The instructor George is very arrogant and ignorant. He didnt learn to respect people and is unable to take feedback. Dont waste your time on this dojo if you want to learn real Aikido.

Aikido Eastside is a top-notch Aikido dojo. There is a good blend of high level Aikido taught. The range can go from very basic to more advance applied techniques. You will find that the assistant instructors are good with new students and they break down the basic techniques in a way thats easily understood. You will be hard pressed to find another school of this caliber.

George is a wonderful teacher and clearly has a passion for teaching his craft. the classes are the right size, allowing whoever is teaching to focus more on the individual students.

Ledyard sensei is not typical by any means. He has created a culture where everyone you meet is ready and able to help you learn things right the first time, and keeps in mind the reality of the practice. You will also find constant opportunity to cross-train with some of the most proficient instructors available.

I trained at their dojo for a month after having practised Aikido back in England for several years. I had the most amazing time. Everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful. Their strong attitudes towards training and Aikido are spot on and Ledyard Sensei is an absolute inspiration to train with. His style is smart, powerful and effective. There are several different classes with several different expert instructors that cover all aspects of the art. They have developed an extensive beginner program. And they are just so so friendly. I am certain that I will be going back in the future.

In year 2016, when I was looking for a dojo for my kid to start his martial arts training, I searched online for dojos in my area. My initial review of Aikieast was great so I went further by visiting Aikido Eastside’s Facebook page. I did so simply for browsing more pictures and videos and getting better understanding on how they teach and practice. It turned out that the postings on its owner George Ledyard’s Facebook page were extremely disgusting.When viewing his FB page content, I wondered if his guy was doing the job as a martial arts master as he claimed or was solely a cult for some sort of ideologies. All of his posting were about attacking people he didn’t like. He used many four-letter words to express his hatred and dissatisfaction toward American society. He also showed middle finger to express his anger when things didn’t go the way he liked. Some folks echoed his thoughts and clicked “like” on his posts. I checked out their profiles and found that they were either instructors in his dojo or his Aikido friends in other dojos.The most outrageous post I have seen was that he shared an article criticizing Christian, saying that people with Christian beliefs were far more dangerous than radical Islamists. Well, Youtube has lots of videos showing how ISIS tortured innocent people, how they raped women, and how they trained 5 years old kids to kill people. I felt strong discomfort when seeing this guy compared well-behaved Christian to inhuman ISIS and glorified ISIS’s criminal behaviors.Washington is a very liberal state and I am a very liberal people. I don’t mind this guy expressing his strong Pro-Hillary stand points on his FB page. But constantly using foul language to express hatred, and bad mouthing a group of people (Christian and others) are not proper manners a martial art master should hold. In his Aikieast website, he bragged about his propound study on Eastern Zen philosophy and claimed that Aikido teaches you peace in the mind regardless of dynamic changes outside. But his behavior showed the opposite. In a democratic society, political change or change on ruling party is normal, but this guy can’t accept this type of change and this type of change could made him feel like this is the end of the world and further turn him insane.I don’t want my kid to be approached by someone like this so I rejected this dojo immediately. I also would like to call all parents to reject this dojo - A dojo that promotes ISIS killing, violence and hatred.

The head master or instructor here is quite rude and unpleasant. Take your time and money elsewhere where you are not yelled at.

I have trained at this dojo for about nine years and I would never want to go anywhere else. The training is truly exceptional with many excellent Sensei’s to learn from. The Sensei’s at this dojo are a wealth of information, so much so I don’t think they will ever be able to teach all that they know – they live and breathe a history that will die if it is not passed on. I am so fortunate to be able to grow in my martial arts skills, confidence as a woman, and appreciation of Japanese culture.I’m also so thankful for all of the other students that I get to train with.

I just completed the 4 day intensive randori seminar. It absolutely is a game changer and a rite of passage for anyone studying Aikido. I cant say enough good things about it. I learned a lot about randori (which was a bit intimidating to me before the seminar) and amazing insights in open hand technique. P.S. You will need a bottle of Advil but its simply proof that you have been pushed to new limits!

I have ordered several of the training videos that Ledyard sensei has filmed at this dojo- just fantastic content and exceptional training references. I would highly recommend this dojo to anyone in the area, or passing through. The multitude of seminars are always top notch!

Ordered items never received. I ordered several aikido videos from aikieast video store. Credit card was charged, but Items were never received. I emailed aikieast couple times regarding this and never received any reply from them.

I recommend Aikido Eastside for adults and kids, both beginners and experts. I have trained under George Ledyard Sensei for over five years and one of my daughters went for over a year (until the logistics were difficult).I had never done any martial arts before coming here and feel I have learned a lot and have much more to learn. Fortunately for me I started at what I think is a good place to be. The people are nice and will go slow or train more aggressively if that is what you want. It is about 60%:40% M:F ratio depending on the day.This is an ASU dojo under Saotome sensei. There is a huge amount of talent (from my beginner perspective) inside the dojo and also outside instructors visit, both within and outside the ASU organization. (E.g. Saotome, Gleason, Popkin, Ikeda, Harden, Threadgill, Reed, Heiny, Whitehead, Choate.) Some members cross-train in other arts including Systema, Daito Ryu, Ushiro Karate, and koryu arts. Look up George Ledyards articles on aikiweb over the last 10-20 years to get an idea of where he is going.Check out the web site to look up the schedule and drop by, either to watch or join on the mat for training.

Bad training experience. Regular sessions got cancelled abruptly or converted to seminar requiring extra fee all the time.