Toby Threadgill at Aikido of Northern Virginia

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[Jim Sorrentino]

Greetings All,

Aikido of Northern Virginia will host a seminar with Toby Threadgill-sensei November 13 - 15, 2008. There will be four classes:

Thursday: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Friday: 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am - 11:30 am; 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm

The cost of the seminar is $150 for the entire seminar or $50 per class.

The subject of the workshop will be the definition and development of aiki from the perspective of a classical Japanese martial art, and integrating that understanding into aikido. Although the workshop will focus primarily on empty-hand technique, weapons may be used.

Toby Threadgill-sensei began training under Takamura Yukiyoshi, headmaster of Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryu (TSYR), in 1985. In 1992 he founded the Soryushin Dojo and in 1994 was appointed a branch director of the Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Kai. In 1999, he was one of three people to be awarded a menkyo kaiden (teaching license) in Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryu. Following the passing of Takamura Yukiyoshi in 2000, he was asked by the other TSYR branch directors to accept the position of administrative head (kaicho) of the Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Kai. He currently oversees instruction at the Shindo Yoshin Kai Hombu Dojo in Evergreen, Colorado, and maintains a busy international teaching schedule. There is more information on this classical system at the Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Kai web site (http://www.shinyokai.com/home.htm) and there is a very good interview with Threadgill-sensei available at Aikido Journal at http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=702&highlight=threadgill.

Registration, including payment in full, is due no later than November 1. Attendance is limited to 40 participants. There will be no registration at the door. A flyer, registration form, and waiver are at http://www.aikido-nova.org/Threadgill2008a.pdf.

See you on the mat!

Sincerely,

Jim

[ChrisMoses]

If you haven't had the pleasure of training with Toby in the past, please do yourself a favor and get to this seminar. Toby is both a clear and generous teacher not to mention an outstanding technician. My own (sword) teacher commented a few times after watching him instruct at how well he was able to target information to the various skill levels across the mat. He also tells some VERY entertaining stories, be sure to ask him about the guy and his girlfriend who came into the martial arts store to buy a 'replacement' black belt. I nearly cried... :D

[SeiserL]

Oh yes, be there or regret it.
Always instructional and inspirational.
Trained with him many times. Always worth it.
Highly recommend.

[Jim Sorrentino]

Greetings All,

This is a reminder that there are still spaces available in this seminar. Registration, including payment in full, is due no later than November 1. Attendance is limited to 40 participants. There will be no registration at the door. A flyer, registration form, and waiver are at http://www.aikido-nova.org/Threadgill2008a.pdf.

See you on the mat!

Sincerely,

Jim

[George S. Ledyard]

Greetings All,

This is a reminder that there are still spaces available in this seminar. Registration, including payment in full, is due no later than November 1. Attendance is limited to 40 participants. There will be no registration at the door. A flyer, registration form, and waiver are at http://www.aikido-nova.org/Threadgill2008a.pdf.

See you on the mat!

Sincerely,

Jim

Hi Jimmy,
Have a great time with Toby... He came to our place and did an absolutely awesome seminar on the relation between sword and empty hand. Folks should not miss this!!!!
- George

[Stephen Kotev]

Looking forward to it.

[Jim Sorrentino]

Greetings All,

There are EIGHT spaces left in this seminar. The deadline for registration is Saturday, November 1. If you're interested, please see the flyer, registration form, and waiver at http://www.aikido-nova.org/Threadgill2008a.pdf.

See you on the mat!

Jim

[Marc Abrams]

I would like to thank Jim for running a successful seminar. Toby Threadgill Sensei was very generous with his teachings. His students were helpful and their input was greatly appreciated.

I would strongly encourage any Aikidoka to attend a seminar taught by Toby Threadgill Sensei.

Marc Abrams

[Kevin Leavitt]

Marc,

It was good meeting you there finally. I agree with your comments!

I would love to post a review of the seminar, but to be honest I am having a hard time processing all the input I received.

As I told Toby, I normally kind of avoid Koryu guys as I am basically a simpleton and get bored easily. I had planned on cutting out after the first evening if it got too much in the weeds on the details of customs, antiquated practices, and all that stuff.

Of course, I left the third day kinda wishing that it did not end.

Toby is one of the most outstanding teachers I have ever worked with. He keeps it simple, focused, is approachable, and can have you doing things that you have had trouble with, even if it only last for a short while before you forget how to do it!

I like the fact that he uses his koryu background to demonstrate principles that can be applied to any modern practice. As a Modern Combatives guy, I found myself in agreeing with him on application and tactics. He understands both the old and the new.

We need guys like him to preserve these old systems so us simpletons can return to the source look at etiology or what not and find new meaning and ways to do things based on the old.

I know for a fact that I would never have the patience or the ability to study a system such as TYSR. However, it is a rare occasion to see someone of his caliber do what he does.

Anyway, as I said, still processing what he showed us, so I don't even know where I would begin to talk about it!

[Jim Sorrentino]

Hi Marc,I would like to thank Jim for running a successful seminar. Toby Threadgill Sensei was very generous with his teachings. His students were helpful and their input was greatly appreciated.

I would strongly encourage any Aikidoka to attend a seminar taught by Toby Threadgill Sensei.You're welcome! Thank you for your support!

Great seminars don't happen by chance. Ellis Amdur recommended to me that I invite Threadgill-sensei to my dojo (and he assured Toby that we were reasonably normal for aikidoka :) ). Many of my students worked hard behind the scenes to make the seminar a success. Further, I am grateful to everyone who attended for the quality of their participation. People from 5th kyu to 6th dan worked together to learn some fascinating stuff. Thank you all very much!

Finally, I thank Toby Threadgill for his insights and instruction. It was as inspiring as it was informative, and I look forward to training with him again!

Sincerely,

Jim

[Toby Threadgill]

Hi,

I'd like to thank Jim Sorrentino for a great time. The seminar was attended by a wonderful group of people and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I hope what I taught was accessable. Sometimes people tell me my seminars can feel like drinking water out of a fire hydrant. I try to present budo principles and body theory in a manner that is not only understood intellectually but also accessible within the physical framework of Japanese taijutsu application. It is my intention that the participants walk away with something valuable in their budo toolbox that they can remember and employ in whatever art they study.

Thanks again Jim, and all the participants, for a rewarding experience.

All my best,

Toby Threadgill / TSYR

[jim312uav]

Toby;
Thanks for a great seminar.

The key principles that you covered should help to give us all things to go back to and look for within our own practice.

It was a great seminar thanks to everyone that came out.

[odudog]

Hello Everyone,
It was nice working with you all at the seminar. My mind is still reeling from all the new stuff I had witnessed and more importantly, felt. I can't wait to show some of the new stuff to my fellow dojo mates tonight. I only wish that Threadgill Sensei will tell the names to the katas that he presented so that those of us that happen to know Japanese or have sources to inform us of what the kata is trying to convey via the name. I did learn some new Japanese words to though. I hope that he will come back again to the DC area.
Thanx,
Mike {the chocolate chip at the seminar}

[jss]

Does anyone care to post a more elaborate description/review of the seminar beyond 'it was very interesting and a lot of fun'?