Learning To Be Silent

the weblog of the Aikido Center of Jacksonville

Before Zen crossed the shores into Japan, the students of the Tendai school would study meditation, as part of their daily practice. Four of them, close friends all, promised one another to observe seven days of silence.

On the first day, no words were spoken, and the students took pleasure in their auspicious beginning. When night came however, the oil lamps grew dim, and the room slowly darkened.

One student, named Hoshin, called out to a servant: "Servant! Attend to the lamps, so that I might better observe our accomplishment!"

The second student was surprised to hear Hoshin speak. "We are supposed to keep quiet," he chided.

"But you also spoke!" declared the third. "You are an idiot!"

"I am the only one who has not talked," concluded the fourth, as he settled into seiza.

A Few Announcements

August 11th, 2010 | 28 Comments »

First, Sensei and I want to congratulate Guido for passing his 4th kyu test, and Daniella and Isabella for passing 9th kyu. Your hard work and perseverance paid off — congratulations.

Also, I want to welcome back one of our own, Joey Turner. For those who don’t know, Joey is a nidan (2nd degree black belt) and student of Grady Lane Sensei. And like Tonya, he was a deshi for a time at New York Aikikai. Joey has recently recovered from an injury, and will be training with us on Saturdays. I highly recommend that our newer students pair up with Joey on the mat. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years.

And lastly, I am giving fair warning regarding the problem of unwashed gis in the men’s dressing room. I think we all know who the culprit is, but in the interest of sparing him public humiliation, I have decided not to out him at this time. What I have done, however, is Febreeze the entire area. So if your gi smells like clean linen, you know who to blame.

But I’m not stopping there. I have decided to use even more frilly scents (starting with rose petal, then to bubblegum) until the responsible party is finally shamed enough to wash the blessed thing. You’ve been warned.

(Seriously, this comes from Sensei. Please wash your gi. Thank you.)

Tags: children's class, Jerry, New York Aikikai, testing

Posted in Announcements

Kid’s Class

May 30th, 2010 | Comments Off

Kid's Class at the Aikido Center of Jacksonville

Photo taken after class on Saturday, May 29.

Tags: children's class, Jerry

Posted in Conversation

Parents Class

March 13th, 2010 | 15 Comments »

Earlier this month Sensei scheduled our first parents class. What is parents class, you ask? It’s simple, really: the kids in our children’s program invited their mom or dad on the mat, to experience Aikido first hand. By helping teach their parents simple technique, our kids could demonstrate how much they’ve learned. Our parents, meanwhile, received a painless introduction to the art through their childrens’ eyes.

Don’t think, however, that the class was easy. Sensei demonstrated shikko (knee walking), as well as forward and back ukemi (rolling). Our parents also learned sumi-otoshi (corner drop) and participated in some aiki games, including shikko dodgeball and an ukemi relay race.

As usual, we took plenty of pictures. Enjoy!

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