This marked the 30th anniversary of Boulder Aikikai's Summer Camps. 240 aikidoka from around the country as well as far away lands participated in the week long event. The three senior instructors, Saotome Shihan, Ikeda Shihan and Doran Shihan were all in fine form and taught marvelous classes. Breaking the tradition of hosting a guest senior instructor, senior students and chief instructors from around the country were included on class schedule. I trained in classes taught by Kevin Choate (Chicago Aikikai), Kimberley Richardson (Two Cranes Aikikai), Tres Hofmeister (Boulder Aikikai), Dan Messisco and Jonathan Lewis (Boulder Aikikai). I marveled at the quality of instruction and their unique 'takes' of the art.

Beyond the awesome classes I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time with many old friends and meet new ones. I shared a room with my good friend Jay Lindholm, chief instructor of South Austin Aikido. Next door roomed another close friend, Todd Kammerer, who shared the room with Tim Schmelter, both training under Jay sensei. We shared many a good time on and off the mat!

For some strange reason I didn't break out my camera until the end of the week. The first group of images are from Saturday morning's photo-op, followed by shots taken shortly before and during the Friday night party at the Hotel Colorado, and lastly I've included a few pics taken through our rent-a-car's window on our journey back to the Denver International Airport.

A hearty thank you to the teachers and students of Boulder Aikikai for for hosting such a wonderful event!