Please join us at Great Lakes Aikido on Saturday, July 18 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM to learn more about knife work, including:
- Knife handling and and basic offensive skills
- Situational awareness & soft defensive strategies for avoiding a knife confrontation
- Practical unarmed defense and disarming techniques applied against a knife-wielding opponent at close range
- Training drills to help your reflexes if surprised by a knife attack
- Practice that utilizes a knife for defensive purposes and helps to facilitate various martial techniques
- Tactics for mutually armed knife situations
This seminar is open to all martial artists, regardless of style, rank, or experience. If you have a tanto or appropriate knife-facsimile, please bring it with you. You may wear a gi if you have one, otherwise wear light, loose fitting clothing such as a t-shirt and sweatpants.
Registration and Payment
Please register through our booking form Booking – Knife Seminar 2026 | Great Lakes Aikido The cost for this event is $50. You may register and pay securely through this booking form (after signing the waiver). Select the “manual payment” option if you prefer to pay via Zelle to greatlakesaikido or through PayPal. Walk-in registrations the day of the event will also be welcomed.
Location
Great Lakes Aikido
(in the Cohen Brothers Judo & Wrestling facility)
158 N Fairway Drive
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
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After the seminar we will go to a nearby restaurant for food and fellowship. Let us know if you have any questions. We hope to see you on the mat!
Instructors:
Matt Lowry Sensei
Matt Lowry has studied the martial arts consistently for over 35 years, beginning his studies in 1990 with karate, tae kwon do, kick-boxing, and kung fu before turning his practice to Aikido in 1995. During his years of Aikido training, he has studied under Meido Moore Shihan, Lisa Tomoleoni Shihan, and other instructors in the American Aikido Association, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba, Birankai, and Shimbokukai.
He finds the emphasis on tai sabaki (basic body movement), maai (positioning), musubi (blending), and zanshin (balance/awareness) to be fundamental to the study of any martial art. While teaching traditional martial arts training, he also likes to emphasize practical application of those traditional techniques into modern, real-world contexts.
In that spirit, Lowry Sensei has taught numerous seminars on practical self-defense, including knife work & defense. Lowry Sensei holds the rank of yondan in Aikido, has been certified as a teacher (Shidoin), and is currently the chief instructor at Great Lakes Aikido in Vernon Hills, IL.
Manuel de Joya Sensei
Manuel de Joya specializes in martial arts and self-defense training. Manuel’s training method focuses on translating the concepts from traditional martial arts and applying them to real-world conflict.
Manuel began training in 1989 under Akira Tohei Shihan, 8th Dan, at the Midwest Aikido Center in Chicago. He received the rank of 3rd Dan in 2024 and is currently an instructor at Evanston Aikido Center, a United States Aikido Federation dojo, under the supervision of Art Wise Shihan, 7th Dan. Manuel has also trained in other martial arts including Judo and Arnis, but Aikido is his primary passion. Manuel spent his formative years in Tokyo, Japan, speaks some Japanese, and has a deep appreciation for Japanese history and culture.
The main lessons he has learned in martial arts are to maintain a Beginner’s Mind and always be open to new learnings, and the teacher may not always be who or what you think.
