INTERNATIONAL 24-HOUR AIKIDO MARATHON

DATE CANCELED 4-5 APRIL 2020, CZECH REPUBLIC, PRAGUE

Canceled: Aikido Marathon in April 2020 in Prague

Czech goverment banned all sport, cultural and social events with more than 100 participants from 10th March 2020. The reason is the situation with Coronavirus in Europe.

This means that we cannot organize the International Aikido Marathon in beginning of April 2020 in Prague and we have to postpone it to more appropriate times.

We really apologize for all inconveniences.

All this just means that we will not make IAM in Prague in the planed date. The marathon will be in Prague later and we count with all of you and hope for your support. We are thinking about alternatives now and hopefully we will let you know soon.

We would like to deal with the situation in aikido way - which means we will try to use this impulse to make the marathon even better event in future.

MARATHON IN APRIL 2020 IN PRAGUE WAS CANCELED DUE CORONAVIRUS. STAY TUNED FOR THE NEW DATE!

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL 24-HOUR AIKIDO MARATHON

Author: Martin Švihla

The opportunity to practice aikido for 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 4th of April in Prague, Czeech Republic, and the classes of the event will be held by 14 teachers from seven European 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

4 – 5 April 2020

11:00 am – 11:00 am

Registration fee

Adults     40 €

Students | Unemployed | Parental leave     30 €

Children under the age of 12     10 €

Contact

English, Czech, Slovak

Martin Švihla

+420 737 848 627

martin@aikidovinohrady.cz

14

instructors

8

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

Sonja Sauer

4th dan Aikikai

Germany

Gaston Nicolessi

5th dan Aikikai

France

Mira Grande Axelsson

3rd dan Aikikai

Sweden

Norbert Hochstrasser

5th dan Aikikai

Hungary

Vanda Švihlová

3rd dan Aikikai

Czech republic

Martin Švihla

5th dan Aikikai

Czech republic

Iveta Sudorová

3rd dan Aikikai

Slovakia

Mikhail Rogach

4th dan Aikikai

Ukraine

Irina Gaspar

3rd dan Aikikai

Romania

Pavel Munzar

4th dan Aikikai

Czech republic

Magnus Burman

3rd dan Aikikai

Sweden

International Aikido Marathon is a gender equal event and we have the same number of male and female instructors. The list of female instructors will be completed soon.

SCHEDULE IAM 2020

schedule

BOOK YOUR PLACE ON IAM 2020 NOW!

MARATHON IN APRIL 2020 IN PRAGUE WAS CANCELED DUE CORONAVIRUS SITUATION AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR NOW. STAY TUNED FOR THE NEW DATE!

   

The tatami space in Marathon is limited and more than 60% of its capacity is already booked. Please book places for you and your group in time!

List of supporting organizations

International Aikido Federation


Velvyslanectví Japonska v České republice

Czech Federation of Aikido

100. výročí vztahů mezi Japonskem a Českou republikou


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

Aikido Hradec Králové

Romanian Aikikai Aikido Foundation


Stories from participants

IAM 2020 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. :)