RESERVATION FOR IAM 2023 IS ALREADY OPEN. BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!
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?
Czech republic, Prague
TJ Sokol Praha Královské Vinohrady, Polska 2400/1a
23 – 24 September 2023
11:00 am – 11:00 am
Adults
50 € / 1 200 CZK
Students | Unemployed | Parental leave
35 € / 800 CZK
instructors
countries
hours
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!
6th dan Aikikai
Czech republic
6th dan Aikikai
USA
6th dan Aikikai
France
5th dan Aikikai
England
5th dan Aikikai
Hungary
5th dan Aikikai
The Netherlands
5th dan Aikikai
Czech republic
4th dan Aikikai
Romania
4th dan Aikikai
Ukraine
4th dan Aikikai
Slovakia
4th dan Aikikai
Sweden
4th dan Aikikai
Czech republic
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!
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!
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
More pictures and information about IAM 2018 is on this archive page.
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. :)