Although the sport Aikido knows no competition, there are certainly big challenges for the athletes, also known as aikidoka. One of these challenges is the 24-hour International Aikido Marathon with more than 100 participants.
Aikido Press Officer Irina Gaspar looks ahead to the event on 6 and 7 October in Kosice, Slovakia: “Kosice will be the focal point of the 24-hour Aikido Marathon this year. Fourteen instructors from seven countries will conduct the training at this event. At least a hundred people are expected to be on the tatami on Saturday 6 October and train continuously for 24 hours.”
The marathon starts at 11 a.m. on the Saturday, and it is planned to have a break every 45 minutes so that the aikidoka will be able to go through the entire series of training modules. The panel of instructors includes teachers from Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and Ukraine. “The instructors are themselves ready to train when they are not teaching, so that the ‘motion’ of the marathon is maintained,” says Irina Gaspar.
Some may wonder how this can be possible – 24 hours of continuous training! There are many answers, including the enthusiasm of meeting friends, the joy of training with passionate people, and even establishing new limits of mental and physical resistance. The marathon is open to all aikidoka, regardless of rank or experience.
The fourteen instructors are: Dusan Dreisig, Iveta Sudorova, Panni Becsagh, Norbert Hochstrsser, Helena Reguli, Zdenko Reguli, Martin Svihla, Vanda Svihlova, Andreas Falk, Sylvia Mucke, Alain Dujardin, Olga Stegura, Mikhail Rogach and Zuzana Gajdosova.
Foto credits: Eugen Kudryavtsev (at the 2017 edition of the marathon, in Uzhgorod, Ukraine).
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 15-25 July 2021. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in the Games.
