Aikido Center of Jacksonville
Dojo Newsletter April 2008

New Students
Joining the dojo this month are Mark Harvey, Ryan Szesny, Becky Yerkes, and Ashley Campion.  A warm welcome to you all.

Visitors? We Love Visitors! Interested in visiting sunny Florida?  Need a break from the snow, hail, and/or significant other?  (Kidding!)  We've hosted visiting aikidoka from our sister Aikikai dojos in Australia and France, as well as from our stateside brethren in Boston, Atlanta, and Rochester.  Just drop us an email to let us know when you're coming.

More Website News
As we mentioned in our March newsletter, our new web address is AikidoCenterOfJacksonville.com.  To help spread the word, however, we've reserved the address FindYourCenter.net, and created a nifty new school flyer.   Pretty cool, huh?  (You can also find the flyer on our website.)  Now you'll have something in hand to share with your astonished co-workers after you've dazzled them with your feats of aikido derring-do.

Orlando Bound
It appears there is some interest in a summer trip to Orlando, where we could train with Ed Di Marco Sensei at Lake County Aikikai.  While there, of course, we could partake of the local diversions, such as, say, Islands of Adventure, and the best damn rollercoaster this side of Cedar Point.  Not that I'm biased.  If you're interested, let us know.

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Camping Trip at Huguenot Memorial Park
Fifteen adventurous aikidoka Campsitededicated themselves to a weekend of camping, training, and marshmallow roasting at Huguenot Memorial Park, an expansive wooded retreat just north of Jacksonville.  Arriving Saturday afternoon, our intrepid aikidoka set up camp and prepared themselves for the evening class.  Taking ukemi on the beach presents special challenges, but also special rewards, as we were all treated to a spectacular sunset.  Following class, our very own Survivorman, Buck Pittman, built a fire, which we were glad to have, since the temperature would drop to, oh, about -25° over the course of the evening.  Buck also whipped up a gourmet venison stew which, after much cajoling, he agreed to share the recipe.  Here goes: Step 1 – Track and kill a deer.  Step 2 – Call Buck.  The next morning, we trained to the rising sun, ate pancakes and venison sausage, and parted ways.  We had a blast.  (And it was great seeing Meredith again who, despite thumping yours truly with a convincing shomen strike, was also gracious enough to entertain my utopian theories of education.  You should check out her blog.)Dee (Nage) | Jerry (Uke)

You can view a slideshow of our trip, also available on our website.

Technique of the Month - Nikyo
(1) Uke grabs Nage's shoulder, from a kneeling position.  (2) At the moment of contact, Nage retakes the initiative with an atemi to Uke's face.  (3) Changing hanmi, Nage breaks Uke's balance by cutting her center.  (4) Again changing hanmi, Nage applies nikyo, with the intent to control Uke's center. (5) Nage continues by pinning Uke to the mat, applying pressure just above the elbow.  (6) Nage completes the technique with a nikyo joint lock.

Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke) Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke) Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke)

Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke) Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke) Dee (Nage) | Tonya (Uke)