*Tentative* dates for Akuzawa (Aunkai) in Seattle, WA 11/3-11/4

OK, at this point the seminar is basically full. I'm giving those people who expressed an early interest in the seminar some time (a week or so) to pay for and reserve their spot. If you are interested and haven't told me yet, please email me and I will add you to the wait list. If someone backs out, I will give those on the wait list a chance to reserve a spot based on when they emailed me.

who all is making it? I will be there and look forward to meeting you all.

I'm there

We have people coming in from all over the US and Canada!

Please let me know if you're interested in dinner on Saturday night with Ark and Rob. At this point it looks like it will be Chinese food, near Aikido Eastside. Probably $15/person, buy your own adult beverages.

I'm really looking forward to meeting all of you.

I'll be there.

Josh

I'll be crying because I'm not there. Does that count?

Chris,

I noticed on e-budo that an agenda was outlined for the seminar at Stamford. Do you know what the seminar agenda is for the Nov 3/4 weekend? I suspect it will be similar but thought I'd ask just in case.

Thanks

Dan

I suspect it will be the same/similar. Rob? What say you? And as a reminder, the seminar is scheduled 10-4 with a break for lunch. It's possible things might run a bit late, so keep that in mind.

Dan Botari wrote: Chris, I noticed on e-budo that an agenda was outlined for the seminar at Stamford. Do you know what the seminar agenda is for the Nov 3/4 weekend? I suspect it will be similar but thought I'd ask just in case. Thanks Dan

Hi Dan,

Yes the agenda will be the same as the one for Stanford

Rob

Hunter Lonsberry wrote: who all is making it? I will be there and look forward to meeting you all.

I'll be there.

Josh Lerner wrote: I'll be there. Josh

"Just call my name, and . . . "

I can't get to hotmail for some reason today, so I'll just post this here. Dinner on Saturday night is being scheduled for a Chinese restaurant not too far from George's dojo. We're planning to do a set menu and it will probably be around $15/person. Additional details to follow. If you want to attend the dinner, be sure to let me know ahead of time and bring *cash* to the seminar on Saturday. Thanks!

Dinner's scheduled (thanks Geoff!), please bring $20 to the seminar on Saturday if you plan to attend. $20 will be easier to collect and will ensure that we cover dinner + tip + Ark-n-Rob. Thanks everybody!

We're all looking forward to this thing and I really appreciate all of the interest/support from those of you traveling to attend this. Should be a blast.

If you are really interested but you can't make it to the Seattle seminar, we still have a few spots open in the Northern California seminar. All the information is here:

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13393

- Mike

For those who are still undecided about the Northern California seminar that Mike posted about, I would heartily recommend going. The first day of the Seattle seminar was great. Akuzawa Minoru is a skilled, down-to-earth, open and funny teacher. Rob John did a superlative job translating, demonstrating, correcting and coaching. The exercises, while difficult, are doable and make eminently good sense within the paradigm that Akuzawa presents them. You have all of that to look forward to in what was one of the best MA seminars I've had the pleasure of attending.

George Ledyard generously made his beautiful dojo available for this event. It was well-organized--thanks to Chris Moses--and well-attended by local folks. We had several people come in from out of town--including Ron Tisdale from Philly and Lee Salzman from the place where what happens there stays there.

Aunkai training distills elements from a variety of martial arts into a few core principles and some well-conceived exercises that will return real benefits in manifold proportion to the effort put into training. It's been helpful in strengthening my own back after sustaining crushed vertebrae and torn ligaments several months ago. I'll let other more skilled martial artists comment on the effect of the training on their conditioning and movement.

Thanks Ark, Rob, Chris, and everyone else who helped pull this event together.

cheers,

Tom

Hey! Don't treat Ark too well, or he may decide to move over there permanently :-) Good to hear the seminar is well-received---not that there are any doubts about "capability" LOL

Thomas Campbell wrote: For those who are still undecided about the Northern California seminar that Mike posted about, I would heartily recommend going. The first day of the Seattle seminar was great. Akuzawa Minoru is a skilled, down-to-earth, open and funny teacher. Rob John did a superlative job translating, demonstrating, correcting and coaching. The exercises, while difficult, are doable and make eminently good sense within the paradigm that Akuzawa presents them. You have all of that to look forward to in what was one of the best MA seminars I've had the pleasure of attending. George Ledyard generously made his beautiful dojo available for this event. It was well-organized--thanks to Chris Moses--and well-attended by local folks. We had several people come in from out of town--including Ron Tisdale from Philly and Lee Salzman from the place where what happens there stays there. Aunkai training distills elements from a variety of martial arts into a few core principles and some well-conceived exercises that will return real benefits in manifold proportion to the effort put into training. It's been helpful in strengthening my own back after sustaining crushed vertebrae and torn ligaments several months ago. I'll let other more skilled martial artists comment on the effect of the training on their conditioning and movement. Thanks Ark, Rob, Chris, and everyone else who helped pull this event together. cheers, Tom

This event was top notch. I was only sorry that my battered old knee wasn't able to go the distance each day. A fantastic amount of great information about proper body alignment and power. I have to say, much like doing a Systema workshop, the exercises made me think of Mr T in Rocky when he said "P-A-I-N"... I think I would need a structured group workout to do these regularly with discipline... too easy to wimp out when you are on your own. A bit of peer pressure is helpful. But even after one weekend, I can feel my body making some subtle changes. I can only imagine what might be possible if one really pursued this training seriously.

The great thing about this training is that it is cross-style... no one would benefit from doing this work, regardless of style!

Thanks to Chris and company for making this happen. Rob, you were extremely helpful, thank you. Please thank Akuzawa Sensei again from me for his wonderful instruction!

George S. Ledyard wrote: This event was top notch. I was only sorry that my battered old knee wasn't able to go the distance each day. A fantastic amount of great information about proper body alignment and power. I have to say, much like doing a Systema workshop, the exercises made me think of Mr T in Rocky when he said "P-A-I-N"... I think I would need a structured group workout to do these regularly with discipline... too easy to wimp out when you are on your own. A bit of peer pressure is helpful.

Yes, I completely agree. It's just too darned easy to *not* do these exercises.

George S. Ledyard wrote: But even after one weekend, I can feel my body making some subtle changes. I can only imagine what might be possible if one really pursued this training seriously. The great thing about this training is that it is cross-style... no one would benefit from doing this work, regardless of style!

Um, not sure about the last sentence? Should it have been "anyone would benefit"?

Mark

Wow! Did you know it's REALLY exciting to get down a flight of stairs first thing in the morning with quads that don't work? Well let me assure you, it is!

Thanks to everyone for attending and making this thing possible. Ark was all that I remembered from Japan, and it was interesting to get the chance to go over what I remembered from my visit there and Rob's workshop he did with us earlier this year.

I'd like to again thank Akuzawa Sensei and Rob for their clear and generous teaching, George Ledyard for the use of his dojo and everyone who helped out making this thing happen and flow smoothly. Special thanks to Geoff Ng from the TNBBC for coordinating dinner Saturday night and Joe Springrose of Aikido Eastside who spent long hours at the dojo every day making sure that it was open when people go there and closed when they left.

Please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions you would have for further seminars. It's my hope that we will be able to do this annualy.

George S. Ledyard wrote: The great thing about this training is that it is cross-style... no one would benefit from doing this work, regardless of style!

Correction:
"The great thing about this training is that it is cross-style... no one would fail to benefit from doing this work, regardless of style!"

Thanks to the folks that caught this... shouldn't write when I am tired.
- George

Anyone who is serious about expanding their training, looking for solo training exercises, looking to add to conditioning for an aging body should get to one of these seminars. Best thing I've done.

Thanks to our host, George, Chris Moses for setting it up, and the Aunkai for coming, teaching and supporting us.

I was especially glad to meet Neil Yamamoto and Alan Beebe...and to feel them and their guys. Anyone who had questions about their level of exposure to this stuff...the question has been answered for me.

Best to all,
Ron Tisdale (here's hoping for an east coast refresher!)

I'll add my thanks to everyone also - Akuzawa sensei, Rob, Ledyard sensei, Chris, and all members of the supporting cast. It means alot to be able to have the opportunity to get exposed to teachings and teachers like this, and I really appreciate the effort that everyone put into it to make it possible. I also realized that as easy as it is to deplore the effect of the internet on modern culture in general and martial arts in particular, if it wasn't for Rob so dextrously stirring up trouble here and there over the last few years, none of us would have had the chance to meet him and Ark.

Also, as someone who trains taijutsu almost entirely solo these days, it was a fantastic opportunity to have so many training partners with such varied backgrounds and strong drives to learn and practice. It was also great to have "Oh, so *you're* that guy who posts on Aikiweb" experiences over and over. Literally every time I met someone.

Josh

Josh Lerner wrote: [snip]It was also great to have "Oh, so *you're* that guy who posts on Aikiweb" experiences over and over. Literally every time I met someone. Josh

Ohhh . . . so you're THAT Josh.

A BIG thank you to Akuzawa sensei and Rob for another memorable experience . I is a pleasure training under someone who is at once capable and sincere, humble and humorous. Rob, you performed the formidable tasks of interpreter, assistant, teacher, demonstrator/demonstratee and international face of Aunkai in the relaxed, seemingly effortless manner that we've come to take for granted. As I said before, this seminar with your sensei Akuzawa served to highlight the skill and comprehensiveness with which you taught the first seminar. To my mind, you do yourself proud and represent your teacher well. Thanks to Chris and Co. for putting this together. It seemed to go without a hitch again. May there be many more! Thanks to George and Co. for their typical graciousness. And finally, thanks to all my brothers and sisters in pain and sweat. Having such a pleasant bunch of inmates helped the medicine go down . . . and down a little farther . . . a little more . . .

It was nice meeting you too Ron. It is nice to find that you are as much a gentleman in person as you are on the the boards!

OK, back to my ibuprofen and coffee . . .

Sounds like a great time was had by all, etc. So, would someone put into words what it is they learned, what it does, how it will affect their Aikido, etc.? The most substance I've gotten so far is the sore quadriceps comment and I have to nod and agree that sore quads is a good thing for all martial arts! Of course, detailed expositions are difficult (if not impossible) to make about what was learned, but surely a few general categories can be made? Just formulating these ideas and then having to articulate (in as few words as possible) will help your own thinking/analysing process, I'll bet.

Regards,

Mike Sigman