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Congratulations! Roy has been promoted to master level, sixth degree black belt and Heather to seventh. It was a total surprise and we both feel honored. We appreciate all our students over the years who have asked the tough questions that have kept us learning. Thank you to all our friends and mentors who have helped us along the way. We look forward to many years of teaching to come. 
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We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Due to icy road conditions, Youth and Family LINK has closed their facility and gym today. We don’t want to take a chance on the roads either, and out of an abundance of caution have decided to cancel class tonight. Cross your fingers the roads are clear by Wednesday! See you soon!  A great, big, thank you to everyone who came out to the solstice walk on December 18! We had a fantastic time and enjoyed all the smiles warming up the longest night of the year. We appreciate everyone who helped out with our booth and kept everything so happy. See you next year!    Congratulations, Patty, on your promotion to yellow belt! We're so glad to have you in class and look forward to many more happy mat hours with you!  Congratulations to our newest yellow belts - Kaitlyn and Brooke! You are doing great and we're proud of you!  It's that time of year again for the annual Solstice Walk! Shinju Dojo is sponsoring the planet Mars, named after the Greek god of War. We look forward to seeing you there! Please contact us if you can help out at the booth. Where: Start at the marker for the Sun at the south end of Lake Sacajawea Park. Walk at your own pace to the marker for Pluto 1.64 miles north (or 3.7 billion miles, according to the model!) Passports are provided at the event. Get yours stamped at each planet and station. When: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM on Saturday, December 18, 2021 (The solstice is December 21 but the walk will be on the Saturday before.) Cost: Free! Space Shuttle: Round trip too long? No problem! They will have their popular space shuttles for a quick ride between the Sun and Pluto. Thank you to the Afifi Shriners for volunteering the space shuttles and pilots! Restrooms: Park restrooms should be open through the event at the Lions Shelter (south end, Nichols side) and over the foot bridge (Kessler side, at Hemlock north of the playground). Check here for the official website and more details: https://www.friendsofgalileo.com/solstice.html  Congratulations Cory, on earning your brown belt! We're so happy to have you in class. You'll be a black belt before you know it.  Be one of the cool kids and get your Shinju Dojo Aikido T-shirts, coffee mugs, stationary, and more here. With the holidays coming up, our gear makes a great gift for your favorite martial artist! Need a weapon or a gi (uniform)? Contact us directly and we'll set you up.
Congratulations, Ernie, on your green belt promotion! We love having you in class!  We will be closed Monday, September 20 and Wednesday, September 22. We will resume our regular schedule on Monday, September 27. See you on the mat!  We are very happy to announce the re-opening of Shinju Dojo Aikido! After a long wait we're finally back in the gym after the shutdowns. We can't wait to see you there! Classes start Wednesday, September 1. More information can be found on our classes page. Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00 - 9:00 PM Youth and Family LINK Gym 907 Douglas Street Longview, WA 98632 Monthly membership rates: Individual - $100.00 Couples - $150.00 Families of three - $200.00 Families of four or more - $250.00 Please contact us at (360) 998-0749 or sensei@shinjudojo.com, and we'll be happy to answer all your questions.  We are very happy to announce the re-opening of Shinju Dojo Aikido! After a long wait we're finally back in the gym after the shutdowns. We can't wait to see you there! Classes start Wednesday, September 1. More information can be found on our classes page. Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00 - 9:00 PM Youth and Family LINK Gym 907 Douglas Street Longview, WA 98632 Monthly membership rates: Individual - $100.00 Couples - $150.00 Families of three - $200.00 Families of four or more - $250.00 Please contact us at (360) 998-0749 or sensei@shinjudojo.com, and we'll be happy to answer all your questions.  Congratulations, Ernie, on your promotion to orange belt! You're learning tons and will have your black belt before you know it!  Are you gearing up to get your green belt promotion? You will need to show a basic understanding of the Tegatana No Kata (the walk), all of the Hanasu No Kata (eight releases), and the first five of the Ju Nana Hon Kata (seventeen basic techniques). The first grouping of the Ju Nana Hon Kata is called Ateme Waza, the striking techniques: 1. Shomen Ate — frontal head strike 2. Aigamae Ate — fitting posture strike 3. Gyaku Gamae Ate — reverse posture strike 4. Gedan Ate — low strike 5. Ushiro Ate — from behind strike Here's a handy website with videos to everything you need to know. You've got this! https://www.windsongdojo.com/aikido-at-windsong-dojo/aikido-kata/aikido-study-guide-yonkyu/  Congratulations, Ernie on your yellow belt promotion! You're doing great and we're so glad to have you in class!  Congratulations, Cory, on earning your green belt! You are doing great with your online classes and we love having class with you!  Congratulations, Sosa, on your new orange belt promotion! You have been doing great with your online video classes and we are very proud of you. You will have a black belt before you know it.  We are still here for our students! Our dojo remains physically closed until the Washington State mandates are lifted. We are now offering weekly thirty-minute video lessons online. Although these are private lessons, we are only charging our regular monthly dojo membership rate. Not a regular student? No problem! As always, try your first class for free. Ready to sign up today? Download our application, fill it out on both sides, sign it, and email it back to us. We'll contact you to finalize the process. To participate in a session, you will need:
Contact us at sensei@shinjujdojo.com or (360) 998-0749 for more information and to schedule your session. Until we see you on the mat - see you online!  Congratulations to our new orange and yellow belts! We are so pleased with all the hard work everyone is doing while attending our online video classes. Even though we couldn't do regular demos, we are very excited to recognize the progress everyone is doing during the COVID19 shutdown. Keep up the good work, and you'll be black belts before you know it!
Thanks to the age of the Internet, I was able to see a series of videos from 1979 featuring Tomiki explaining various points of his Aikido. The fourth one in the series can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/moI4s0_yuOg Unfortunately, I don't speak a word of Japanese. (Well, yes, my husband reminds me I love the words sushi and sake!) So while it was interesting to watch him in action, I had no idea what he was saying. Thanks again to the Internet, a friend sent me his notes on what was going on. This is not a direct translation, but it should help with understanding the points Tomiki is trying to make. Here's what my friend said: "The advancing step of the uke will make contact as the hand makes contact. Tori has the opportunity to step and step again in the same amount of time. Two steps with a hand blade, to break balance of the uke. The timing is critical to regain complete balance at the moment the uke is begging to lose balance. In the release form of honatsu no kata, Tomiki demonstrates that direction will not interfere with the hand blade form as long as two feet for the tori have advanced for every single step of the uke. The drill that's being presented is showing advanced methods of technique applied to the very basic movements. Tsurigi is referenced 3 times (taizo) to articulate the straightness of centering with the hand blade. To maintain control of the uke's balance tori essentially focuses on moving with the hand in a straight line through from the hara. Returning the grip: literal translation making return grip Nigiri kaeshi no tsukuri I understand that the kuzushi (unbalancing) is applied at the moment of the grip placing the uke on 1 foot, causing them to release their grip at the moment you step and grasp them in return. Applying the tegatana no kata principles of 2 for 1 step, this is the next piece of finesse. Hiji Mochi (capturing the elbow) Oshitaoshi uses this principle of capture with or without the butterfly grip, and maintaining hold. What do you do with the grasp at the wrist? If tori maintains hold, uke will resist and pull away in response. This is when tori advances to move with that pull. Uke is pulling tori behind and into the position to take control of the elbow from the back. There is some translation I'm lost in, but he references the use of 'skubioski <incorrect spelling> steps. Moving both feet while advancing with a hold on uke as they resist, continue moving into position until the elbow is captured. It is unique to see a breakdown of how long it can actually take to get someone on the ground if your set on taking only one specific hold. There is a segment where he uses a butterfly grip and a casting motion with the grasp. Simultaneously extending to separate the elbow and raising it into position, causing the uke to be "pulled" into tori."  Washington Governor Inslee’s Stay At Home Order has been extended. As such, the dojo remains physically closed until the mandates are lifted. We are still here for our students! Shinju Dojo Aikido is now offering private video lessons online. Each session will last thirty minutes and will be offered for at least as long as the shutdown lasts. To participate in a session, you will need:
Our regular, paid students can schedule up to one session per week for free for the duration of the shutdown. Those who are not already members of the dojo who wish to participate in long distance lessons can sign up for the discounted price of $25 per session. Sign up for 3 in a month, and get the 4th free! Billing will be done online and payments will be accepted by credit card. Contact us at sensei@shinjujdojo.com or (360) 998-0749 for more information and to schedule your session. Stay healthy and we hope to be back on the mat with everyone soon!  Check out our latest video on YouTube! This one features master martial artist David Lusk when he visited us in September. He's talking about keeping your hands and feet in sync when doing Jodo. https://youtu.be/5dnGDeeeF9c  Yesterday, Washington Governor Inslee declared a Stay At Home Order for a minimum of two weeks to go into effect tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25. As such, the dojo remains physically closed until the mandates are lifted. We are still here for our students! Shinju Dojo Aikido is now offering private video lessons online. Each session will last up to one hour and will be offered for at least as long as the shutdown lasts. To participate in a session, you will need:
Our regular, paid students can schedule up to one session per week for free for the duration of the shutdown. Those who are not already members of the dojo who wish to participate in long distance lessons can sign up for the discounted price of $25 per session. Billing will be done online and payments will be accepted by credit card. Contact us at sensei@shinjujdojo.com or (360) 998-0749 for more information and to schedule your session. We hope to be back on the mat with everyone soon!  We love and miss our students! To better serve everyone during the extended shutdown here in Washington and elsewhere, Shinju Dojo Aikido is now offering private video lessons online. Each session will last up to one hour and will be offered for at least as long as the shutdown lasts. To participate in a session, a smartphone, tablet, or computer with video and microphone and a FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom account are needed. Our regular, paid students can schedule up to one session per week for free for the duration of the shutdown. Those who are not already members of the dojo who wish for long distance lessons can sign up for the discounted price of $25 per session. Billing will be done online and a credit card is needed for payment. Contact us at sensei@shinjujdojo.com or (360) 998-0749 for more information and to schedule your session. We hope to be back on the mat with everyone soon!  Due to concerns over the Coronavirus and Governor Inslee's proclamation, the Youth and Family Link Gym is shut down until at least March 31, 2020. Shinju Dojo Aikido will also be postponing our classes until further notice. We will keep everyone posted as we have information. When we do get the go-ahead to reopen, March dues will be credited towards the next open month's classes. In the meanwhile, we encourage our members to spend time enjoying the spring sunshine and time with their families. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!  |
AuthorHeather and Roy Gawlick love Aikido and have a passion for sharing it with others. They hope you'll catch the Aikido bug, too! Archives
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