Everyone who has completed the basic course is welcome to the sessions on weekdays. If you have not yet participated in Saturday sessions, ask first about the Saturday practicalities during the weekday sessions. Below is the schedule for 1.9.2025-31.5.2026.
| Day | Time | Place | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 17:30 - 19:00 | Porthania | Dan grades |
| Wednesday | 17:30 - 19:00 | Porthania | Jukka |
| Friday | 17:15 - 18:45 | Porthania | Dan grades |
| Saturday | 11:00 - 12:30 | Porthania | free practice |
Aikidokas from Finland and abroad are welcome to visit Seitokai. First two visits are for free. For longer or regular visits, the fees are 5€/visit or 20€/month (students 10€/month). Visitors practice in Seitokai at their own risk.
Basic course starts on Monday 15.9.2025. You don't need to register to the course in advance.
On Monday 15.9., come to the lobby of the sports hall at the basement level of Porthania at 17:00 so you can meet the instructors and other basic course attendees for a little chat before the first session. If you will miss the first day, you can still start the basic course later during the first two weeks of the course by joining any session.
Schedule of the course:
During the course you will learn some fundamentals, such as,
During the advanced course, we deepen and apply what we have already learned and you will get abilities to achieve the 6th kyu rank. In addition, we learn some basic of jo i.e. wooden stick. The advanced course ends in participation of your first grading exam.
From the beginning of the basic course, you will practice together with the more experienced members of the club. In Aikido everyone trains together, regardless of experience, age or gender.
| Day | Time | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 17:30 - 19:00 | Porthania, Yliopistonkatu 3 | NB. Come at 17:00 for the first session |
| Friday | 17:15 - 18:45 | Porthania, Yliopistonkatu 3 |
Please come to the sessions on time so that you have changed clothes by the starting time.
In order to participate in the basic course you need to be a student or an employee of some university or applied university. You can join the course even if you can't make it to every single session, but two sessions per week are highly recommended to learn aikido efficiently. You don't need to register to the course in advance.
Bring sweat pants and a shirt suitable for sports, a towel and sandals or indoor shoes to walk from dressing room to tatami. No shoes on tatami and the feet should be washed before every training session. Please remove or cover jewelry and long nails.
If you have already practiced aikido before, and are affiliated with some university or applied university, you are welcome to join our regular sessions at any time. If you have some aikido background but no connection to universities, you may join our regular sessions first as a visitor and then inquire about the possibilities to join the club.
For more information, ask the committee of Seitokai by email hallitus(at)seitokai-aikido.fi
According to the system of Finland Aikikai (the Finnish Aikido Federation), the members of Seitokai take the exams of the kyu grades in Seitokai's own grading events that are held 4-5 times per year. In these events, it is possible to acquire grades from 6th kyu (lowest) to 1st kyu (highest kyu grade).
If no participant has registered to a grading event, a regular training session will be held instead.
In Seitokai, all the kyu grades wear a white belt. Starting from the 3rd kyu level, aikidokas in Finland (including Seitokai) wear hakama, a black or blue pair of wide sleeve pants.
The 1st kyu level is followed by the dan grades from the 1st dan (lowest) to the 4th dan that are acquired through an exam held by the referees from Finland Aikikai. The higher dan grades can be appointed after a recommendation of a high-ranking aikido-instructor. The dan grades in Seitokai have been registered at the headquarters of Aikikai Aikido, Hombu dojo, in Tokyo.
The curriculum below is based on the requirements of Finland Aikikai and contains some additions specific to Seitokai, marked by an italic font.
Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) developed aikido after having practiced and mastered several traditional japanese martial arts. In his later years, he emphasized a blending way to adapt to the attack. This requires correct timing to disturb the balance of the attacker in order to avoid the need for extensive force or violence. The founder has said that there is no winner and loser in aikido as a loss will only create a seed for a next confrontation. The term 'aikido' translates to something like the way of the harmonic energy.
Aikido includes both armed and unarmed techniques. The weapons used are bokken (wooden sword), jo (wooden staff) and tanto (knife). There is no competition in aikido.
A fundamental principle in aikido techniques is to exploit the force and movement of the attack to guide the attack, often in a circular trajectory, against the attacker. This requires correct timing and positioning to balance-off the attacker. Practicing aikido does not require extensive muscle power as the goal is to learn to guide the attack to a beneficial direction, rather than to fight the force with another force. Aikido is safe to practice as the movements are controlled without free fighting between the practicioners. Everyone trains together independent of age or sex.
Learning aikido is a lifelong process and requires mental stamina to face one's own limitations over and over again. On the other hand, aikido provides its loyal practitioners great experiences of development and success in learning and understanding aspects that first may have seemed next to impossible.
In aikido, the mental development goes hand in hand with the physical development. Practicing aikido can help in facing confrontations without causing or suffering from permanent damage, whether mental or physical.
Ai - harmony
Ki - energy, force
Do - way
Seitokai ry (registered association) was founded in 1980 at University of Helsinki. Seitokai is a member of Finland Aikikai and associated with the student union of UH. The name Seitokai, 生徒会, is Japanese and means a "group of students".
Seitokai has about 50 members of whom about a dozen have a black belt. The majority of the members are current or former students or employees of the universities of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Nowadays, the membership is also possible for the aikidokas outside the universities. The activities of the club are of course mainly focused around aikido and we have 4 training sessions per week. Additionally, we organize two weapon seminars at peaceful Finnish cottage surroundings over the weekend, one in May and the other in September. We also organize weekend seminars at our dojo both with our own instructors as well as with visiting instructors. Over the last few years, many members have visited Japan to participate aikido seminars there.
Most new members enroll through our basic course but we have new members every year also from the aikidokas that have earlier trained elsewhere and have moved to Helsinki area. Regular visitors from other clubs are also welcome.
Seitokai has 3 chief instructors, Jarmo Halttunen (6. dan), Jukka Luoma (6. dan) ja Kari Stadius (6. dan). They all have been teaching aikido for over 30 years.
Many members also take part in the activities of the aikido club Aalto Aikikai in Otaniemi (at Aalto University).
Seitokai follows Aikikai Aikido led by Moriteru Ueshiba (b. 1951), the grandson of the founder of aikido Morihei Ueshiba.
Particularly influential teachers for Seitokai have been Yasuo Kobayashi Sensei (8. dan Shihan, Aikido Kobayashi Dojo) and Kazuo Igarashi Sensei (8. dan Shihan, Aikido Igarashi Dojo).
Training with weapons (bokken, jo and tanto) is an essential part of aikido in Seitokai.
Traditionally, members of Seitokai have been students and employees of University of Helsinki and Aalto University. Nowadays, the membership is also possible to aikidokas outside universities (ask from the committee for more information). Participation in the basic course in Seitokai, however, still requires a student or an employment relationship with some university or applied university.
If you want to become a member of Seitokai, print this form and bring it to a member of Seitokai's committee.
Membership fee for year 2025 is 80€ but we hope that all members who financially are able to pay an increased fee, 210€, would do so as only in this way we can keep the fees lower also in future for those for whom this makes a significant difference in their yearly budget. In particular, we want to provide students and unemployed a decently priced opportunity to train aikido also in the future.
Please pay the fee by the end of January to Seitokai's account
One can participate in the basic course without paying the membership fee but if one wants to continue training after the course, then the membership fee needs to be paid. Instructions are given at the end of the course.
Aikidokas from Finland and abroad are welcome to visit Seitokai. First two visits are for free. For longer or regular visits, the fees are 5€/visit or 20€/month (students 10€/month). Visitors practice in Seitokai at their own risk.
Instructions about aikido license and insurance are given by Finland Aikikai.
When participating in grading, a fee of 15€ must be paid. The participant needs also an aikido passport where the grade will be registered. Passport costs 10€ and can be bought at the 1st grading event.
Seitokai's chief instructors Jukka and Kari have been following the teaching of Kazuo Igarashi Sensei (8.dan) and his teacher Yasuo Kobayashi Sensei (8.dan) from 1980s onwards.
Jukka Luoma (6.dan)
Kari Stadius (6.dan)
In addition to the chief instructors, Seitokai has a dozen of other dan grades (1st - 5th dan) of whom several have over 20 years of experience with aikido and teaching aikido. Dan grades are teaching on Fridays.
Higher kyu grades (3rd - 1st kyu) are teaching on Saturdays.
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Ronja Riikonen, chair |
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Reeta Fagerholm, treasurer |
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Valtteri Salmela, vice-chair |
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Janika Kyllönen, secretary |
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Matti Pirinen |
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Emma Lednikova |
The shared email address of the committee is hallitus(at)seitokai-aikido.fi. Please send there the inquiries about the club or about the membership in Seitokai.
| Reeta Fagerholm |
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| Valtteri Salmela |
If you want to contact our equality representatives, their e-mail is: yhdenvertaisuusvaltuutetut(at)seitokai-aikido.fi
Seitokai at Facebook
email: hallitus(at)seitokai-aikido.fi
