Stateside Reunion and Training

Great reunion with some of the Stateside Camp Zama Aikido members in Huntsville, AL.  Yuri and I drove to Alabama from Kentucky for a weekend of friendship and aikido training with Eric (3Dan) and Bill (2Dan).  Spent two hours on Friday and Saturday in the dojo training together.  Followed each up with food, great conversation and a lot of laughs. 

Eric and Bill have an ideal training location literally right down the hall from their offices on Red Stone Arsenal and have the beginnings an Aikido club!

2012 Camp Zama Aikido Club Event Schedule - Mark your Calendars!

Here it is, fresh from Sensei - Mark your calendars - and let me know if I should expect company this summer! Looks like Early September is the time to have a seminar stateside if it comes together...

Jan 03 (Feb) Camp Zama First practice of the year
Jan 08 (Sun) Hombu Dojo kagami-biraki ceremony and New year party (Shinjuku Sanpei)
Mar 19-20 (Mon-Tus) NDA Spring Gasshuku (Yokosuka)
Mar xx (Sat/Sun) Joint Training With Fujimi Highschool and Tamaru Shihan (Camp Zama)
Apr 29 (Fri) Aiki Shrine Festival (Iwama)
May 26 (Sat) 50th All Japan Aikido Demonstration (Nippon Budokan)
Jun xx (Sat/Sun) Joint Training With Shizenkan Dojo (Camp Zama)
Jul 13-15 (Fri-Sun) 35th MOD Summer Training Camp and Grade Test (Katsuura, Chiba)
Sep 17-18　 11th International Aikido Federation Congress　(Yoyogi Olympics Memorial Youth Center)
Seｐ 23 (Sun) 70th anniversary of Aikikai foundation and 80th anniversary of Aikido Hombu Dojo　(Keio plaza hotel)
Oct.6-7 (Sat-Sun) Doshu Special Practice (Iwama)
Oct xx-xx (Sat-Sun) Goyukai Tour with Isoyama shihan (Yamanashi)
TBD Fall TAMARU shihan Keiko
TBD Fall Joint Training With Shizenkan Dojo (Camp Zama)
Nov xx (Sat) National Defense Academy (NDA) Aikido Demonstration (Yokosuka)
Nov xx (Sat) Ministry of Defense (MOD) Aikido Demonstration (Ichigaya)
Dec 02 (Sun) Winter Grade Test (Fujishiro)
Dec 29 (Sun) Camp Zama Last practice of the year

Members return from abroad to train.

December and January saw two of our members return to Japan from abroad. Shannon S. (shodan). stopped by in December and managed to squeeze some training with Mukai Sensei into his busy schedule, and Joe M. (1kyu) made his appearance for a week or so in January. Meanwhile, Kevin M. (sandan) and Nobuko M. (shodan) left Japan in mid-December and traveled to the States until early February. Though missing the kagami biraki ceremony at Hombu Dojo and new year party with Isoyama Shihan, Kevin managed to observe or train at four different dojos while in the states. Everyone in the stateside dojos was open and welcoming, and had of course heard of Isoyama Shihan. Now we are all in our respective homes... and I need to mail out the promotion certificates for Eric L (sandan) and Bill F (nidan). Congratulations gentlemen!

Yudansha Promotions

Well, being away from Japan definitely has it's limitations when trying to keep up on the web page.  Great news is that I get to continue to provide updates with good news.  First is news that Mukai Sensei was promoted to 7th Degree Black Belt (7 Dan) and was chosen to receive the promotion personally from Doshu on behalf of all those selected for advancement to that rank.

 


The second is the photo of all the Camp Zama members who attended the Winter testing.  Folks I missed previously were David McCarthy who was promoted to ShoDan, Kengo Watanabe who was promoted to 1st Kyu and and Nicholas Johns who was advanced to 3rd Kyu.


Well done all and congrats!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year!!!

Sean, thanks for the congrats. I really look forward to training with you and Yuri-san whenever the opportunity presents. Bill and I will resume training next week here in Huntsville. Everyone is invited. :-)

Yudansha Promotions #2

Congrats as well to William H for earning his Shodan!   Well done!

Happy Holidays to all!

New Yudansha Promotions

Received a call from Billy yesterday just after his return from Japan and Winter testing.  Heartfelt congratulations are in order for both him and Eric on their promotions to 2 Dan and 3 Dan respectively.  Well done!  Looking forward to that new dojo getting started.  I think I can make that 4 hour drive from Kentucky to Huntsville to visit and train for a weekend!

Zama martial artists hone inner warriors

Excellent article in the 19 NOV 2010 Stars and Stripes' "Stripes Kanto" e-paper on Aikido and Mukai Sensei.

Link to the ePaper: http://kanto.stripes.com/epaper

Following link will download a .pdf of the paper:
http://kanto.stripes.com/sites/default/files/epaper/Thu,%202010-11-18%2009:53/1119_AZ%20for%20web.pdf

Congrats!

Got an update from Mukai Sensei on how all the Zama Aikido students are doing. Sounds like everyone continues to make great progress with new students as well. Special congrats to Kevin on his recent promotion to 3-dan! Wish I could have been there to participate in Summer Training with you all.

Aikido in Iraq

Deployed to Iraq, and yes, looking for a place to train. At Al Asad Air Base in Al Anbar province and stumbled upon an Aikido class being taught several times a week at the base fitness center. Class format is a bit different from what I'm used to, but still very interesting. Sensei has a challenge of keeping young Marines interested, so the techniques and format isn't as traditional as in a lot of dojos. I've enjoyed two sessions with this group and will get a few more in before I move to another base camp.