Riai Aikido Riai Aikido
  • Home
  • About
    • Teachers
    • FAQ
    • Affiliations
  • Find a Class
    • Dojos – where are we?
  • News
    • Articles
  • Events

About

You are here: Home / About

Riai Aikido

Visit our schools in Auckland, Wellington, Hutt Valley or Tauranga for a friendly and encouraging environment for learning the art of Aikido.

Riai Aikido is affiliated with Hombu Dojo, World Aikido Headquarters in Tokyo Japan.  All our black belts are internationally recognised and registered in Japan.

The Head of Riai Aikido is Sensei Henry Lynch 6th Dan with over 45 years’ experience in the Art. His teacher is Shihan Robert Nadeau (8th Dan), from the California Aikido Association. Shihan Nadeau was a student of the founder of Aikido, Morehei Ueshiba.  Henry Lynch Sensei teaches at the Riai Aikido Learning Centre (Auckland), where he is the chief instructor.

What is Aikido?

Aikido is a Japanese Martial Art developed by Master Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969).  It can be practised by for all ages, builds and physical abilities.The fluid movements in Aikido help to maintain and improve flexibility, balance and coordination.

Aikido  developed from the ancient fighting arts and can be used in self defence.

Students work together in Aikido. Often one person acts as defender (Nage), the other(s) as attacker (Uke). There is no competition. The ‘attacker’ simply provides a suitable attack for the ‘defender’ to practice techniques.

Winning the fight or beating the opponent is not the goal. Aikido students blend with the movement and energy of the attack.

Practice improves our harmony both physically and spiritually. It teaches us how to divert aggression in a positive way.

Reasons To Try Aikido

Something for everyone

Aikido is fun for everyone – adults of all ages and we have children’s classes in Auckland and Wellington.

Reduce stress

Aikido training uses breathing techniques that you can use in your everyday experiences to help stay calm under pressure. Our students often feel lighter and much better after a great training session. We love this about Aikido.

Friendly, fun environment

We are community based clubs.  Friendly people to train with. See our teacher profiles! Come along and talk to us. Send a a message.

Become More Aware

Aikido training will help you become more mindful. Greater awareness of your surroundings is the start of any good martial art or self defence training. Avoiding potentially unsafe places is one of the best defence techniques.

Self Defence

Aikido is a martial Art. Learn to avoid conflicts and deal with them peacefully if they arise. And if the worst happens, there are techniques for getting out of trouble.

Never Ending learning

Aikido techniques are not hard to learn. The beauty of Aikido training is that it  build greater levels of focus and concentration that can be applied to all areas of your life. It’s a never ending journey.

Our Team

Henry Lynch sensei

Henry Lynch sensei

6th Dan, Aikikai
Henry Lynch (6th Dan) started his Aikido journey over 45 years ago and has been helping people learn Aikido for over 30 years. He has also studied Judo, Kendo and Shrinjo-kempo. Sensei Henry is the Chief Instructor and Head of the Riai Aikido Association.
Meet the Team

What People Say About Riai Aikido

Set in motion the power of the cosmos
By wielding aiki; create a beautiful world
And foster peacefulness

O Sensei
Master Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969)

Whether we do Aikido in an open field or a well-established dojo, the space needs to be like an empty bowl with the teachers standing at the edge, encouraging us to mix great Aikido.

Before mixing great Aikido we need to connect to the ground and feel the space or the bowl.

Greg
Chef

Personal connections to Aikido people through training brings joy and continuity. I believe that it is not only practice on the mat which has the power to transform but the expression of that change process as new understanding emerges in the everyday world off the mat

Steve
Psychiatric Nurse

We all share some sort of curiosity, a thirst of knowledge or understanding of aikido which brings us all back on the mat together.

Sylvain,
Engineering student

Contact Us

We’d love to hear from you. Try six free lessons over two weeks. Use this form or ring the contact numbers on the Dojos pages

Thank You!
Your message has been sent successfully.

Send
Riai Aikido Riai Aikido
  • Home
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Teachers
  • News
Riai Aikido © 2019 | All Rights Reserved
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT