Fantastic news for all those crazy committed kids we have the pleasure of teaching Aikido.

Thanks to the recent effort, hardwork and commitment of our youngest members, we have inadvertently stumbled upon an additional juniors class.

In an effort to broaden and widen the Aikido experience for all children who have attened Scotthall Aikido in recent years, we have turned our Open Mat session into.... a Junior Open Mat session (genius right?!!!).

Initially, the brain child of some mad scientist (Sensei)... cough, cough, splutter, splutter... we have stumbled upon a way to offer more to our young Aikidoka's. This allows us to offer something different and also a different training time for those who can't make our Saturday classes.

Watch out the next generation of Scotthall Aikidoka's... hardcore!

Click here for directions

A huge Scotthall THANK YOU to Sensei Small for a fantatsic self-defense lesson on Saturday 9th December 2017.

Once again, Sensei Small gave an inspired lesson in effective self-defence Aikido. I know what your thinking... they can't spell. Nope. It's not a misspelling... not Sensei Smalle... Sensei Small... distant cousin, twice removed... or so the story goes... a bit confusing I know!!

Anyway, Sensei Small brought many of us to tears... mostly in laughter... mainly at whichever unfortunate uke. Using a lovely blend of his own personal Aikido style and some timely tips from Brian Eustace's self-defence manual, "The Police Self-Defence Handbook", Sensei Small worked the class into a bit of a lather... lots of frothing at the mouth... the old yell and shriek too!!!

After some particularly nasty swan neck locks (and before you call the RSPCA... no real swans involved!!!)... it was a quick leg sweep into a thunderous breakfall... typical SCOTTHALL AIKIDO class really!!!

The names Myhill... Sensei Myhill... Scotthall's very own 007 Aikidoka.

After dedicating more than a decade to teaching children and adults at Scotthall Aikido, our very own 007 was finally rewarded on the international stage.

Pulling off one of the truely great last minute rescue acts, Sensei Myhill won a crucial bout to keep GB Men's Randori Team hopes of the Gold alive. All looked lost, seconds remained and the clock ticked on.

With a sense of timing and a flare for the dramatic our very own Scotthall hero reached deep into his box of tricks and pulled out a Scotthall Gedan... 

The moment of victory forever imortalised by the picture you see.

Our club found new rising stars at the Junior Championships...

With our most recent and successful crop of Juniors moving on to Senior competitions (Sorry, we meant over the over the hill and safely in retirement!!!), the next generation are stepping forward.

So, after making his first appearance at competition in March, our latest medal winning student took away the Best Individual Award. No names... but you know who you are!

He was teamed with one of our long-standing students who has made great progress in the last 12 months... and picked up a nice habit of winning Bronze medals in Ninidori along the way. Hopefully, he can pick up some additional colours next year.

Together they teamed at the last minute with another LCA student and netted us a Bronze medal in the U16's Ninidori. We like the look of the next generation entering Junior competitions in the years to come.

A great effort by some of our youngest and newest competitiors gives us confidence that more great performances and medals are a strong possibility in the years ahead.

The Scotthall tradition looks to be in safe hands.

We are looking forward to next year already!

A huge Scotthall THANK YOU to Sensei Beardsmore for a fantatsic demonstration at the Women's Institute in Alwoodley on Wednesday 17th May 2017.

In what was a highly entertaining evening (mainly laughing at someone... again no names!) Sensei Beardsmore showed off the Aikido skills that have made her a multiple World Champion.

After some great demonstrations by our young juniors and a particularly brilliant pair of young ladies, Sensei Beardsmore took centre stage. 

She aptly demonstrated the power that Aikido can have in self-defense situations, reducing grown men to tears...

A lot of tea and cake were consumed... mainly by HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED!

A quick thank you to Gavin for being the victim in this picture.

A huge Scotthall THANK YOU to Sensei Jones for his 2nd Annual Scotthall class on Saturday 15th April 2017.

In what was a highly anticipated re-match, Sensei Jones came prepared... and armed!

At rather short notice.... as usual, Sensei Jones delivered a masterclass in Aikido weapons techniques to a group of very enthusiastic youngsters (who knew!).

After the initial shock of seeing so much glee in the eyes of young kids... and fear from the adults... The class went off without a hitch.

Another great lesson from Sensei Jones and a real treat for the kids.

Just another Saturday class at Scotthall really!

Our most recent roadtrip took us to deepest Sheffield for our latest look at the Scotthall Wild-Life in action.

A couple of rare breeds found their way onto the the mat. One with pedigree, one nicely matured and the other... the less said the better! After much moaning and groaning their muscles gave in and let them compete.

But on to the real action. A couple of fine performances in the basic kata, netted one of our teams a Bronze medal.  This was followed by a quality Open Kata which further added to our Bronze medal collection.

In a close shave, Sensei Leo Smalle was denied his long awaited Randori comeback... and a family fight nearly broke out instead... but never say never!

We can't wait for the World Championships in August...

Our roadtrip took us to South London at the end of March. Once again our team performed well and came away with some hardware & a trophy... more on that later!

After a dismal performance in basic kata, our team finally got into their groove and took the Gold Medal in Open Kata. This involved 3 rounds in about 15 minutes, including back-to-back performances... A lot of sweating... and that was just the spectators!!

A fantastic Women's Individual Randori Final took place bewteen two World Champions (one of them our Sensei Natuely Smalle). In a rollercoster bout, for a while it looked like we might win a 2nd Gold. However, a brilliant performance by Sensei Laura Beardsmore meant Sensei Smalle had to settle for a Silver Medal in a hard fought contest... and some fig rolls!

In a closely fought contest, we took another Gold Medal in the Tanto avoidance and in true Scotthall style we left with the team trophy (on behalf of Leeds Central Aikido)... and missed the London traffic on the way home... true avoidance!

We look forward the Senior Open @ Sheffield in June... GAME ON!

Our club got a glimpse into the future at the Junior Championships... and the future looks bright!

With many of our juniors competing for the very first time, our youngsters put forward a superb effort. Overcoming their nerves, they did the club proud.

Starting with the Under 8's, we won silver in Tanto freeplay. This was a briliant effort as it was accomplished with a teamate who we had never trained with.

A consistent effort over a number of age categories resulted in one of our team winning the Under 10's Best Individual.

After two Gold Medals in the Open Kata and Tanto Freeplay in the U16, our last minute Ninidori Team performed very well taking the Silver Medal.

This was a great effort from the youngest member of the Nindori team who had only practiced the Ninidori a few times before the competition... must be all those weetabix!!

We are looking forward to  the Junior Nationals in June... HERE WE COME!

Our annual Kepplewary Adventure was once again a roaring success... much like the fires built by Mr Pyromanic!

Starting with Raft Building on Day 1, the parents showed calm discipline by jumping/falling in the water and acting like badly behaved children... no names!

The day ended with a truly epic Monkey X Factor... with the judges awarding top marks 30/30 to the winner for a memorable performance.

Day 2 involved paddling the full length of Coniston Water... Hot chocolate, kelly kettle's, fire building, Swallows & Amazons at Wildcat Island and a mad dash to the finish line. The day ended with an extraordinary night abseil, with the young ones putting the adults to shame.

Day 3 was a walk up Scotthall Pike (renamed in our honour)... again little legs seemed to work much better than big legs. Caves, quarries and lots of stories. The end!

Huge thank you to TJ, Chris & Greg and the entire Kepplewray family 

We look forward to next year's 20TH ANNIVERSARY TRIP... ONE NOT TO MISS!

Our first Scotthall Laserzone Party was a roaring success attended by over 30 people.

Split in to 3 teams with 2 games, the competition was fierce.

In particular, there was a definite targeting of the older (and somewhat slower) adults by the tricky and nimble youngsters.

Devious tactics and blatant cheating were the order of the day... the adults remained dignified and above the fray... for about 30 seconds!!

We look forward to next years rematch!

Our Christmas games class was a great way to end the year.

With lots of fun games, the competitive nature of our younger students stood out.

At one point a full blown tug of war broke out!

Lots of fun, chaos and mayhem mixed with Aikido and simple games made for a great time.

A huge Scotthall THANK YOU to Sensei Aldridge for his brilliant class on Saturday 5th November 2016.

In what was a highly entertaining and informative class, Sensei Aldridge delivered a masterclass.

The games at the end of the junior class were a great way to finish and proved very popular!

The adult class briefly revisted "Scotthall Gedan", before a quick elbow to the ribs and a hip throw.

Normal Saturday class really! 

A quick thank you to Gavin for being the victim in this picture.

Congratulations to all those who competed at the 3rd European Junior Championships held in Sheffield on 29th-30th October 2016.

Everyone who competed performed fantastically.

We were so proud of them all and they upheld the best Scotthall Aikido traditions.

We won Gold in the Under 8's Tanto Avoidance and in the Under 16's we won Double Gold in the Open Kata and Tanto Freeplay.

Finally, following a last minute substitution due to injury, our team delivered a Bronze Medal in the Under 16's Ninidori (3 person team event).

An honourable mention must go to our Under 8's Nindori Team who just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth.

Congratulations to all those who competed in the inaugural Scotthall Go-Karting Championships on the 5th August 2016.

An event that brought out the true competitive spirit in every racer.

Our version of Wacky Races ended with everyone still having all limbs, fingers and toes!

An honourable mention must go to Steady Eddy who finished 3rd.

A huge Scotthall THANK YOU to Sensei Jones for his superb class on Saturday 26th March 2016.

In what is soon to be another Scotthall tradition, the annual Sensei Jones class was a very instructive and informative class.

Ably assisted by our very own Uchi Deshi Joe Ockendon, they put the youngesters through their paces in Basic Kata.

The parts which involved Sensei Jones bouncing Uchi Deshi Ockendon around the mat seemed particularly popular! Not that he minds... he takes a particular pride in his Uke skills.

A quick thank you to Joe for being the victim in this picture.