We are delighted to announce a live-streamed Zoom seminar class taught by Kayla Feder Sensei this Saturday, February 20, 12-1:15 pm CDT | 19:00-20:15 CET | 6-7:15 pm UTC!

Kayla Feder Sensei BioKayla Feder Sensei, 7th dan, Aikikai, is the dojo cho at Aikido of Berkeley. In 1973 at the age of 9 Kayla Sensei fell in love with Aikido and has been dedicated to growing in the art and training continuously for 48 years. For the first 20 years of her practice, she was greatly inspired by training under Morihiro Saito Shihan, who was one of the founder’s closest students. In 1980 Kayla Sensei traveled to Iwama, Japan to train with Saito Shihan as an uchi deshi (live-in apprentice). During subsequent trips to study Aikido in Japan, Sensei trained under a number of other Shihan who were close students to the founder, among many: Kisshomaru Ueshiba (O-Sensei’s son), Seiichi Sugano, Motomichi Anno, and Kazuo Chiba. Since childhood she has also practiced with and been strongly influenced by Frank Doran Shihan, Robert Nadeau Shihan, and Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan.

Kayla Sensei has taught seminars throughout the US, Europe, and Israel. In addition to her Aikido accomplishments she received a Masters degree in Holistic Health Education from JFK University in 1998. She received the rank of 7th dan in 2021.

Kayla Sensei recognizes that we all have different bodies, histories, ages and learning styles. She is dedicated to making Aikido accessible for anyone who wants to train at Aikido of Berkeley. Her teaching style supports the individual growth of each student. She has created a warm and welcoming community at Aikido of Berkeley. Sensei also includes yoga and meditation practices as part of the training at Aikido of Berkeley. She views Aikido as a holistic art and has said: “There is no end to the growth and learning we aspire to through our Aikido practice both on and off the mat”. She continues to dedicate herself to the daily process of changing and growing within herself and her practice and teaching of Aikido.

Seminar Theme:

Adventures in Ikkyo

Class Description:

Are you ready to go on an Ikkyo Aiki adventure with me? In this class, we’ll explore, study and play with Ikkyo. I’ve found fun and interesting ways to study the intricacies of the techniques without a partner. If you have a partner, that’s great, but if not, we will use a bokken to help with the feel of ikkyo. By using the bokken as a practice partner, you will be able to feel the wave-like motion in ikkyo and how it relates to hasso-gaeshi. Recently, I‘ve been immensely inspired by the connection between hasso-gaeshi and ikkyo. We’re going to explore a progression of ikkyo from kihon to kinonagare and we‘ll study how the progression of ikkyo and hasso-gaeshi relate to jo-nage.

The pandemic has inspired deep study for me and I’m excited to share my findings with you, as well as some insights from my 48 years of practice. For the past five years I’ve used Yutaka Mito Sensei’s maxim: “Feel, Become One, Make a Path, Don’t Throw”, as a barometer. We’ll look at these and how they inform our practice. We’ll have study time and spirit time and we’ll bring the two together!

Everyone is welcome!

What to Bring to Class:

Please bring a bokken and a jo. If your space is small, you can use a short stick instead.

Register to receive the Zoom link for the seminar class.

The seminar is by donation, and all proceeds will go to support our work as we continue to bring this practice into the world.

Suggested donation: $15-35

Donate via Paypal: (paypal.me/nolaaikido)

(If that’s too much, pay whatever feels comfortable. If you’re feeling a financial squeeze just come to class.)

Beginners are warmly welcome.

We look forward to practicing with you on Saturday!

Please share this email with any and all you think might like to attend.

Thank you!

Brian Levy

Chief Instructor/Dojo Cho
NOLA AIkido
New Orleans, LA, USA