Three New 6th Kyu Students

Eight months ago when we started Kinjo Dojo in November of 2013, I set a modest goal: Test three new students for 6th kyu. I hoped to have at least three new beginners start from scratch and stay with us long enough to take their 6th kyu test.

Last night (2014-6-26), I handed out the third 6th kyu certificate to one of our new beginners. Congratulations to Jared, Kim, and Nathan on their accomplishment; thank you for coming out and supporting the dojo!

And of course congratulations goes to my son Evan for his 6th and 5th kyu promotions since we started the dojo. I didn't count him as one of the 3 because he's been training with us since we were down south with Blevins-sensei and Kiryu Aikido. Also he's family and often gets dragged into class whether he feels like it or not!

We still have 4 more months to go before our first year anniversary. I hope to see a few more interested students walk through the door to begin their path in aikido.

See you on the mat!

Charles

Workshop Series

We are beginning our workshop series this week with shodan review. This training is open to anyone 3rd kyu and above and will focus on requirements for the Aikido of San Leandro sho-dan test.

This workshop is only open to students 3rd kyu and above because we have a very limited amount of time to cover a large amount of material! Even with 3rd kyu and up it will be a challenge to get through everything and still have time to do practice tests at the end. Anyone is welcome to drop by at any time during the training and observe. Please do so! It's a great time to see advanced practice and get a better idea of what's to come in your training.

These workshops are meant to help students prepare for their next rank, or provide an opportunity for some extra training and ukemi (falling) practice. Each workshop will cost $20 for the day.

I'm hoping to have these every month at least, and typically on Saturday. The next workshop will focus on 4th kyu and will be open to everyone. The 4th kyu test includes techniques from both 6th and 5th kyu, so students working on those tests will benefit as well.

Here are the workshop levels planned so far:

• 6th - 4th kyu: 
• open to everyone
• focus is on the 4th kyu test which includes techniques from 6th and 5th kyu
• 3rd - 1st kyu
• open to 5th kyu and up
• focus on 2nd kyu test, 31 jo kata, kumitachi
• Sho-dan
• open to 3rd kyu and up
• faster pace, advanced ukemi
• Weapons: 5 kumi-tachi, 5 kumi-jo, 5 ken-tai-jo
• Ni-dan and up
• open to 3rd kyu and up
• faster pace, advanced ukemi
• Weapons: kumi-tachi, kumi-jo, ken-tai-jo; all with variations
• kaeshi-waza
• henka-waza

Hope to see everyone at the upcoming workshops, gambatte (do your best)!

Sho-dan Workshop, June 22

On June 22nd we will have a workshop for students seeking sho-dan. Throughout the day we will focus on the sho-dan test requirements from Aikido of San Leandro and Pat Hendricks Sensei. Since ASL is affiliated with the CAA and Aikikai, this includes the requirements from the Hombu/Aikikai test so all styles are welcome.

This training is for anyone 3rd kyu or higher. Cost is $20.

3rd and 2nd kyu
You will have the opportunity to work on higher level techniques, see what's ahead, and get a good ukemi workout

1st kyu
Focus on the test requirements and clean up your techniques. Slow down and work on your form; it's not a race!

sho-dans and higher
If you are coming from other styles and re-testing into CAA Division 1, you can focus on Iwama weapons and changes to the open-hand techniques. Everyone else can enjoy the extra training and review.

This is our first all-day event as a dojo and I'm looking forward to working with Kinjo Dojo students and preparing them for what's ahead. Other styles and dojos are welcome to attend and I hope to see some visitors on the mat and in the park for weapons practice!

Schedule
11-13: Weapons in the park (location TBD; see update below)
13-15: Lunch and open practice
15-17: open-hand and practice tests
18:00: We'll go out to a local spot for post-workshop dinner and beverages

Location (morning weapons): Memorial Park in Arvada (map). We'll meet at the southwest area of the park. There is a small shelter and shade trees.

Location (afternoon open-hand): Kinjo Dojo

Update (2014-6-18): Changed time to 11am, and location to Memorial Park in Arvada

Update (2014-6-10): There is a big bike race going on the day of our training so we will probably move morning weapons to another park. Check here or one of the event links below for updates.

Workshop Event links:
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