Registration will be limited, so don't miss out!

Seikokan Dojo will be holding Dan (blackbelt) testing for adults. There will be two testing for Nidan (second degree) and two testing for Sandan (third degree).

All Adult, as well as senior Youth students are encouraged to come out and watch.

Andrea Poliak will be teaching Hatha Yoga on Wednesdays from 6pm-7:30pm & 7:30pm-8pm, and Fridays 5:30pm-6:30pm.

Yoga Flow Classes will help to; Develop self-awareness and gain peace of mind; Increase your circulation flow and detoxify your system; Build your core strength and energy for daily activities.

Classes start Wednesday March 5. Come on out and try a free class!!!

This class is for students 3rd Kyu and higher.

The focus of this class will be advanced waza in preparation for Black Belt rankings.

This course is designed for the Adult Beginner to Aikido.

The beginning student will be taken through the basic warm-ups, basic movements of Aikido, proper break-falling methods and Basic Introduction to Aikido techniques. If you've always wanted to try Aikido, now is the time!

Kenshu will Start Sunday January 6, 2008 at 11:00am - 12:00pm

Kenshu is a private class that runs for 16 weeks, January to May.

Focus is on students wishing to pursue black belts ranks. Must be 7th kyu or higher (some exceptions can be made).

For more information, contact Mark Lemmon Sensei.

The Senior Youth class is for any Youth Student 4th Kyu or higher.

This class is to help the advanced Youth studetn to prepare for 3rd Kyu ranks and higher.

Students must have a good understanding of number 3 breakfalls as well as a complete set of buki (weapons - bokken, jo and tanto)

by Rob Bondy

Recently I attended a visitation for a young girl who had died in a car accident. Being a parent of two young girls, I found the experience particularly difficult. As I drove away from the funeral home, I became aware of a very strong appreciation for life that I am hit with immediately following such loss. It usually manifests as a deeper commitment to be a good father and husband. In that moment, I experienced a merging of two dualities, life and death. Duality is the great challenge in life. How do we reconcile life and death, strong and weak, hard and soft, or compassion and detachment?

In training, there are countless opportunities to encounter dualities. Hard and soft, or rather, tense and relaxed is a common one. Our goal is most definitely to be relaxed in our practice; but, with so much to be attentive to, this seems impossible. Robert Mustard Sensei noticed this in his past visits to our dojo, calling the lot of us a "bunch of gorillas". Showing some sympathy for this plight, Mustard Sensei also reminded us that without tense, we could never know relaxed. Although it was said in an almost off handed manner, that simple observation is the core teaching for anyone who seeks to study the way seriously.

In training, we will continually move between extremes. In our first attempts at Jiyu waza (freestyle) we will sometimes move too fast, and at other times not fast enough. As our pins develop we find a balance between a weak and ineffective pin and the arm wrenchers that test our training friendships. Most clearly we can see it in weapons practice. There it seems more difficult to get that correct distance. Close enough to breathe reality into the martial nature of the movement, but far enough to prevent injury. This interval is called Ma ai.

The translation of Ma ai is "proper distance". Ma means distance, and Ai means harmony. This is the same Ai as in Aikido (The way of harmony with energy). Harmony and balance seems to be the core goal of both budo and life. We want it now. That's our problem, fault, whatever. What we must keep in mind is that we need to know and experience both sides before we can ever have harmony. Fast and slow, hard and soft, or life and death are all part of the same reality. We should not begrudge either, or we will never have Ai.

"Everyday is a good Day" -Ummon

"There are only two things you can control in the universe; your actions, and your reactions." -Rob Bondy