“He that has the spirit of the sun within him can achieve anything.” That sentence has hung over everything Hizashikan does since the beginning — not as a slogan, but as a standard. A dojo, we believe, should send people out warmer than they arrived.
From Casablanca to Coventry
Our story begins in 1984 at the Budokan du Maroc in Casablanca, where Aziz Meknassi trained under Shihan Abderrahman Bahaddou. What was learned there — technique, yes, but mostly patience, respect and care for one's training partner — travelled with Aziz to the United Kingdom, and eventually to a community hall in Wyken, Coventry.
Forty years later, the photographs on our gallery wall tell the whole journey: the old crew in Morocco, the first classes in Coventry, and the children training with us today, some of whose parents trained with us first.
A not-for-profit dojo
Hizashikan is a club, not a business. There are no contracts, no joining fees and no upselling. Contributions from students go back into the mats, the hall and the equipment — and nowhere else. We say this plainly because it changes the feel of the place: nobody on the mat is a customer. Everybody is a member.
Traditional Aikido, taught traditionally
We practise Aikido the way it was handed to us: non-competitive, cooperative, and demanding in the quietest possible way. Classes begin and end with a bow. Seniors train with beginners. Children are taken as seriously as adults. Progress is measured in years, not weeks — and that, we find, is exactly what makes it stick.
Part of Coventry
We train every Saturday at the Wyken Community Centre Hall, and we are proud to be part of this corner of the city. Our students come from every background Coventry has to offer, and the dojo is better for every one of them.
A dojo is not a room. It is the people who bow at its door.
