai, Aikikai Shihan, who is a direct student of Morihiro Saito Sensei with whom he trained from 1986 to 1993 at the Iwama Dojo in Ibaraki-ken, Japan.

The event, which took place from Friday, June 16 to Sunday, June 19, featured the practicing of a number of unarmed techniques and also the use of traditional weaponry such as the bokken and jo.

Adrian Punt, second Dan Aikikai is an instructor at West Cumbria Aikido and organised the event alongside fellow instructor Jason Fisher, first Dan Aikikai.

Speaking after the martial arts seminar, Adrian was pleased with its success.

He said: "It went very well, it was a success.

"Everyone had a really great time.

"We all learned a lot and it was really good."

West Cumbria Aikido is part of Traditional Aikido Europe, a conglomerate group of international Aikido clubs which meet at seminars like the one that was held in St. Bees. 

Whilst the event featured a number of experienced martial artists, it was also a good experience for local members who also got to witness a senior black belt grading.

It is this community that is the foundation of West Cumbria Aikido, which has been in operation in a number of forms since 2004 and Adrian detailed the club's diverse membership.

He said: "We have got people who work at Sellafield, people who work in schools, we have got people who run pubs we have got people who sell carpets, and someone who is a doctor at West Cumberland Hospital.

"We have people who are there fanatically and people who have to juggle life commitments who dip in as and when they can.

"We have people of all shapes and sizes."