View Single Post
Old 02-08-2006, 12:08 AM   #3
liasuzuki
Dojo: Lia Suzuki
Location: Santa Barbara
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 2
United_States
Offline
Re: Article on Lia Suzuki Sensei

Hello AikiWeb readers.

I wanted to make some corrections to an article which was inaccurate. I apologize for the mistakes. My busy schedule that week, combined with the interviewer's distance from me (about 300 miles), necessitated that the interview (for a local paper here in Santa Barbara) be conducted over the phone - my cel phone! - while I was driving down the freeway. This combined with the fact that the interviewer was a non-Aikidoka, challenged our communication.

I'm a bit embarrassed by the over-the-top "most talented in the nation" and such, although I'd imagine it'll help to promote the dojo locally to prospective students. As many of us have learned, there's a point in our training where we actually seem to LOSE confidence perhaps because we get good enough to see more and more where we leave ourselves open.

What really got my attention however, was the mistaken dan and also the paragraph about testing. Again, I apologize for this. I'm still 5th dan (I guess "fifth" can sound like "sixth" on a cell phone in a car with the windows open) and I realize that other teachers can test without a Japanese officiating.

When I first saw the article on Sunday, I called the author right away. I followed that with a call to the newspaper Monday morning. They assured me that the corrections would be made. So when it does go to press (probably this Thursday), it will appear differently from how it did on AikiWeb. By the way, I was amazed that Jun found it before it had gone to press and before I had read it. Lucky for me that he did, so I could get things fixed.

Thank you.

Lia Suzuki
Aikido Kenkyukai International
Santa Barbara Dojo
  Reply With Quote