News and Event
Up and coming events - get in touch for details!
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WELCOME:
We are very pleased to invite you to our annual mid-summer seminar with Sensei Lewis Bernaldo de Quirós, 7th Dan Aikikai and direct student of Morihiro Saito Sensei.
The seminar will include sessions on the Friday evening (26th) and weekend of 27th and 28th June 2026 in St Bees, West Cumbria.
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We hope that this will be a fun event where you can learn and develop your Aikido skills and meet old and new friends. Note - for the weekend we have 140 square meters of mat space (in addition to a significant outdoor area) and have set participant capacity at 40. Places will be allocated on a first come basis so please register promptly if you can.
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REGISTRATION:
Register via the Google form here: https://forms.gle/Q4vNnujEQuquNjmFA
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2024 SCHEDULE:
Friday 26th June (The Memorial Hall):
- Session 1 - 19:00-21:00 - Sensei de Quirós
Saturday 27th June (The Memorial Hall):
- Session 2 – 12:00–14:00 - Sensei de Quirós
- Session 3 – 15:00–17:00 - Sensei de Quirós
Sunday 28th June (The Memorial Hall):
- Session 4 – 09:00–11:00 - Sensei de Quirós
- Session 5 – 11:30–13:30 - Sensei de Quirós
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VENUE:
St Bees School, Wood Lane, St Bees, Cumbria, CA27 0DS (https://www.stbeesschool.co.uk/).
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St Bees School is a co-educational independent school located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees that was founded in 1583 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Edmund Grindal as a boys' "free grammar school". St Bees School has been home to West Cumbria Aikido since February 2019 and this will be our fourth national level seminar (and second seminar with Sensei de Quirós).
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St Bees is a charming West Cumbrian coastal village situated just south of Whitehaven, about 50 miles south from Carlisle and is a good base for exploring the western side of the Lake District and the Cumbrian coast and is also the start (or end) of the north of England Coast-to-Coast walk.
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There are plenty of accommodation options in St Bees village and the nearby area:
•https://www.stbees.org.uk/home/visitors/accommodation/
•https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/cumbria/whitehaven.html
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For local camping / tourer / holiday chalet opportunities in St Bees see - https://seacote.com/seacote-park/​
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If you have a camper van or motorhome there is an opportunity to park up at the school.
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If you require advice on accommodation or travel options please contact Adrian via email (info@westcumbriaaikido.com).
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INSTRUCTOR:
The weekend seminar will be led by Sensei de Quirós, 7th Dan Aikikai and Technical Director of Traditional Aikido Europe.
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Sensei de Quirós trained full-time under the late Morihiro Saito Sensei (9th Dan Aikikai) from 1986 until 1993 in the Iwama Dojo in Japan. Prior to beginning his training in Aikido, he trained for 10 years in both Judo and Karate (Shotokan Karate under the late Keinosuke Enoeda Sensei 9th Dan in London). During his stay in Japan, he also practiced Kyudo (Traditional Japanese Archery), Japanese calligraphy and Zen.
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Since returning from Japan, he has taught Aikido on a full time basis and to date has conducted well over 350 international seminars. After returning from Japan he maintained regular contact with his teacher through seminars both as a participant as well as assistant and translator until his passing away in 2002.
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Lewis received the rank of 5th Dan Aikikai from Morihiro Saito Sensei in 1999 and 6th Dan Aikikai from Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba (Hombu Dojo Tokyo) in 2009 and subsequently 7th Dan in 2024. He is the Senior Instructor and Examiner on behalf of Hombu Dojo of a European network of Dojos (Traditional Aikido Europe) committed to developing, researching and transmitting the style of Aikido known as Takemusu Aikido (Iwama Aikido) which was transmitted directly to Morihiro Saito Sensei from the Founder of Aikido Morihei Ueshiba during his more than 23-years as a direct student at the Founder’s Dojo in Iwama Japan.
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SEMINAR MEAL:
The 2026 seminar meal will most likely be held in St Bees or Whitehaven. Details to follow.
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Note with a 12:00 noon start on Saturday and early start and finish on the Sunday, we will not be offering a lunch option.
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MORE INFO:
Find us on Facebook - WEST CUMBRIA AIKIDO
Local organiser: Adrian Punt: info@westcumbriaaikido.com
FEE:
The 2026 fees are:
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- Friday only (2-hr) - £20
- Saturday only (4-hr) - £40
- Sunday only (4-hr) - £40
- Saturday and Sunday together (8-hr) - £75
- Friday, Saturday and Sunday together - £90
Note, concessions are available for juniors. Please get in touch for details.
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​All monies are payable in advance and payment should be made by Friday 29th May 2026. Any cancellations made on or before Friday 12th June will be refunded in full. We will try and refund cancellations after this, if for instance we can fill your place, but cannot guarantee this.
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Please pay by bank transfer to:
West Cumbria Aikido (business account)
NatWest, Whitehaven Branch
Sort Code: 01-09-54
Account: 60826355
IBAN: GB74NWBK01095460826355
BIC: NWBKGB2L
SEPA credit transfer and direct debit and B2B international payments are supported.
Please use the reference LBQ-26 in your transfer and indicate your name.
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INSURANCE AND OTHER POINTS:
All participants should be appropriately insured and able to demonstrate this. If you require insurance please contact us and this can be arranged. Also please bring bokken and jo. If this is not possible the club has plenty of spares.
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In Aiki
Adrian and Jason - co-dojo chos, West Cumbria Aikido
