Aikido Dojo London

Specialties

Aikido Japanese self-​defence martial art, as taught by the founder of Aikido in Iwama (the birth place of Aikido)

Meet the Business Owner

Justin C.

Business Owner

Justin Christou is a fifth-​degree black belt Aikido teacher in the UK; he began his martial arts training in London at the age of 15, studying various forms of martial arts. At the age of 25 he found himself on a journey to Japan, enrolling as an uchi-​deshi (full time live in student) at the famous Iwama, Ibaraki dojo that had once been the founder’s (Morihei Ueshiba) dojo and birth place of Aikido.

Christou spent the next eight years (1995 — 2003) of his life devoted solely to the study of Aikido. Meeting his teacher, the renowned Morihiro Saito Sensei, every day for practice, Weapons training (Bukiwaza), such as sword, staff and shuriken, was held each morning and unarmed training (Taijitsu) every evening.

He was personally taught and graded by Morihiro Saito, Shihan, 9^th Dan in Japan at the Ibaraki Dojo. At over eight years study, Christou is the longest serving Iwama dojo uchi-​deshi from outside Japan and the longest serving uchi-​deshi at the time of Saito’s passing