Aikido World

Las thursday, the Kenshusei group had the last day with all the classes; we gave the last zen class, and, at two, two woman came to give a yoga class in which we did lots of postures and breathing exercises.

In the evening, Carlos got his brown belt and I got my blue belt, and we two and Alex received our certificates (Alex is just adding a stripe to his brown belt), and the Kenshusei people went out after the classes, given by Parks Casey and Erickson Senseis to eat pizza, with Parks Casey Sensei, Toyoda Sensei and Catherine.

Last wednesday, Maite Sensei, Alex, Carlos and I went to a Harley Davidson motorbikes museum, in Milwaukee; Rehrahuer Sensei took us there in his car, and it was reeeeally amazing: we saw lots of different models, we made lots of photos, and we also visited a big section about Evel Knievel. Later, we went to have lunch to the suburbs of Chicago, and, at seven o’clock, we arrived at the dojo and assisted to two aikido classes and to Aaron’s first kyu test, which he passed, congratulations!!

And also, Alex, Carlos and I were told to have passed our first, second and fourth kyu exams, respectively.

Senshi Dojo is having its Grand Opening August 14th, 2010 to celebrate its new larger location, as well as celebrating our local community and the Japanese Martial Arts and Culture. There will be activities, seminars with guest instructors, martial arts demos and more starting at 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Toyoda and Gallo Sensei will be instructing, as well as, other special guest.

Refreshments will be available. Come join us in the celebration!

Seminar Flyer Here

Today, we all have trained like usually in our classes, but I think we are starting to get the idea that we are leaving soon; it’s been a whole month and many things we’ve lived, and  it’s a pity it is ending. We the spanish people are leaving on saturday, so we would like to enjoy the rest of the time we have: for instance, tomorrow, we are going to visit a “Harley-Davidson” motorcycles Museum in Milwakee, Wisconsin, which I’m sure that will be a lot of fun.

This evening, Toyoda Sensei has given a class about munetski kaitenage and lots of its variations, another one about bokken, and Genea has had her second kyu test.

Yesterday, the last week of the Kenshusei program began; it seems to us that the month has gone by very quickly. Also, I reckon that we all want to return home, but we would like to stay a bit longer. Nevertheless, we train keep training hard every day, which is a good thing, because it is now when we our in the highest of our progress; yesterday, Toyoda Sensei gave a class about yokomenuchi, and we also spent one hour and a half with Casey Sense, seeing techniques from the crossing grab attack.

Last sunday, the group of Kenshusei enjoyed our last weekend in Chicago. We had no classes at all, which we made good use of: some people went out to have lunch, Yoshi, Paige and Laura went to Millennium Park, and Alex, Carlos and I went to visit the Aquarium and “Lincoln Park” Zoo; so we all had a day of rest to see the city, before the last week started.

[The full photo set after the page break]

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