Happy Holidays!

As our schedule reflects, our dojo will not train for the next two Monday's to observe Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We wish all Aikido and Iaido practitioners another year of dedicated training, continued health, and exceptional growth.

Successful Seminar

Shoanjuku Seminar 2007 - 09
Originally uploaded by Philip J Beyer

It has been two months since our seminar with Tazaki Sensei, but every time I get back to the dojo, it feels like just last weekend. There is still that much I have to take in and incorporate in my training. Along with the rest of the attendees, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We are still revisiting the teaching points and key concepts Sensei shared with us. As in all of the previous times Sensei has led a weekend seminar with us over the past decade, our dojo continues to grow.

Sensei focused on distilling some advanced concepts of Nishio Ryu tachi tori, toshu henka, and ninindori techniques into straightforward instruction that all levels of students could understand. During our Friday evening session, Shoanjuku student Pat B successfully tested for the rank of Shodan!

During our Iaido sessions, Tazaki Sensei challenged us to understand the draw and how to continue it to an effective conclusion. A few of us also honed our skills in various Omori Ryu sitting kata.

I have processed and posted photos from the event. We had a total of four sessions, but since I was a participant as well as the principal photographer, there are large gaps. We had visitors from both the east and west coasts of the United States. Jeff Learned Sensei traveled with Tazaki Sensei from California to share his insight and help us improve the subtlety of our Iaido kata. Enrique Marentes Sensei, his wife Susan, and one of their students, Kevin, joined us from locations on the east coast.

It was a pleasure to host so many wonderful friends! We look forward to it again next year. Keep an eye out for an announcement of our fall 2008 seminar schedule.

Upcoming Seminar

We have completed preparations for our seminar this weekend with Tazaki Sensei. Our dojo is very excited and honored to host all of our visitors. We expect to train hard and learn much. Keep an eye out here for our reactions and photos from the event.

Aikido/Iaido Seminar with Masakazu Tazaki Sensei

Aikido Shoanjuku is proud to announce that we will host Masakazu Tazaki Sensei for a weekend seminar in October. Tazaki Sensei will teach 2 Aikido and 2 Iaido sessions on October 19, 20, and 21. We will begin Friday evening (Oct 19) at 6:30pm with Aikido. We will continue Saturday morning (Oct 20) at 9am with Aikido and Saturday afternoon at 1pm with Iaido. We will conclude Sunday morning at 9am with Iaido. The fee for the entire seminar will be $100 with a per session fee of $30.

We would especially like to welcome the participation of all visitors. Our dojo has enjoyed hosting Tazaki Sensei many times in the past and our Aikido and Iaido training has benefited greatly.

Our Master Instructor

We train under the instruction of Masakazu Tazaki Sensei. Tazaki Sensei has studied martial arts for more than 48 years. He has been a student of Shoji Nishio Sensei for over 40 years in both Aikido and Iaido. He had the honor to first serve as O-Sensei's uke (partner) in 1967 and then served in that capacity on several occasions in the following year. He has taught Aikido and Iaido in the United States and Mexico for the past 30 years and is the only direct student of Nishio Sensei teaching outside of Japan today.

Our Dojo Dues

We collect dues from our members on a monthly basis in the amount of $50. Visitors are welcome to observe and/or participate in at least one practice session before committing to their first month.

Our Training Schedule

We train on Monday and Friday evenings. Aikido practice begins at 6:30pm and lasts till 8:30pm on Monday and till 8pm on Friday. Iaido practice begins at 8pm on Friday and lasts till 9pm. Please refer to our calendar for information on schedule changes.