New Years Day Class

Remember to save some energy for class on New Years Day! Class starts bright and early at 10AM.

Opportunities

Holiday activities interfering with your normal routine? Don't forget the range of class times we have. This may be your opportunity to train with people you don't ordinarily get to see.

remember - all adult classes are on this week
-b

Monday morning class canceled 12/20

Monday morning DEC 20th class canceled.

Holiday Schedule

Dec 24th: Friday AM Class is ON!
Dec 25th: Saturday - NO CLASSES
Dec 27th-Dec 31st: Normal Class Schedule
Jan 1st: Saturday Adults Class is ON!

Recent Testing

Congratulations to Ayano for earning her 6th Kyu Monday night!

Recent and Upcoming Testing

Congratulations to all those who tested this past Thursday night. We had a great show of progress and continuing dedication.

6th Kyu
JD Brederson

5th Kyu
Michael (Mick) Yerdon

3rd Kyu
Joe Lynch

Also, this coming Monday 12/6 we will be testing Ayano for her 6th Kyu rank.

Testing on Thursday Night

We will be doing some testing on Thursday night during the 7 pm class. Everyone, please attend to cheer and uke.

Holiday Classes

Hey everyone, just a reminder that due to the holiday this Thursday the Wednesday evening and Friday morning classes are canceled.

Thanks and enjoy your turkey day!

Saturday Morning Class After Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,
Fall Camp in Everett Washington just finished. I have many more notes than I normally do from a Camp. Lots of neat ideas, tips including a shomen uchi ikyo tenkan with new idea. I will be teaching Saturday morning and going over material.
Hope you can come to class!

Judy

Cobblestone Class

Hey Guys! Thanks to everyone who has been able to make it and help out!

The classes are going great. I just wanted to post a reminder, since everyone has been so helpful, that we have a couple holidays coming up, next week is Veterans Day and in two weeks is Thanksgiving so no class for Cobblestone on the 11th or the 25th but we will be meeting on the 18th.

Thanks again and if I don't see you have a good Thanksgiving!

Aikido Halloween Children's Class

Open Mat Sun. 10/31 - Cancelled

Aikidoka,

This Sundays (10/31) open mat will be cancelled.

We will be back in business the following Sunday (11/7).

Questions or concerns just let me know (sixmts04@hotmail.com).

Thank you,

Marcella

Black Belt Class this Tuesday

Attention all. This Tuesday night (10/26), the normal 7pm class will be usurped by the instructors for a black belt practice session and one of our periodic instructors meetings.

The 6pm class is still open to all students but the normal class from 7-8:30pm is canceled.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Thanks,
-Brian

Cobblestone Class

Hey guys,

The Cobblestone School has requested that we host a class for them again! We will have 24 students this year and will be meeting on Thursday's at 12:45. Our first class is October 28th. Please check the calendar for all the classes.

As in previous years if you chose to come and assist with the kids an instructor will be available after the class for more individualized instruction.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks!

Congrats!

We are very pleased to offer congratulations to everyone who tested last night!
We have a large batch of new orange belts who all did well, so be sure to congratulate them!

Our newest orange belts are:

Amogh Bhagat	Samantha Newmark
James Hindal	Riley Page
Glenn Huels	Nate Wagar
Perez Johnson

Remember to also clap Kimberly Sherer on the back. She tested wonderfully for her second orange belt, 5th kyu. Keep up the good work Kimberly!

And last but never least Hugh Higgins had an amazing test for his blue belt. He handled everything that was thrown at him wonderfully. Way to go Hugh, you should be proud it was beautiful!

Congrats again to all those who tested and a big wonderful thank you to all those who showed up to support them and uke!

Testing Thursday Night

Reminder to all members!

We will be having testing in the dojo on Thursday night during the 7pm class. Hugh will be testing for his blue belt, Kimberly for 5th kyu plus there are a great group of new members testing for 6th kyu. Please attend to uke and cheer them on!

Much thanks from Brian and Judy

Upcoming in September

Testing on September 30th at 7pm

Black Belt Meeting TBA

Coming Class Schedule Changes
Starting in October Marcella's Monday 7-8pm class will become 7-8:30pm
Starting 9/28: Tuesday's 6pm Class will be taught by Candy; 7-8:30pm will be Brian
-Please wish Mark Grey luck for his Shoulder Surgery

Enjoy your Labor Day

Remember, no classes this Monday 9/6. See you back on the mat on Tuesday!

-b

Sensei in Rochester

Thank you Sensei for another great seminar in Rochester! And thanks to all of our aikidoka for your continued dedication to your own practice and to the dojo's progress overall.

A special congratulations to Marcella who completed her Sandan test this Saturday. It was a special treat to have such a graceful and powerful demonstration in our home dojo.

Upcoming this week

Monday 8/16 at 8pm we will have an Uke Class (tune your attacks, large falls, and energy)

Thursday at 4:30pm, Cleaning the dojo. Please early for class and help.

Friday Afternoon, if you missed Thursday, please contact Andrew as he will be coming in to finish cleaning and could us some help.

Friday Night, Dinner with Sensei. Please see the dojo and the email for details. Please contact Candy or Brian to sign up (we need to have reservations).

Saturday, Sensei Maruyama

Saturday night, Party at Ann Marshall's (Thank you Anne for the use of your home)

Sunday Morning, Sensei Maruyama

Sunday Afternoon, Advil & Nap!

New Shodans!

Among other fine test we had at camp from Dave Laber, Craig, Bob Cotter, and Mark Panek, two of our own crossed the threshold to become black belts. Here are Alan and Brad giving their first instruction as Shodans.

Update on Belt Promotions

We will be having belt promotion celebrations on both Monday and Thursday, August 9 and 12, at 7 pm. Please join us on both nights to congratulate those who will test at Summer Camp in New Jersey next weekend.

Congratuations!

We are happy to congratulate Gil Crespo on his successful test for 5th kyu last Thursday! Way to go, Gil! Now on to blue belt!

Upcoming...

Maruyama Sensei at Summer Camp 8/5 - 8/8
All Rochester Dojo Classes are covered but Open Mat is canceled on Sunday.

Rank Promotion Recognition in the Dojo - 8/9 at 7pm
-Sergei will be visiting us too!

Maruyama Sensei in Rochester 8/21 & 8/22


Class Theme for a while ... "Lead"
(no, not the primary ingredient for Chinese made toys)

Gary Snyder Details!

Hey all, we are finalizing the details for this Wednesday with Gary Snyder Sensei. it looks like we will have class from 6:30 - 8:00 pm.

See you then!

Judy

Gary Snyder Sensei in Rochester 7/14

All,

Gary Snyder Sensei will be joining us this Wednesday evening. We encourage everyone to come. Based on his travel schedule, we will be adjusting the class times slightly so keep looking here for an update on times. It will not start earlier than 6pm.


Thanks and I hope to see you there,
-brian

Classes this weekend

All but the Monday morning 7am class will be held as scheduled, including open mat on Sunday and Test Prep Monday night.

Enjoy the Holiday weekend!

June Promotions

Thursday, June 17th we had a full dojo to observe three very well done promotion tests. Please offer your congratulations for a job well done.

Brendan Courtsal - 5th Kyu

Joe Cummings - 4th Kyu

Alfred Lee - 3rd Kyu

Camp Prep

Tis the season for test prep!

The summer session of camp test prep classes kicks off Monday June 21st at 7pm. Test prep runs for 6 weeks every Monday night.

All are welcome but we will, as usual, kick it up a notch (or two). Beginners will be taken good care of so don't hesitate to come as well.

The first and last night will have video review in the 8pm hour for baseline and progress as usual. The other 4 nights we slow the pace and do polish on weapons takeaways, kata, and requests in the 8pm hour.

If you are testing and cannot make Mondays, please find me and we will work out an alternate plan for you.

If you are not testing, we will need ukes of all types, so please come and support your fellow aikidoka. Camp Prep has been a long standing tradition in Rochester which, with your support, will continue to enhance everyone's quality of practice.

Thanks,
-Brian

June Testing

We will be testing students in the dojo on June 17, Thursday night, 7 pm class. Hope that everyone can attend.

Monday 5/24 - No 8PM Class

We will be having an instructors meeting Monday 5/24 in place of the 8pm Class. The 6pm and 7pm classes are as scheduled.

Thanks,
-b

New Dojo Promotion

New students joining the dojo between now and July 15 who train for two months will get their third month free. Please pass the word to family and friends.

We have some new flyers in the dojo, designed by Mark Tripp, which advertise this. You can find them in a folder near the attendance book. Please take one and post at work, where you shop, and any other place you can think of.

Print your own flyer here.

Much thanks!

Memorial Day Weekend Schedule

Classes will follow their normal schedule on Saturday and Sunday, May 29 and 30:

Saturday, 9 am - Kids Class
Saturday, 10 am - Adult Class
Sunday, 10 am - Open Mat

On Monday, May 31, there will be no morning or evening classes. Have a great holdiay!

Another Successful Seminar

Thank you Sensei Leon for a wonderful Seminar. And thanks to all who came and made it such a successful time.

The Greatest Defense

The call came as we were getting ready for bed. My step-son had been injured in a bar fight at college. He told his mother that he had accidentally stepped on an obviously inebriated gentleman’s foot and without warning, the guy head-butted him. As he gathered himself to fight back, he was blinded-sided by another guy who bashed him across the side of head with a beer bottle. He dropped to the floor where the two men, and possibly up to two to three others, kicked and punched him while he lay on the ground.

He came home the next day and we took him to a doctor who confirmed that his nose was indeed broken as I had suspected, but thankfully did not have a concussion from the beer bottle though the wide gash across the right side of his forehead disappearing into his hair served as a painful reminder of that cowardly attack.

I asked him for more details, and knowing my stepson, a former high school football lineman, full of bravado and not a small amount of attitude, I suspected that the head-butt and beer bottle, cheap shots to be sure, were not entirely unprovoked. He told me that he did indeed accidentally step on the guy’s foot, and the guy made a typical drunk “tough-guy” response. My stepson responded with an expletive-laced, “tough-guy” remark and was suddenly greeted with a forehead across the bridge of his nose. He said he was able to swing at the guy a couple of times, missing, but then he was struck with the bottle which knocked him to the floor.

I shook my head as this scenario was not fully unexpected, yet I was glad that he wasn’t more seriously hurt. He looked at me, kind of embarrassed that this big “tough guy” with an ego as big as his biceps, was so easily subdued, albeit overmatched by a group of drunken idiots. He said, “Well, what would you have done? You’re a black belt in aikido. You would have gotten your ass kicked too.” I said, “Absolutely not. I would have used my aikido training and none of them would have been able to touch me.” He looked dumbfounded. “What would you have used, nikkyo or sankyo or something?” he asked.

I said, “No, none of that. I would have just said ‘sorry’, and walked away.”

Sensei Leon This Weekend

Reminder, Sensei Leon will be here this weekend starting Friday night at Eastern Sky Dojo and continuing Saturday and Sunday at the Rochester Dojo.

Pamphlets are at the Dojos.

BTW, we are still looking for bed for an Maryland student who is coming. Please contact Candy for this and any other questions.

Thanks,
-b

Thanks to all...

We had a very successful bit of cleaning on Saturday. We got a lot of the items on the list done.

We'll still need weekly cleaning to keep us in shape for next week's seminar. Also, if you missed Saturday and want to help with one of the projects, come see me. The fridge could use cleaning out too.

The dojo should feel like an extension of our homes and Saturday was proof of that.

Thanks everyone.
-b

Congratuations!

Congratulations to Hugh Higgins for a great fifth kyu test on Saturday!

Spring Cleaning

It's that time again. Please pitch in and help get the dojo ready for the Seminar with Leon Sensei (and for us). After class on Saturday April 24th we will be doing a thorough cleaning of the dojo and we need everyone to pitch in. If you can't make it then, please consider doing one of the items on the "must" list prior to then.

By the end of day April 24th we want to have at least done the following:

Clean all radiators
Wash all Windows
Wash walls outside of dressing rooms, all the way to ceiling (need ladders)
Mop
Vacuum
Dust everything
Organize the locker rooms
Organize cabinets


Bonus Items:
Get exhaust fan working in skylight
Cover/hide areas on the ceiling in the front
Paint wall with Mirror to match rest of dojo
Repair/Replace Damaged Mirror
Build/Buy Trash & Recycling Center (instead of the giant trash cans)

Did I miss anything? It's our home away from home and with everyone doing just a little it will all get done. Contact me if you want to work on any of the bonus items.

Thanks!
-b

The show must go on...

First - No one was hurt.
Second - Our space had NO damage.
Third - There was a fire in our building, down the hall in Victoria's studio.
Fourth - There will be no class interruptions. We only lost the 6pm class because of limited traffic in the area. Mark held the 7pm class.

Thanks to Seth from the wood shop next door for vacuuming up the little bit of water that got into our rugs at the door.

Thanks to Rochester Fire Department who responded quickly and did so much to get the water out of the building.

Best Wishes to Victoria as she puts her life back in order. For those of you who do not know, Victoria has space down the hall from the freight elevator. She makes really exquisite jewelry and other art objects. She has been our neighbor for I think over a decade. Please visit her site and let others know about her work. I bet she could use the extra advertising right about now.

Victoria Moore

Leon Brooks Sensei Seminar

We are again excited to be offering the opportunity to experience the unique expressions of aikido by Leon Brooks Sensei. If you missed him last spring you won't want to miss him this year.

Please join us on May 7th, 8th, and 9th for a full weekend seminar. For details please email us.

Congratuations!

It has been a busy week in Rochester for testing. Congratulations are in order for the following:

Third Kyu
Cyndi Lovejoy
Peter Veazie
Fourth Kyu
Jordan Bell
Fifth Kyu
Amanda Fisher
Sixth Kyu
John Botsford
Michael Chabalik
Peter Lee
Kimberly Sherer
Daniel Sickels

Nazareth Demo

Thanks to Steve, Bret, Judy Warner, Candy, Ryan, and Hugh for putting on a great demo for a group of middle school students held at Nazareth College on Wednesday March 10th. The audience's attention was grabbed from the first solid splat of Bret as he was thrown by Steve and held and they got to experience principles like unbendable arm and, my personal favorite, Nikyo!

Special thanks to Jordan's family for the use of their portable mats.

Bummer...

I was looking at Bujin Design's site today and they are having financial difficulty. They have provided a good product, I personally love their Gi tops. Join me in wishing them well.

From their site:
"This news comes with little warning, and for that we apologize. Bu Jin® Design's belt-tightening recession measures just haven't been able to ward off an unhappy turn of events. With little more to squeeze, and facing the end of our lease at the end of this month, we have had to do a lot of pencil chewing.

The conclusion is - Bu Jin® Design either needs a new owner with a ready-reserve or it needs to close. So if you or anyone you know is interested in owning a venerable old martial arts manufacturing company, please contact us immediately at opportunity@bujindesign.com."

Black Belt Class This Saturday at 11am

Come play with new ideas from Camp!

Cobblestone Class

Just a last minute reminder that there is no Cobblestone Class today, March 9th!

The next out of session day is April 20th.

Hope to see everyone tonight!

Winter Camp: Another Success

Another great Winter Camp. Sensei showed interesting new tweaks to techniques like Kaiten Nage and Ryo Moshi Kokyu Nage (scarf throw) just to name two.

We had great tests from Ryan, Ray, Christian, and Mark. Please come Tuesday night to help congratulate them on jobs very well done!

Winter Camp Class Schedule

Winter Camp is this coming weekend. All classes except for the Monday (3/8) 7am morning class will be held as scheduled.

Thanks to everyone who stepped up to make sure classes were covered during camp.

Another Date for Your Calendar!

We have four students testing at Winter Camp in two weeks.

First kyu: Ray Easton and Ryan Liddell
Nidan: Christian Haacke
Sandan: Mark Grey

Please come welcome them back from Camp and testing on Tuesday, March 9 at 7pm with a special celebratory class.

Nikyo Quarterly - Winter Edition Now Available

The Winter 2010 edition of our newsletter is now available. Thanks to all those who contributed!.

Click Here to Download

Wordpress Site

Hi all, sorry for the inconvenience but the wordpress payment site will be down for a bit. Please be patient with me while I straighten it out.

Cobblestone Class

The Cobblestone School has requested that we host a class for them again this year. It will be held on Tuesdays at 12:45 at the dojo starting on Feb 23rd and going through May 25th; excepting March 9th and April 20th.

We are looking for Kokikai students interested in helping out. As a bonus an instructor will be available to answer questions and help with technique after the teenagers leave.

Please contact Candace Martens if you can help at any of the classes.
Thanks for your support!

Call for volunteers

Students, friends, countrymen,

Wednesday March 10th at 4pm we have been asked to do a demonstration at Nazareth college for a group of high school students. The demo will last ~45 minutes. We need people to commit to being there. Please contact me or Steve Perino. I know that it is close to camp, but at least we will be all warmed up!

Thanks,
-Brian

The spirit for training

Twitter was recently the source for an article on "keiko" - combining training with the correct state of mind. I enjoyed reading it so much that I thought I would share it was everyone. Please enjoy!

Additional Test Prep Classes

We will be doing additional Camp Prep during the 6pm Class on Tuesday 1/26 and during the 10am class on Saturday 1/30.

This is a great opportunity for those that can't make Mondays.

All are welcome and encouraged to come regardless of rank.

Congratuations!

We had a great group of students test last night.

Congratulations to:

6th kyu: Brendan Courtsal, Hugh Higgins

5th kyu: Joe Cummings, Emily Erdman, Russ Perkins, Dave Porter, Patrick Warren

Class Times

Please take note of the recent changes to class time on Tuesday and Thursday night.

Tuesday will now go form 6-7pm, and from 7-8ish (no 8-9pm)
Thursday will go from 6-7pm and 7-8:30pm (no 8-9pm)

As the seasons change, so does the flow of students. Classes will likely be extended again as we get into warmer weather.

Thanks!

Testing in the Dojo

We will be testing a number of students for 6th and 5th kyu on Thursday (January 21) during the 7pm class. Please come to cheer and uke!

Camp Prep (aka test prep) Mondays!

Please join us for 6 weeks of camp prep beginning on Monday, Jan. 18 at 7:00 pm.

All students are welcome to participate in camp prep. Camp prep is not mandatory however it’s a good challenge whether you are testing at camp or not. It gives everyone an opportunity to grow their confidence for testing and attending camp.

Week 1 – Set the baseline for fitness and technique – Class will be co-taught by Marcella and Brian and will run from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm.

Week 2-Week 5 – 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm classes will focus on various aspects of testing: goal setting, techniques-quality v. quantity, presence, signature throws, etc.

Week 6 – Re-visit the baseline for fitness and technique – Class will be co-taught by Marcella and Brian and will run from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm.

For those of you who can’t make Mondays, additional prep time will be scheduled, more details to follow.

Whether you come to camp prep class to uke, run a video camera/stop watch or simply cheer from the sidelines your participation will be greatly appreciated because it does take a dojo to raise a brown/black belt!

Questions, see Marcella or Brian.

Test Prep Starts Monday

It's that time of year again. The first test prep class is Monday, 1/18 at 7pm.


More details to come...

The Genius of Flexibility

In this morning's session with David Nachman Sensei, he introduced a series of stretches. The book that he mentioned is The Genius of Flexibility by Bob Cooley (Fireside, Simon and Schuster)