Welcome to South Austin Aikido

On Sunday, we kicked off 2012 with the traditional "throw the Sensei" class. Jay Sensei took ukemi for each of the students as we picked our favorite techniques (and how hard it was to choose just one!) and demonstrated them for the class. Sensei said he needed a nap that afternoon, so I think we all did our jobs!

Jay Sensei closed the class with a quote from O'Sensei to set the theme for our next year of training:

It is my wish for all those who forge themselves through Aikido to wholeheartedly devote themselves to fostering universal love and nurturing the spirit of Aiki within their body and spirits; and to use the budo of the past based on haku [physical effort] as a foundation for releasing the light of kon [soul/higher spirit] within themselves. It is my hope that through persistence and tenacity, those who practice will endeavor to make this a reality by grasping the logic of the universe, purifying their hearts and spirits, reaching a state of mind without conflict, and further developing and spreading this great way of Aikido around the globe to bring about an age of peace.

—Morihei Ueshiba, quoted in Enlightenment Through Aikido, by Kanshu Sunadomari

It was a great way to end a great class, and an inspiring way to start our training for the new year. Thanks to everybody who participated, and we look forward to seeing everybody on the mat in 2012!

We will have open mat for kyu test preparation and kyu testing this weekend (see schedule below).

Saturday, December 10th: Open Mat 10:00AM to 11:30AM: We will have open mat time available for reviewing the upcoming kyu tests as well as general open mat time. All are welcome to participate in this 90 minute training session.

Please note that we share the parking lot with several businesses that operate on Saturday morning so our members/guests will need to park in the Broken Spoke's parking lot (next door to our dojo) for the Saturday morning class.

Sunday, December 11th: Kyu Testing 2:15PM to 3:15PM: We will have kyu testing during the second class. We plan on going out for dinner immediately following and all are welcome to join.

The Thanksgiving weekend is upon us and with it comes a long weekend.  South Austin Aikido will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, but we will be open for our normal schedule on Sunday, 11/27.

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.

This past weekend several of us traveled to Fremont California for a seminar with Ikeda Sensei. During the weekend SAA had two students testing for Dan (black belt) ranks: Todd Kammerer for Sandan (3rd degree) and Tim Schmelter tested for Nidan (2nd degree).

The tests were as intense as any that I have seen before. Ikeda Sensei had them all test at once, dividing them into pairs so that each test candidate had to play the role of both uke and nage. The pace of the test was not for the faint of heart, as everyone involved attacked with a lot of energy. They started with tanto dori, then moved on to tachi dori, and after the takeaways, Ikeda Sensei had them all participate in randori for each other, taking turns as nage. The randori included all strikes (shomenuchi, yokomenuchi and tsuki), and took a lot of energy to both attack and defend. It was like a 15 minute sprint, and all the test candidates were completely spent at the end. The mumblings from the watching crowd often included things like, "I'm glad it's not me out there!"

It was difficult to keep up with both test pairs going on at the same time at such a torrid pace. However, from what I could see, both Tim and Todd performed admirably and it is safe to say that just surviving a test like that is a victory. We should all be very proud of their efforts in preparing and testing in Fremont as they both represented our dojo very well.

Way to go Tim and Todd and Congratulations!

Photos and videos coming soon.

Thanks to you, the 2011 South Austin Aikido Roll-A-Thon was a success! We raised $3,500 for the American Red Cross of Central Texas, and had a blast doing it! Be sure to pay attention at about 30 seconds into the video below: Stephen shows his true colors at last.

Thanks again to everybody who worked hard to make the Roll-A-Thon successful. Let's do it again next year!

From left: SAA President Todd Kammerer, Jessica Levine of The American Red Cross of Central Texas, and SAA Head Instructor Jay Lindholm.