Tucson schools?

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[deanj]

First off, i've read the FAQ's and and this forum about finding a school, and i'm also posting in the Chit-Chat area to help avoid possible flames for asking this type of question.
That said, does anyone on here have personal experience with a particular school/teacher in the Tucson, Az area?

I have started visiting the schools here, and have seen some differences, but nothing that big.(i still have 3 schools to go)
And i don't know anyone else in town who practices Aikido, so i can't pick their brain on schools.

So anyone with personal experience with Tucson schools have any reccomendations?
thanks
dean

[Robert Schuster]

I looked for awhile because I live in the southeast...Rita ranch. I checked into Kosho @ speedway by Pantano and it was like a smorgasboard of Martial Arts. I didn't like the fact that every hour a different style was taught. I really liked Kokoro off ft. Lowell north on Dodge and joined. It is a very traditional dojo and the students and instructors are great. Check it out

[Billy the Kid]

Are you looking for a particular style? I hate the "smorgasboard of Martial Arts" schools too. I mean, what happened to traditional one art, one school way of thinking?
Anyway, since you asked, let me tell you about my experience in Tucson. I have jumped around from school to school feeling unsatisfied. But I think I finally found one. The school I just joined is amazing! The teachers name is Cody Lewallen Sensei and he has been studying Aikido in Japan at the Tenshin Dojo(the school started by Steven Seagal)for over 11 years! His technique is so articulate and clean it blows away everything I have seen thus far. I am going to ask him to join this site so people can pick his brain, but until then, check out the dojo site at
www.shoubudojo.com
He doesn't have many students yet because he just came back from Japan, but I am sure he will do very well.
The thing I really like about him is that he is very traditional- he speaks Japanese in class, and serious, but at the same time he is so nice and uses a lot of levity in class.
Anyway, if you are looking for an Aikido school, I recommend Lewallen Sensei- I mean, do you want to learn Aikido from some guy that studied at the YMCA two nights a week, or a guy that did it every day for 11 years in Japan?!- at the school Steven Seagal opened no less!