A bleary-eyed Saturday morning, thirteen or so anxious and excited students piled in to the mini-bus for the journey down to High Wycombe for the Shioda Memorial. This was a big deal in the overall Aikido calendar of the Sho Shin Kai. It was our first seminar.

We arrived at the Sports Hall where the memorial was taking place relatively early and I was glad of it. It meant we could get ourselves sorted, get on the mat and start to get acclimatised to the whole idea. We were all warming up, trying to look like we knew what we were doing, when more and more people started to arrive, Aikidoka from across the country and, as I later learned, the world.

I think we were all apprehensive at first and perhaps a little intimidated, though we weren't the only white belts in the hall.

After some introductions and a break-down of the day by Sensei Terry Harrison of the Ken Shin Kai, who was organising the event, we did a warm-up.

It was pretty mind-blowing. The Sports Hall in which we were training was the size of a basketball court. Imagine then, a hundred or so students all warming up in that one space, a full on, mass Kihon Dosa, the likes of which I've never seen, let alone participated in. Adrenalin running through my veins, like nervous fire, I have to confess it was awesome.

After the warm-up and Kihon Dosa, each of the Sensei's who had travelled to the Memorial with their students came up and outlined what they were going to teach us. The day progressed like this. A Sensei would demonstrate a technique and then we would put it into practice. Each seminar tended to last about an hour each and we covered a wide variety of basic techniques and Aikido principles.

There were some great people there, very friendly and soon a good vibe was spreading throughout the dojo. A massive shout must go out to Holly and the North Devon posse who were so friendly and such a good laugh on the day. Never have I felt so at ease with strangers . Seminars were optional, but I attended every one. I didn't want to sit out, I was eager to learn.

I won't deny it was tough. By the time the last seminar drew to a close and we sat on the audience seating to watch the displays, I was shattered and grateful of the rest. Don't forget, we were on the mats pretty much all day, that's a long training session, some six hours or so, and with an early start to boot, but it was worth it.

One memory that will stick with me from this whole event is at the very end. The displays had finished to raucous applause and we were bidden to the mats for one final time.

Arrayed around three edges, we stood together and cried 'Banzai' at the top of our lungs, flinging our hands into the air in celebration and a gesture of mutual good fortune. It felt great and couldn't help a massive smile that split into almighty, pearly-white, cheese-grin on my face.

I turned to Paul Foulkes, aka the Rubber Man, and found his expression mirrored my own. Jubilation, satisfaction and nigh-on euphoria were sweeping through us all in an unstoppable wave. What a great feeling. What an amazing day.

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