Edinburgh Aikido, the club specialising in the promotion and teaching of the Japanese martial art, has returned the Epworth Halls, Nicolson Square, which is owned by The City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, after the church completed its two million-pound renovation of its buildings last month. Aikido is a physical discipline and martial art that stresses the re-directing of an attacker’s force to create a throw or pin them down. These concepts may also be extended as a philosophy.
For Scott Reed, who is the instructor at Edinburgh Aikido, it is satisfying return to where he first learned the martial art in Edinburgh. Scott is now an aikido expert – a 4th Dan Black Belt. He attended aikido classes at Nicolson Square from 2000-2004 while he was a student at Edinburgh University studying Astrophysics. He quickly moved on to be an instructor after studying aikido full-time in Paris.
Scott says, “It’s great that the club is back at the venue where we trained for so many years.” Of the new classes he says, “The first class in any evening is an all-levels one where we cover most of the techniques of aikido. Later on Mondays, we have the weapons class. Aikido incorporates the study of some classic Japanese weapons, mainly the sword and staff. But don’t worry – there’s also a dedicated beginners class as well.”
Scott is Head of Engineering at an Edinburgh-based robotics firm but is committed to the teaching of aikido in his spare time, passing on his own martial art skills.
Edinburgh Aikido club is running a special free ‘Come and Try’ and demo session on Wednesday 12 March at 7.30pm to mark the start of its new classes at Nicolson Square.
An official opening celebration for the Methodist Church’s newly-refurbished buildings at Nicolson Square will take place later in the year.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
