【Aikido × Travel】Enjoying an Aikido Seminar and Dojo Visits in Prague, Czech Republic – Part 11
On October 27th, we met in the morning and headed to Lednice Castle.
Japan also has many castles, but their structure and atmosphere are completely different. And since Mike’s home country, New Zealand, doesn’t have a “castle culture” at all, both of us were absolutely fascinated by European castles.
Lednice Castle is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site “The Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape” in southern Czechia. Once used as a summer residence by the Liechtenstein family, it features elegant English-style Neo Gothic architecture and vast, beautifully maintained gardens.
I couldn’t help whispering,
“Wow… what a beautiful castle.”
Unlike Prague Castle, this one looks exactly like the kind of castle you imagine from fairy tales. Czechia truly feels like a real life Disneyland to me.
Not only T and his partner joined us that day, but our friend K—who lives in Hranice, where we would visit the next day—also came with his girlfriend.
After meeting up with everyone, we joined a guided tour of the castle. The tour was in Czech, but V kindly translated everything into English for us, which helped so much.
There were countless highlights, but the room that captured my heart the most was the stunning Turquoise Room, surrounded by soft, beautiful blue walls.
The vivid wall coverings are made from nuéde leather (deerskin), and amazingly, the original leather wallpaper from 170 years ago remains intact. Its colors and texture have survived through time, still touching the hearts of modern visitors. I stood there for a while, simply admiring its beauty.
Another impressive feature was the spiral staircase leading to the duke’s private living quarters. It was carved from a single log—without using nails or screws—and decorated with intricate animal carvings. It felt like walking through a piece of art.
There are three different tours available in the castle, and this time we joined the main tour that introduces the first floor. There is far more to see than I can fit into this short blog, so if you ever visit Brno, I truly recommend stopping by.
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By the time the tour ended, we were getting hungry, so we headed to a restaurant recommended by T. Just like the night before, it was completely full, so we moved to another place.
In a cozy interior filled with warm wooden décor, the Czech group ordered traditional beef stew and knedlík, Czech-style dumplings made from boiled bread. I tried a bite of the knedlík—it had a pleasantly chewy, mochi-like texture.
Mike and I shared soup, chicken schnitzel, and the cheese fritters recommended by everyone.
Everything was delicious again today—thank you for the wonderful meal.
After lunch, we took a walk through the vast gardens toward the tower visible in the distance.
Strolling slowly through the beautiful autumn colors while chatting with everyone felt incredibly peaceful. Even though my lingering cough from a cold must have been bothersome, everyone treated me with such kindness, and I was truly grateful.
The tower on the opposite side is called the Minaret, an exotic-style lookout tower built in the early 19th century. Although Arabic inscriptions decorate the structure, it has no religious meaning—just a reflection of the era’s fascination with foreign cultures.
As evening approached, we returned to Brno for the night’s training session. That evening, both Mike and I were scheduled to teach.
I taught during the first hour. From participating in the previous day’s practice, I noticed that complete beginners struggled with ukemi, which made it difficult for them to practice techniques smoothly. So I decided to teach back ukemi and mae ukemi slowly from the basics. However, this would be too simple for black belts and experienced white belts, so while I focused on teaching mae ukemi, T kindly watched over the advanced group.
Mike, who is recovering from an arm injury, taught about the importance of maintaining a strong center.
After practice, V came to me and said, “Your way of teaching forward ukemi was really good. I’ll teach it that way too.” Hearing that made me genuinely happy.
T and V teach classes with such a wide range of levels every single day—I truly admire their dedication.
After changing clothes and returning to the dojo, we found everyone chatting in the lounge area. When we joined them, their slightly shy and gentle atmosphere reminded me so much of Japanese people. T’s office was decorated with many photos taken
in Japan, showing his deep love for Aikido and his friends. It touched my heart.
Thank you so much for the wonderful training time.
※This is T—Tomáš’s dojo, Aikido Ikigai Dojo.
https://www.facebook.com/aikidoikigaibrno/
After practice, we were invited to T and V’s home for our final night in Brno. They treated us to plenty of Czech ham, salami, cheese, and wine.
Even though we had spent so much time together before the seminar, visiting their country made me realize how much more there was to learn about them.
We talked endlessly until past midnight, but since they had work the next day and we needed to take our first long-distance bus to Hranice, we reluctantly said our goodbyes.
From sightseeing in Prague to the seminar itself, Tomáš and Vanda always looked after us. Despite being young, they have such warm and generous hearts, and we felt their kindness deeply.
Thank you, truly.
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