Welcome to South Austin Aikido

Starting January 5th, 2010, South Austin Aikido will offer Aikido classes for kids. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 - 5:45 PM, kids from ages 7 to 12 years will learn basic technique, rolling and the use of bokken (wooden sword).

The initial membership for the kid's program will be $160, which includes three months of training, a training gi and a belt.  After the initial three months, the kid's monthly membership will be $60 per month.

Class size will be limited, so if you or anyone you know is interested, please contact Jay Lindholm Sensei at 512-970-2422 to reserve a spot.

The Thanksgiving weekend is quickly approaching and with it comes a long weekend. Whether you are working, traveling, spending time with family or getting an early start on holiday shopping, South Austin Aikido wishes you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

Please note that South Austin Aikido will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, but will be open during our normal schedule on Sunday, 11/29.

On Tuesday David Huffaker rolled 80 times to celebrate his birthday. David did a great job rolling for the many energetic aikidoka who helped with the special birthday rolls. Great Job David and Happy Birthday!

It's that time again! David Huffaker of our dojo is collecting Coats for Kids.  If you have a coat you would like to donate, just drop off the coat at the dojo or give David a call 512-658-0890 and he will come by and pick it up. Cash donations for Coats for Kids are also welcome. Deadline for pick up is December 1st. This is a GREAT charitable opportunity. 100% of your donation goes to someone in need.

http://www.jlaustin.org/?nd=cfk_help

We had three kyu tests yesterday that included Khair Zaman testing for Gokyu and Mark McDonald and Kyle Shillibeer both testing for Ikkyu.  All three tests went very well.

Zaman showed great improvement during his preparation and Gokyu test.  He moved exceptionally well and hung in there for all the required techniques.  Way to go Zaman on a job well done!

The next test was Mark, who did a great job as well.  The test had a very good pace with Mark maintaining excellent focus through the entire test. All of his preparation was readily apparent as he easily moved through all the techniques.  Mark’s randori went very fast, with Mark moving well and the ukes flying everywhere.  Way to go Mark on a great test!

Then Kyle tested, showing beautiful posture through a myriad of suwari wasa and hamni handachi techniques.  He moved very well in all aspects during the test and showed a great variety during his tanto dori.  Way to go Kyle on all the hard work and a great test!

Following the kyu tests we all went to Freebirds for some much needed food.  We all had an enjoyable time visiting and eating, which we are pretty good at as well.  Stephen Hughes and Kyle Shillibeer both ate the monster burritos, earning them the title of skinny fat!  Thanks to everyone who stayed to support the tests and the many ukes during the kyu tests.  Great job everyone!

Last weekend Kyle, Jesse and I went to Boulder, Colorado for the annual Halloween Seminar with Saotome Sensei.  The weekend was an awesome experience!

We stayed with my friend Ron Santichen, whom I had not seen in two years.   Ron was fantastic host and it was a lot of fun to hang out with him.

The seminar included a lot of exercises which focused on paying attention to your partner’s center.  We worked utilizing kicking and punching techniques, which were a lot of fun to practice.  The Boulder dojo is large, so were able to train vigorously during the seminar and left pretty spent following each training session.

It was a great seminar and we were all glad to have attended.  Thank you Saotome Sensei and Boulder Aikikai for a wonderful Seminar!  Special thanks to Ron for sharing your home and taking such good care of us during the weekend.