Welcome to South Austin Aikido

We have begun a new year and therefore it is time for our 3rd annual attendance award.  I started the attendance award 3 years ago with the intention of encouraging consistent attendance in the dojo.  It is through regular training that we receive the maximum benefits from our aikido practice and though that is the true reward, we provide a special gift to the one person who has the highest in dojo attendance.  Previously the award has gone to Brian Kammerer and Chad Leath respectively.

This year I actually won for the first time, promoting me from casual observer status in aikido to total aikido maniac (according to the wife’s own admission).  However, since it is not appropriate to provide myself with an award, the prize was awarded to the second place finisher, and soon to be total aikido maniac as well, Todd Kammerer.

Congratulations to Todd for the winning the award for the 2006 calendar year.

Just a quick remember that our friends at Alamo City Aikido will be hosting a seminar with William Gleason Sensei, Rokudan from Shobu Aikido of Boston.  The semimar will be Friday, February 23rd through the 25th.  This will be an outstanding seminar for all to attend. 

Contact Alamo City Aikido for more information.

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Website: www.alamocityaikido.com

On Sunday, Craig Slack Sensei of Alamo City Aikido came and taught an extended class that according to the clock lasted for three hours.  We started at 1 pm and trained until about 2:30, when we took a quick break for water, and then resumed training until the clock said it was 4 pm.  The training time seemed like only 10 minutes had gone by.  The old adage of “time flies when you are having fun” was certainly true for these classes.  We worked on some mind-blowing ideas, many of which we were doing at the ASU Winter Intensive last week.  Wow.  My eyes have not stopped spinning from that experience and yet here we go again.  It was truly awesome!

I just returned from an aikido packed week in Florida for the ASU Winter Intensive with Saotome Sensei and many wonderful instructors.  The training schedule provided for way more training time than my body could actually take, so I trained as much as I could.

Saotome Sensei showed repeatedly the importance of maintaining connection to your partner’s center line while keeping the arms relaxed and the contact light.  It was enlightening to realize how light this touch actually needs to be to prevent creating structure for your partner.  The relaxation of the arms and light touch leads to sensitivity and more options as the technique develops.