William Gleason at Aikido Eastside

09/03/2025

I am George Ledyard, Aikido 7th Dan and direct student of Mitsugi Saotome Sensei. I have moved to New Mexico and my dojo, Aikido Eastside in Bellevue, WA (Seattle), which opened in 1989, will be closing due to untenably high rents. My students have a potential opportunity to merge with another dojo in the area, Aikido Northshore, making a sustainable school out of two smaller schools.

We would like to end our lease as soon as we can. That will require paying off our remaining lease. And if we don't find another martial arts school that wishes to take over the space, we will incur substantial expense vacating the space.

I am hoping to raise enough money to pay off the lease so that my students can transition to the other dojo as soon as possible. Both schools will benefit if we can accomplish this. Any money we raise that does not go to paying off the lease and covering expenses on vacating the space will be given to Aikido Northshore, the dojo my students are planning on joining.

If you can possibly help, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks to everyone out there for all the support over the years. Change comes to us all but we made a really good run of it and I hope my students can continue into the future in a new home.

George Ledyard

01/08/2024

FYI March 1st - 3rd
William Gleason will be at Aikido Eastside for a seminar. Not one to miss.
https://events.eventzilla.net/e/2024-winter-seminar-w-william-gleason-at-aikido-eastside-2138610082

11/12/2019

Gleason Sensei is in danger of losing his dojo space. We are raising money to help him keep his space. If that is not possible, we want to ensure he has the means to move to a new space. It would be a tragedy if this great teacher did not have a dojo at which he could be pssing on his deep understanding of Aikido technique and philosophy.

These days it often takes the support of the wider Aikido community to help teachers stay afloat, especially full time professional teachers who seldom have the means to keep the doors open out of their own pockets.

Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help.
- George

Hugh Beyer Shobu Aikido Fundraiser William Gleason Shihan founded and has led Shobu Aikido of Boston since 1980. Shobu has had several dojos in the Boston ar

03/09/2019

Here is a sample clip from the Fall 2018 seminar with Gleason Sensei. The full video title is available at https://aikidodvds.com/?product=aikido-and-internal-power-instruction

Filmed in the Fall of 2018 at Aikido Eastside, Gleason Sensei shows how to create aiki using internal power principles. While his technique is advanced, his ...

07/24/2018

In the teachings of the founder we find. “Aikido is One Spirit, Four Souls, Three Origins and Eight Powers. Lacking an understanding of thi...

11/29/2017

New from AikidoDvds.Com

Aikido video of William Gleason Sensei, Aikido 7th Dan, the Chief Instructor of Shobu Aikido of Boston. He has been a guest instructor at Aikido Eastside for 18 years. For every one of those 18 years, Gleason Sensei has managed … Continue reading →

11/21/2017

For 18 consecutive years, Aikido Eastside has hosted William Gleason Sensei. Every year he has gotten better. A truly fantastic teacher.

10/24/2017

Gleason Sensei will be here very soon. So excited.

Nov 3rd – 5th 2017 Aikido Eastside William Gleason Sensei, Aikido 7th Dan Gleason Sensei returns once again for our Fall seminar. Gleason Sensei is one of the premier instructors of Aikido anywhere today. He trained for ten years in Japan under the legendary Yamaguchi Seigo Sensei and is Chief …

05/18/2017

New video from the seminar earlier this month!

Based on the teachings of Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, as taught to his student, George Ledyard Sensei, Aikido 7th Dan, this video demonstrates, with detailed ins...

05/17/2017

The latest in our collection of seminars with William Gleason Sensei, Aikido 7th Dan. Over two hours of empty hand focusing on the principles of aiki and internal power as well as over an hour of Aikido sword work.

Available only as a download (.mp4 format), not as physical DVD

The latest addition to our video collection (see note below about format) of Aikido seminars conducted at Aikido Eastside by William Gleason Sensei, Aikido 7th Dan. This title contains more than two hours of empty hand instruction focusing on body … Continue reading →

11/08/2016

16 years of William Gleason Sensei teaching at Aikido Eastside and he just gets better every time. Amazing teacher.

11/08/2016

Phenomenal seminar with Gleason Sensei. He just gets better and his instruction gets more and more developed/ One weekend and you have enough to work on for a year. Absolutely one of the best teachers around. What a privilege to work with him.