Welcome to South Austin Aikido

Saturday five of us from Hill Country Aikido, including Pamela Tovar, Alina Bushong, Todd and Tommy Kammerer and myself, returned from a week of aikido training at Summer Camp in the Rockies sponsored by the Boulder Aikikai.  This year was the 25th anniversary of this awesome camp and what a special week it was for all!  As usual, my head is still spinning from so much information.

Tommy Kammerer rolled 300 times during summer camp, with Ian Starr of the Boulder Aikikai providing all the throws.  Pretty impressive in its own right, however, at 7000 feet and following 5 hours of training, makes this even more impressive! 

Tommy was inspired to break the previous record (273 birthday rolls set in March) held by his sister, Brenda Kammerer.  You just can't slow down these young people.  Rumor has it Tommy could have gone longer if he pushed it to a point where he blacked out completely.  Great job Tommy on a new dojo rolling record!! Thanks for not passing out.  That would have freaked me out completely.

Sunny Skys Sensei from Aiki Zenshin Dojo in Fremont came to Austin this past weekend for his third annual seminar at Hill Country Aikido.  The seminar weekend was a complete success! We had a wonderful turn out from our dojo and from our friends at Alamo City Aikido in San Antonio.

On Sunday July 10, 2005 we had two tests, with Brenda Kammerer testing for Gokyu and Chad Leath testing for Sankyu. 

Brenda hasn't tested for some time but you couldn't tell by her technique.  Her posture and arm tension were awesome.  She also made us old guys look silly when it came to shikko.  Those young people can make the painful stuff look pretty easy.

Chad also did an awesome job with his display of aikido skill.  His randori used all of the mat, moving well and blending with the ukes.  His arm tension during shihonage was a thing of beauty.  I think his best stuff was during the several jiyuwaza.  He blended with nice touch and tension and varied his movement and technique well. 

Great job Chad and Brenda!! Special thanks to Hiroaki, Chadwick, Jesse, Pamela, Brian and Todd  who provided the ukemi during the test.  Following the test we adjourned to Buffet Palace for a nice meal.  We once again got our training schedule in line with the “Eat, Train, Eat” mentality.  Just in time for the upcoming seminar with Sunny Skys Sensei.

Click here to see the kyu test pictures

It wasn't that it was so incredibly hot, however, I don't remember sweating so much ever in my aikido training.  The humidity in the gym was unbelievable.  Absolutely nothing would evaporate.  That said it was an incredible experience.

The training was outstanding.  We covered every conceivable type of weapons training from two sword forms to iaido forms to tachi dori and open hand training.  We also did lots of paired kumi tachi and kumi jo exercises.  This year guest instructors included Patty Saotome Sensei, Tres Hoffmeister Sensei, George Ledyard Sensei, Chuck Webber Sensei, and Kevin Choate Sensei, who also taught during the early morning class.  This added a lot of variety to the camp from previous years and a lot more exercises to remember. 

After 30 hours of weapons training last week it was really strange to train today without some kind of stick in my hand.  My mind is still spinning from the training.  I hope to include many of these exercises in our weapons training over the next year.  DC is an expensive town but a great experience.  Between training, Brian and I went to a lot of the area sites including the Smithsonian, natural history museums and monuments including the Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and FDR.  We also toured the National Cathedral, which is a pretty incredible place on its own.  It was a fun place to visit with lots of outstanding training.

Click here to see the pictures

Beginning in July, we will have an additional 30 minutes on Thursday and Sunday (see schedule below).  We have many new students and additional time will provide the necessary focus as they begin their Aikido training.  Senior students will also attend these classes to help with the newer students, while refining their understanding of basic principles at the same time.

The first class with the new schedule will be on Sunday, July 3rd, 2005.  Come check it out.....