Arande dojo — since 1987
The force you give back is a force you get to keep.
Aikido isn't something you win. Two evenings a week, in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois — fifteen minutes from Geneva — you learn to step off the line instead of standing against it.
- Monday
- 7.30 — 9.00pm
- Thursday
- 7.30 — 9.00pm
- From age
- 12
- Season starts
- Monday 7 September
The practice
No, it isn't a fighting sport.
It's the first thing everyone asks, and it's a fair question: am I going to get hurt? Aikido is not practised against anyone. There are no tournaments, no rankings, no weight classes, no belt earned by beating someone.
Two partners work together: one attacks, the other neutralises, then you swap. The point isn't to win the exchange — it's to make it pointless. Step off the line, follow the movement, let the force spend itself.
That's why you can start at forty having never done a sport in your life, and still be on the mat at seventy. The room holds a range of ages and body types you won't find anywhere else.
You don't learn to strike. You learn to stop needing to.
A class
Exactly what a class looks like.
The hard part is walking through the door the first time. So here is precisely what happens, minute by minute.
7.30pm
The bow
You step onto the mat, sit down, bow. A few seconds of quiet. That is the entire extent of the ceremony, and it commits you to nothing.
7.35pm
Warm-up
Joints, mostly wrists and shoulders. Nobody runs, nobody counts reps. You follow at your own pace and stop when you want to.
7.50pm
Falling
The first thing you learn, and by far the most useful: how to fall without hurting yourself. You start sitting down, close to the floor, rolling gently. Nothing acrobatic.
8.05pm
Technique, in pairs
One attacks, the other answers, then you swap. You repeat it slowly, several times. A senior practitioner takes you under their wing — you are never left alone facing a stranger.
8.55pm
The closing bow
You thank your partners and put the mats away together. Most people stay and talk for ten minutes. That's usually when you decide to come back.
Your first class
What you need to bring: nothing.
Loose clothing
Tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt will do. The gi comes later, if you stay.
No experience
No trial, no fitness requirement, nothing to prove. We start from zero with you.
Bare feet
We practise barefoot on the mat. Bring something to slip on for walking off it.
The right to leave
You are welcome to just sit at the side and watch a class. Nobody will push you onto the mat.
The first class is free. A medical certificate is only needed when you actually enrol — not to come and try.
The club
Someone will be there to meet you.
The club has been running since 1987. Around thirty members, from twelve to over seventy, and qualified instructors who take the time to look after beginners — because every one of them was one.
Richard
Instructor
Laetitia
Instructor
Julie
Instructor
Romain
Instructor
Manuel
Instructor
The lineage
Where what we teach comes from.
Morihei Ueshiba
O Sensei — founder
Nobuyoshi Tamura
Sensei — brought aikido to France
Aikido was founded in Japan by Morihei Ueshiba, whom practitioners call O Sensei. He wasn't after another fighting method, but a discipline in which mastery removes the need to use it.
In France the art was carried by Nobuyoshi Tamura, who came to teach in 1964 and stayed until his death in 2010. The club belongs to that lineage, and is affiliated to the French Aikido and Budo Federation.
« True budo is the loving protection of all beings. »Morihei Ueshiba — founder of aikido
Affiliated to the French Aikido and Budo Federation (FFAB).
Visiting the dojo
Monday, 7.30pm. You walk in.
No online sign-up, no form to fill in. You come, you watch or you try, and you decide afterwards.
Finding us
Come in through the main hall — the stairs are on your right, the dojo is on the first floor. Just say you've come to try a class and someone will take care of you.
Class times
- Monday
- 7.30 — 9.00pm
- Thursday
- 7.30 — 9.00pm
Next chance
Classes resume on Monday 7 September.