Welcome to South Austin Aikido

Todd Kammerer and I traveled to Fremont, California this past weekend to attend a seminar at Aiki Zenshin Dojo with Tres Hofmeister Sensei. The seminar was a lot of fun. The dojo in Fremont is one of the largest and most beautiful dojo that I have trained at, second only to the Boulder Aikikai. The mat is about 1800 square feet with one of the most pleasant falling surfaces.

Hofmeister Sensei spent the weekend focusing on our concentration of our own movement. Too often we get trapped by worrying about how to move our partners and lose sight of our main focus, which should be to simply move ourselves. Sensei talked about this in terms of relationships and how both parties have the option of seeking what they want from the relationship. He also talked a lot about not attempting to restrict nage’s movement in an effort for uke to find their own freedom within the movement. It certainly set off some light bulbs for me because I don’t know how many times I have attacked higher ranking teachers wondering what they wanted from me in terms of energy and power. The weekend left me with a sense that my attacks are up to me and that I should take responsibility for creating a relationship that allows us to train in a meaningful and learning way.

The seminar was a rewarding experience. I really enjoyed training and listening to the stories from Hofmeister Sensei. He is truly a remarkable teacher and one Aikidoka of all levels should definitely go see. Thank you to Sunny Skys Sensei and our friends at Aiki Zenshin dojo for a wonderful seminar weekend. We look forward seeing y’all again soon.