Aiki Institute Of Spokane

Aikido Open House

at Roshinkan Dojo

February 25th
10:00 –-12:00
at
2209 N. Monroe

Ever heard of Aikido?
Want to try a class?  Want to watch a class?  Want to enroll your child in a healthy physical activity that teaches compassion and discipline?

Free Introductory Class
10:30 –-11:30
ages 6 and up

Japanese snacks and hot tea will be served
Questions?  Contact the dojo at aiki@aikispokane.com or call 325-7348.

Join us for Our Traditional New

Year’s Celebration

Saturday December 31 Starting at  4 PM

We start by cleaning and doing maintenance in the
dojo.
Sweep away the dust and accumulated debris of the
past year. Prepare to enter into the new year light,
clean, and with fresh energy.

7 pm -10 pm

Training. Three hours of training to celebrate the
healing nature of Aikido, and to explore the creative
growth of the Art of Peace in each of us.

10 pm

We will enjoy a potluck meal. Share in the community
that is our dojo.
As the past year slips into the New Year we will take
part in a traditional Zen meditation and ceremony, to
finally clear out our personal debris and welcome the
new year in with a fresh and open spirit.

All students and their families are welcome!

It’s a busy time of year at Roshinkan.  Just a couple of weeks ago we held Girls Night at the Dojo.  Good snacks, fun activities, and movies were all the rage as the girls of our dojo got together for a fun time and a chance to explore Aikido from a female point of view.

Don’t worry guys your day is coming up November 5th.  Check with Josh and Curtis for more details.

People for Environmental Action and Community Health

Saturday October 22nd we are heading up to P.E.A.C.H Farm to help with the autumn harvest and put the garden to rest for the winter.  This is our chance to help out our community and to be a part of bringing healthy fresh food to the table.  For many in our community it is a struggle to find good clean healthy foods.  The P.E.A.C.H Farm along with Fresh Abundance are a great resource to our community providing nutritious foods and educational opportunities.

Garland Clean Up

On Saturday October 29th we will participate in the Garland Clean Up Day. As many of you know I grew up in the Garland neighborhood and remember when the “Milk Bottle” really was a dairy store.  So join us, bring a paint brush, gloves, and a warm sweat shirt and we will put a shine on a lovely old neighborhood.

Kyu testing is coming up November 17th and 19th.  Are you ready?  Are you helping your fellow Aikidoka to get ready?

The second weekend of December we will road trip to visit Aikido of Helena.  Come with us to train in the wilds of Montana.

A dojo is so much more than just a place to work out.  It is a place where a sense of community is built.  A place of support and positive interaction.  It is through our work in the community that we are able to really practice the samurai tradition of service.  The true heart of our practice, to forge our spirit and make our world a better place.

Before bowing in our kids class my assistant instructor, Mary, usually spends a few moments in a light hearted and animated conversation with the kids about some aspect of Aikido in daily life.  The topics have explored the similarities of a growing plant and Aikido, how an Aikidoist handles a problem, what is ki, what is extension, what does it mean to be a good partner, and what is etiquette. These five minute dialogues always get a laugh from students and parents alike, and me too for that matter.

This past June the tables were turned.  We asked each of our higher ranked kids (orange belt with two stripes and above) to get up in front of class and tell us something about Aikido.  The range of topics included, Aikido is fun, Aikido helps me when I take tests at school, Aikido is self-defense, and more.

I would like to share with you one presentation I found particularly profound, this from a 13 year old.

“Aikido is not about strength or looking good it’s about strengthening your ki and having the will to do what others will not.”

The next time somebody asks me, “What is Aikido?”, I just may borrow the words of a wise 13 year old I have the pleasure of training with.

January is a time of year I like best for its crisp nights with clear skies. The sky looks beautiful at night with its rich dark color and smooth texture. The sky looks even more beautiful with twinkling stars, in fact the more stars the better. This is just like our dojo. The dojo space is beautiful but it looks more beautiful full of students. Not only did I just compare each of you to a luminous ball of plasma but I just explained the premise of the January Challenge. During the month of January you will bring someone, anyone, to try a class. It can be any basics class, you can even bring a kid to a kids class. If you succeed in the January Challenge you win an award and better yet we will have new students. If you fail in the January Challenge you receive… well that’s up to Sensei. So consider yourself challenged!

Community Open House at

Aiki Institute of Spokane

Roshinkan Aikido Dojo

2209 North Monroe

Always wanted to try Aikido?

Heard of it and have questions?

Looking for a fun way to exercise?

Looking for a practical means of

self defense?

This is your chance to try a

traditional Japanese martial art!

Saturday January 22nd

10:00 – 1:00

Free Class 10:30 – 11:30

All ages and skill level welcome!

(509)325-7348

www.aikispokane.com

The Founder Gardening

On a cool and damp May day the young students of Roshinkan Dojo applied their ki to the planting of a  vegetable garden at a house for veterans undergoing treatment at the local VA hospital.

The week preceding the great planting affair we spoke with our students about the connection between Aikido and gardening. How earth, water, and sun blend to grow the seed into a life giving plant.  How the plant contributes to the ever flowing breath of life exchanging co2 for oxygen.  How a plant is centered, rooted deep in the ground while extending for the warmth of the sun, all the time remaining relaxed to bend with the wind and keeping its weight underside so as not to topple over. How we must care for our plants just as we must care for our training partner if they, we, are to grow.

Yes to truly understand Aikido we must in some way touch the very nature of our being.  Feel the universal ki that flows throughout the natural world.  Get our hands dirty with earth, taste the freshness of a cool mountain stream, feel the ocean’s breath on our cheek.

I lived for a while in the big city.  After a couple of years I felt out of touch.  Something was amiss.  I came to the realisation that for those two years I had not walked barefoot in grass.  I had not layed down on the earth and looked to the skies.  For those two years I had walked only on concrete and asphalt.  Never seen the sky that was not cluttered with the skyscrapers that surrounded me.  The air I was breathing was conditioned by hvac systems.  I needed to get out.

Regaining my health and sanity came with spending time in the mountains and ocean front, laying in a meadow of grass and flowers, walking on grassy slopes and sandy beaches, feeling the ocean breeze on my face along with the stinging of rain.  Refreshed and recharged I returned to a feeling of connection.  Even more so now that I realised what it meant to not have this.

Not long after I lived on a sailboat for a few years.  Never before had my senses been so alive.  My life and the survival of my boat were contingent upon my awareness of the winds, currents, tides, water, and earth that were always a part of my consciousness.  I began to feel the universal ki running through my life.

It is important that we do not separate ourselves from the earth we live on.  My brother is found of saying that we are “just critters on this planet”.  Insulating ourselves from the universe is a path to disaster.  Take your shoes off and bury your toes in grass and earth.  Get your fingers dirty in the soil, feel the rain and wind on your cheek.  Plant a garden and rejoice in caring for the plants that feed us.

James Landry

There are many reasons that we come to train in Aikido. Below is a list of some of the more common reasons that I have heard.

• Fitness
• Centeredness
• Increased Awareness
• Self-Defense
• Social Network
• Creative Problem Solving
• Increased Flexibility
• Increased Energy
• Stress Reduction
• Mental and Physical Challenge
• Fun
• Spirituality
• Better Breathing
• Keeps Me Out of Jail (yes that came from a student)

No doubt you have seen similar lists elsewhere. I encourage you to send me the reasons that you train. The number of reasons are only limited by the number of practitioners.

PPCO

I would like to introduce you to a tool called PPCO. Positive, Potential, Concern, Overcome. This is a tool introduced to me through Creative Problem Solving. It is a great way to debrief an event, or project, or way to run a meeting. In this case I would like to use it to further explore why we train and the true substance, and power of our training.

First step is to list the positives. What good things have happened in your day?…The moon setting during sunrise was a beautiful sight ….Ben made a particularly good esspresso this morning….Answered all my emails by 10:00am…. Steadily checked off items on the to do list…Had a nice stretch before Aikido class…

What good things have happened during the event? …I met new contacts… I saw a new product I can use…I learned a new way of using a tool …

What good things are happening in your department at work? …Hired a great new staff member… Had an informative new training… Surpassed our sales goals… Found a new market…

What good things happened in your training?…I learned a new application of ikkyo… Finally did a break-fall that did not hurt…Shikko across the mat without falling…Step forward, tenkan, pivot, step forward… You get the point?

Think about it, why do you train? What good things come about in your training? Send them to me and we will explore the potential of those good things in part two of this article.

As you can see we have a new web site.  It is my intention to make this site a central piece of the community we have at the Aiki Institute of Spokane.  The audience is not limited to those who study Aikido or other martial arts, but extends to the larger community.  In this way I wish to share with a broader audience the joys and benefits of our training and to explore opportunities to continue our training “off the mat”.

Please enjoy your exploration of this new site.  Send us your comments, stories for publication, and questions regarding Aikido and what it can bring to your life.  Consider the work we do here with adults and youth.  While training in the dojo is the rock of our foundation, we also provide unique and powerful training experiences in formats for the office or school.  Have questions?? Please ask.  In the neighborhood?? Want to know more?? Drop by!

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