There are many good reasons; Zanshin Kai enjoys an excellent and well deserved reputation, the reasons for which I will outline here. At the centre of any dojo is of course the instructor. I’ve been studying under Patrick Palmer Sensei for nearly seven years now and I’ve seen a fair few instructors and he’s the best I‘ve studied under. Of course I’d say that, but what can’t be disputed is that he’s part of a very highly regarded lineage. I have seen very few people who could match him in terms of dedication to his art or dedication to his students. He is also one of the most humble instructors I’ve had the fortune to study under; he is big enough to admit a mistake and will admit he doesn’t know everything. Not yet anyway!
Through this positive attitude to practice he is constantly pushing both his and his dojo’s Aikido forward and because of that our Aikido is constantly evolving and constantly improving. After seven years I still feel he has a lot to teach me, which, speaks volumes about his skill and knowledge.
What does this mean for you the prospective student? If you’re interested in studying Aikido, you want the best available tuition. Zanshin Kai has an excellent teacher and small class sizes, typically between three and six. We also have a good body of knowledgeable and dedicated senior students. For the beginner this means two things: First, in most classes you will, like everyone else, be taught virtually one on one by the instructor. Second, the person you are studying with will probably have, as a minimum, five years experience, not just of doing the techniques and exercises, but of how Sensei wants things done. In this environment many students make rapid progress. Although rank is only a rough measure of ability, students usually reach 3rd kyu in around two years and 1st kyu in five or six.
Our Aikido can be described as traditional Aikido, and we maintain strong links with Aikikai Hombu dojo in Japan. A Japanese instructor from Hombu teaches at a week long course held every August, although we remain very heavily influenced by T.K Chiba Shihan, a student of the founder and one of the instructors responsible for introducing Aikido to the United Kingdom, a man noted for his power and martial attitude to Aikido.
The Aikido we study is thus very martial, practicality is at the core of what we do. Also at the core of our Aikido is the study of weapons, which, for reasons I’ll go into elsewhere, is vitally important to the study of Aikido. We’re fortunate that Sensei is a senior student of Mike Smith Sensei, one of the foremost weapons instructors in the country and that because of this Sensei very knowledgeable about weapons.
So at Zanshin Kai there is, in my experience, a rare combination of an excellent instructor with a small, dedicated and proficient class, with a history of excellent grading results and a dedication to constant improvement. Our lineage and the style of Aikido it represents is solid and highly respected. If you want to study Aikido you will struggle to find a better dojo to study in.

Alex Lawrence, Nikyu no Zanshin Kai