When we arrived at the station in Prague, a wave of people poured out of the train all at once.

The moment I finally stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air, I felt an unexpected sense of relief. We waited on the platform for the crowd to settle before moving on.

All that was left was to head to our hotel—but first, we had an important mission: getting our hands on some Czech koruna.

We had a bit of euro with us, but paying in koruna is much more cost effective in this country. Having cash is essential.

Before we know it, May has already arrived—time truly does pass quickly.

On May 23, the 63rd All Japan Aikido Demonstration will be held, and more and more international aikidoka have begun gathering at Hombu Dojo.

Today, we are pleased to share the latest updates on the always well received Aikikai Hombu Dojo Shihan Seminars.

Below are the seminars scheduled for August and September, along with newly added seminar information.

✔ Aikido Seminar

Despite the long 13 hour flight from Taipei to Vienna, I was lucky enough to have an entire row of four seats to myself. Thanks to that, the fear and stress from the monsoon turbulence were greatly reduced, and the journey turned out to be far more comfortable than I had expected.

Although our arrival was delayed by an hour, I had booked the train to Prague with plenty of time to spare, so there was no need to rush. After completing immigration, I headed toward Vienna Central Station.

I had downloaded the Austrian railway OBB app beforehand, but since it was only a few stops, I thought buying a ticket from the machine would be easier.

However, the ticket machine refused to read my credit card, and even the 20 euro bill I inserted kept coming back out. I asked someone nearby if they could exchange money, but that didn’t work either. When I moved to the next machine, it finally accepted my credit card.

October 21st finally arrived—the day of our departure.

Our flight was scheduled for 17:55, so leaving home in the afternoon would have been more than enough.

Since I had time, I joined the morning training session before heading out. After lunch, we made our way to Narita Airport, only to find out that our flight would be delayed by about 30 minutes.

I had once missed a connecting flight because of a delay, so the news made me a little uneasy. Still, with more than three hours between flights this time, all I could do was trust that everything would work out.

As announced, the plane took off 30 minutes late. The cabin was completely full—there wasn’t a single empty seat.

The flight to Taipei would only take a few hours, but imagining spending the following 13-hour Taipei–Vienna flight in the same packed conditions sent a chill down my spine.