![Kid’s class at the Irish Aikido Association, Cuffe Street, Dublin.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557862737367-2Q446Z5LDIVAINAFHVSI/1009599_10151511527562285_911090798_o.jpg)
![That’s me on the right](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557862728991-9EK71X083J3VM7K7NI0L/71630_445275587284_5489741_n.jpg)
![Flying through the air with the greatest of ease. IAA, Dublin](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557864646339-TSYZSBATNE9FAGVD70C8/aikido_9365487510_o.jpg)
![IAA, Dublin](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557866348628-1QP0ALF81IKU39JDJA8F/1052147_10151494559117285_25498113_o.jpg)
![Sensei Chris Jordan at Bond Street Dojo, New York.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557866387847-V3EA86LA75P7UTQQAQPL/388460_10150482011522285_1632869211_n.jpg)
![Drie-Ecke Dojo, Berlin.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557864628919-1MHYVR2QONZF1GXY4TMC/DSCF1260-2.jpg)
![149438_448224492284_6858742_n.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557866397366-3A8ZTS87Y0KHSCUNF8OG/149438_448224492284_6858742_n.jpg)
![77035_448224452284_1459671_n.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557866410524-2MNWRG78K0I2L6DAX4WO/77035_448224452284_1459671_n.jpg)
![71630_445275602284_30793_n.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557866413131-RKFX3ZY81LC7LU120S7M/71630_445275602284_30793_n.jpg)
![About to become at one with the mat](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c7d297277b9034b34737f84/1557862719624-9MC8RVJTXO5B2F8M418A/34982_405626437284_1814413_n.jpg)
Haven’t been to Aikido for ages, so found a dojo in Paris and went last night. Despite a minor injury* and the struggle to understand the mix of Japanese and French, it was fantastic. Am aching all over today ( a friend calls it Ow-kido) but it’s very much worth it. I’ll be back.
*a sprained toe, thankfully mine. It would be very déclassé to injure a fellow student during my first visit to a new dojo. On the upside, I did learn a new French phrase**
PS: This is great - a demonstration of jiu-jitsu, an earlier form of Aikido, by the absolutely delightful Miss May Whitley and her bandit friend Mr. Charles Cawkell.
** “Mon orteil est un peu blessé”