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Old 06-01-2009, 12:02 PM   #1
John.Minker
Location: Richmond, IL
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 9
United_States
Offline
Looking for advice on ways to start my dream

Hi, my name is John Minker and as a kid I've always dreamed about learning aikido. My dream first began after I first learned of aikido from watching above the law with Steven Seagal. I asked my dad what martial arts he used in the film and he told me that it was "aikido".

However, there were many things that held me back from my dream of learning aikido. For one, I could never find any dojos around my area close enough to walk or bike to. My parents weren't willing to drive me an hour away so I could learn aikido, so that began letting me down, and thats when I started to give up trying to learn aikido. My parents also held me back from starting aikido as a kid. They didn't support me at all and called me "stupid" for wanting to practice aikido. My friends also thought the idea was a joke. I knew I wasn't "stupid" for wanting to learn aikido but again, my enthusiasm for trying to learn aikido started to fade away.

I went so far as to downloading an instructional video on the aikido techniques from limewire, and began trying to teach myself aikido with my brother. I learned how to roll and a couple techniques, but I'm sure I wasn't executing them perfectly and I wasn't getting the spiritual training from aikido that I wanted to experience within a dojo. After my brother got tired of practicing aikido with me and gave up, I gave up as well.

Now, I'm eighteen years old and have graduated highschool and I've finally decided to fulfill my dream of learning and mastering the art of aikido physically and spiritually. However, yet again I come to the issue that there is no dojo near where I live. I live in Spring Grove, Illinois. I've done google searches and dojo searches on this website, and I've found that the closest dojos are in McHenry, about 15 - 20 minutes away and the other dojo is in Harvard which is 35-45 minutes away. The problem with the McHenry dojo is that classes only take place Monday and Wednesday 7:30-8:30 and then 8:30 to 9:30 for more advanced techniques. Not that two days a week is bad, I'm just really passionate about learning aikido, and would like to spend at least 2-4 hours a day and at least 3-4 days a week studying aikido. I suppose I'm also a little worried about the McHenry dojo because it seems like it might cost a lot. I didn't understand the fees described on the website

Does anyone know of any ways to go to Japan without a lot of money, to learn aikido, or any other way to learn aikido that doesn't require a lot of money? Right now I don't have a lot of money to go to aikido camps for 8 days for 600$ like the one I found on the Harvard dojo website. I'm working hard every day though to pay off some credit card debt so I can start saving money for aikido.

I know I've started to ramble on in the end here, but I'm really just looking for advice and help on how I can start my path to spiritual harmony with aikido. If anyone here could help me I would appreciate it beyond belief.

My email is minker.business@gmail.com, I'll check back here tonight after I return from the McHenry dojo tonight. Thank you.
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