Hello from New Orleans!

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[Bryan Sproles]

Hi all, many years ago (probably 1998 - 2001 or so) I trained in traditional JuJutsu (Minami-Ryu) under Jack Garrett sensei, and earned Go Kyu (green belt).

Unfortunately due to work and other obligations, I had to stop doing what was, for me, a very enjoyable experience. At that time, I was also getting very interested in Aikido, and I did practice with the Aikido Shinjukai in Singapore on 2 occasions.

Now it's close to 7 years later, and I'm very interested in starting back up in the martial arts, obviously Aikido is my first choice :)

I'm hoping to find a good Aikido dojo here in the New Orleans area where I might sit in and have a look at some classes.

I really enjoy talking about Aikido and techniques, so I hope to contribute something to these forums!

-Bryan

[akiy]

Hi Bryan,

Welcome to AikiWeb. I hope you find a good aikido dojo near you.

-- Jun

[ramenboy]

welcome to the family, bryan

check out this dojo
http://www.aikidoneworleans.org/index.php

good bunch of guys.

when you drop by, tell larry sensei that jerry and the guys from chicago say hi

practice hard

[xernaut]

Hi Bryan,

Feel free to check us out too.

www.nolaaikido.com

You'd be welcome to come try a class here as well.

Best wishes, and look forward to meeting you at our dojo or at Aikido of New Orleans,

Brian Levy
Chief Instructor, NOLA Aikido

[Bryan Sproles]

Robert: Thanks for the invite! What style do y'all practice? Aikikai, Yoshinkan, etc?

I'll check out the website and see if I can make it down there to view a class (my old gi is way too small for me now, I'd definitely need a new one :) )

Jerry: Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check them out too!

-Bryan

[nagoyajoe]

Please check out http://www.tulane.edu/~aikido/tulaneaikido.html.

[xernaut]

Hi Bryan,

We practice a branch of Aikikai style.

So between us, Aikido of N.O. and the Tulane Club you've got plenty to choose from.

Look forward to maybe meeting you soon.

Best wishes,

Brian

[Bryan Sproles]

Just wanted to do a small update - I just had my first official Aikido class (since the ones in Singapore in '99) with Brian Levy sensei at NOLA Aikido, and it was very enjoyable, and I think my original JuJitsu training kicked back in when performing the tenkan and ikkyo techniques.

The Kokyuho was completely new to me (even though I've seen it in books), but was also very cool and gave me a new perspective on things.

The thing I like so much about Aikido is the harmonizing and circular motion, as Levy sensei and I talked about after class. Take uke's kuzushi and lead them to where you want them to go, not the other way around :)

-Bryan