INTERNATIONAL 24-HOUR AIKIDO MARATHON

23-24 SEPTEMBER 2023, CZECH REPUBLIC, PRAGUE

RESERVATION FOR IAM 2023 IS ALREADY OPEN. BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL 24-HOUR AIKIDO MARATHON

Author: Martin Švihla

The opportunity to practice aikido up-to 24 hours, to meet new people and to move your mind and body to the next level - this and much more is International 24-hour Aikido Marathon under auspice of International Aikido Federation. Next Marathon will take place on the 23th of September in Prague, Czeech Republic, and the classes of the event will be held by 12 teachers (men and women) from nine countries and many different aikido organizations. Will you accept the challenge?

Imagine: The seminar starts on Saturday morning. There are a hundred people on the tatami. You practice for 45 minutes and then you have a some minutes break, then another 45 minutes class, a short break, and another and another. The rhythm of the practice is fine, people around you are also enthusiastic. After some hours there is a longer pause so that you can eat something and joke with a guy you met that day on the tatami, and then you both return to the tatami for some more aikido. And it goes like that, on and on - a long day and a longer night with just moments of sleep.

As time goes by, the smiles fade but the light in the eyes sparkles. Everybody is moving slower, because tiredness is replaced by fatigue. Crisis comes and goes. Maybe you have to skip a class. But then you come back to Keiko, because there are still people on the mat and you like to enjoy aikido with them. So you practice more. At one point, your exhaustion is gone and some kind of strange flow appears from inside of you and then you just move as if you were surfing the flow. Suddenly the sun rises, there is Sunday morning and the last class is over. Everybody is sitting on the mat with silly happy smiles, tired and puzzled. Did we really make it? The Marathon is over but its impact on people will show for days and weeks after. The event changed us from inside.

The Marathon is very intense, yet very open and friendly. It is facilitated by many teachers from several European countries and different aikido organizations. The teachers are cooperating in keeping the flow of the long and tiring training, they offer and exchange inspiration, building the atmosphere of joint development. And of course, when the teachers are not teaching a class, they are practicing as everybody else.

I do my best to describe this exceptional event but the experience is much deeper than any words. I went through the Marathon three times. I have seen teenagers laughing and challenging each other if they make full 24 hours. And I have also seen mature aikidokas in their 50's taking class after class to seriously explore their aikido as well as their physical limits. I am sure that any committed aikidoka can benefit from this special event.

And of course, you can have your own breaks, a longer sleep, your own rhythm of the event. The International 24-hour Aikido Marathon is not a competition - it is an exceptional opportunity to experience yourself deeper than usual. To bathe in aikido, to soak with aikido, to blend with aikido mentally and physically. It is an opportunity to move your mind and body to the next level, whatever grade you are. And also - to have a lot of fun and find new friends.

The 24-hour Aikido Marathon is concentrated aikido practice. Will you join us this year?

Where

Czech republic, Prague

TJ Sokol Praha Královské Vinohrady, Polska 2400/1a

GPS 50.0789661, 14.4422611

When

23 – 24 September 2023

11:00 am – 11:00 am

Registration fee

Adults

50 € / 1 200 CZK

Students | Unemployed | Parental leave

35 € / 800 CZK

Contact

English, Czech, Slovak

Martin Švihla

+420 737 848 627

martin@aikidovinohrady.cz

12

instructors

9

countries

24

hours

LIST OF INSTRUCTORS

We are inviting aikido teachers from many European countries for the Marathon - both men and women. Each of these instructors will have two classes during the marathon and they will also participate many other classes from the schedule. The goal of the event is to practice together!

Zdenko Reguli

6th dan Aikikai

Czech republic

Malory Graham

6th dan Aikikai

USA

Gaston Nicolessi

6th dan Aikikai

France

Anthea Pascaris

5th dan Aikikai

England

Norbert Hochstrasser

5th dan Aikikai

Hungary

Anne Slui

5th dan Aikikai

The Netherlands

Martin Švihla

5th dan Aikikai

Czech republic

Irina Gaspar

4th dan Aikikai

Romania

Mikhail Rogach

4th dan Aikikai

Ukraine

Iveta Sudorová

4th dan Aikikai

Slovakia

Magnus Burman

4th dan Aikikai

Sweden

Vanda Švihlová

4th dan Aikikai

Czech republic

SCHEDULE IAM 2023

Of course, each participant can decide which classes he/she wants to take and which would skip in order to eat/rest/sleep. Thus the following schedule is just a proposal and opportunity - you can create your own way through it!

schedule

ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM FOR IAM 2023

I WANT TO SIGN-IN (In English)     CHCI SE PŘIHLÁSIT (česky)

The tatami space in Marathon is limited and 50% of its capacity is already booked. Please book places for you and your group in time!

List of supporting organizations in 2023

International Aikido Federation


Czech Federation of Aikido


freelance studio, s.r.o.

HD Design

Lifefood

Zemanka

Fighters


Aikido Praha Vinohrady

Aikido Akadémia Košice

Kagami dojo from Uzhgorod

Swedish Aikido Federation

Aikido Shurenkan Dojo, Hungary

Dojo de la Roseraie

Romanian Aikikai Aikido Foundation

Notting Hill Aikikai

Aikido Ando

Aikido Povožská Bystrica


Stories from participants

IAM 2023 LOCATION

The dojo is located just 10 minutes walking to Prague downtown and we have one of the best views of Prague castle just behind the dojo. :)