Archived News

November 13, 2006 -
Recently Steve Matthews attended a seminar at Saotome Sensei's Ranch in Sarasota, Florida. Being invited to the Ranch is a privilege and an honor bestowed upon three groups of people: 1) Shodan's who are serious about continuing their study of the art, 2) dojo head instructors, and 3) other instructors who have worked for years to promote Aikido while increasing their own abilities and level of understanding in the art. Steve is the first student/instructor from Nashville Aikikai to attend a seminar at the Ranch as a member of this third group. We were proud to have Steve represent our dojo and grateful that Sensei choose to honor him with an invitation.

October 19, 2006 -
Congratulations to the Ellin Varvarusis (Rokyu), Marta Crispens (Yonkyu), and Brian Rabinovitz (Sankyu) on their resent promotions. As each person progresses he/she helps to make us a better and stronger dojo.

October 02, 2006 -
The seminar with Patty Saotome Sensei was wonderful. She worked primarily on the principle that all techniques are basically one. Patty Sensei was very impressed with the dojo, particularly with everyone's technique.

September 22, 2006 -
Ikeda Sensei will return to Nashville for a seminar at the Joe C. Davis Outdoor Center April 27 - 29, 2007. We're extremely fortunate to have him back next year!

September 18, 2006 -
Congratulations to James Wilson who was promoted to Rokyu last month. Sorry for the delay in getting the news out.

July 20, 2006 -
The seminar this past weekend was great. We had several opportunities to explore interesting and helpful ideas. In addition to benefitting from the Choate Sensei's instruction, everyone had a wonderful time.

June 28, 2006 -
July 4th class - If you're interested in attending the 6:30 PM class on July 4th please let Stuart know you'll be there.

June 27, 2006 -
Mr. Wang and his wife are both healing from their car accident. They'd like to thank everyone for the card, kind thoughts, concern, and well wishes.

I ran into Fadi Mallak at the airport. Said to tell everyone 'hi'. He's thinking of selling the restaurant. That will give him more time for other things, such as returning to the dojo.

June 06, 2006 -
Congratulations to the following people on their recent promotions!
Nobe Aleman - Gokyu
Ken Lewis - Sankyu
Lara Bratlien - Nikyu
Ricky Taylor - Ikkyu

June 01, 2006 -
An article featuring Mr. Wang recently appeared in the Tennessean. The article was about the many benefits of Tai Chi and coincided with the World Tai Chi and Qigong Day late last month. Please see the dojo bulletin board for the full article.

Shortly after the World Tai Chi Day and our seminar with Ikeda Sensei, Mr. Wang was injured in an automobile accident. I'm not certain of all the details, but my understanding is that he had his upper front teeth knocked out, received several stitches in his right cheek and stitches on the right side of his head. His wife may have also been in the wreck and may have been injured more severely than he was. I'll try to find out more information. In the meantime, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

May 18, 2006 -
Mark your calendar for two more great seminars this year. July 14 - 16 Kevin Choate will be here. Due to the fact that our 8th Ave. dojo can be very hot in July, the seminar will be held at MET Sports in Cool Springs. Then Sept. 22 - 24 Patty Saotome will be here. Current plans are to have the September Seminar in our 8th Ave. dojo.

May 10, 2006 -
Congratulations to Gene Senibaldi and Stuart Jones on their recent promotions to Shodan! Good test guys!!

May 09, 2006 -
The seminar with Ikeda Sensei was fantastic. Sensei has even agreed to come back next year. My thanks to the many people who worked had to make it such a great seminar.

Jaunary 17, 2006 -
I just want to remind everyone to use careful judgement about whether or not to attend class when the whether is bad. Depending on where you live it will be easier for some people to get to the dojo than for others. If the whether is questionable, you may want to contact someone who has a key and see if he/she will be there before you make the trip. If the instructor for the class is unable to get to the dojo and another official Nashville Aikikai instructor is there, that person should go ahead and teach the class. If no Nashville Aikikai instructors are present there should be an open class. Just be careful, so that no one gets hurt.

Thanks,
Mary Sensei

January 14, 2006 -
Wow, it's been a busy year. . . and I really fell down on posting news items. We need some volunteers from the dojo to help keep the news up to date. Please see Mary Sensei if you're interested.

Here's a brief recap of some Nashville Aikikai highlights from the last few months:

Eric Hopper went to Bloomington, Indiana and did a fantastic job on his Nidan test. Congratulations Eric.

We finished renovating the dojo and it looks great. Saotome Sensei checked it out during his visit and marveled at what a wonderful space we have. Thanks to everyone for all your work.

Saotome Sensei's visit was a huge success. The Joe C. Davis Center was a perfect location. It set a relaxed and peaceful tone. Sensei was very impressed with both our technique and all we did to make the seminar a pleasant experience for everyone. He even agreed to return in a couple of years.

During Saotome Sensei's visit both Steve Matthews and Tom Wang were promoted to Sandan. This is a major accomplishment for each of them and the dojo as a whole.

Once again we provided stockings for the East Nashville Head Start Center. Everything went smoother than ever this year, thanks largely to Steve and Jean's efforts to continually improve the process.

I haven't listed promotions since February of last year. Here's a list of the kyu promotions since then. A few people have even been promoted twice.

January 07, 2006 -
As many of you are aware, we've been able to keep the dojo dues at the same rate for many years. (Our dojo dues were $60 a month in 1990. Eventually we were able to reduce it to $40 for a few years and then went back to $60 about 10 years ago.) Rent, utilities, etc. have increased over the years and now we're finally forced to raise the dojo dues. I'm glad to say that even with the increase we're less expensive than the average dojo. However, if this increase means you can no longer afford to train, please see me and we'll see if we can work something out. Effective January 1, 2006 the new rates for Nashville Aikikai dojo dues are:

December 12, 2005 -
Ikeda Sensei has agreed to return to Nashville Aikikai in the Spring of 2006. The current dates for the seminar are April 28-30, 2006. We are in the process of reserving the Joe C. Davis Center for this seminar and the seminar web page will be updated once we have more information.

August 25, 2005 -
The next beginners class has been postponed from August 29 to September 12, as the dojo is still undergoing renovations this week.

July 25, 2005 -
Website updates and a new location to train are just a couple of the things going on at Nashville Aikikai this month. We have recently opened up a satillite dojo in the Cool Springs area of Nashville with Steve Mathews leading classes. Classes are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 to 8:30 pm and 7:00 to 8:30 pm respectively. The website has also had a few minor changes on the Classes and Locations Pages. An update for the upcoming Mitsugi Saotome Shihan Seminar is in progress and should be available to the public no later than July 31, 2005.

May 31, 2005 -
Nashville Aikikai recently donated $500 to assist Kevin Sparkman with his medical cost. The majority of the money came from the generosity of individual dojo members. Kevin called to thank us and let us know how much everyone's thoughtfulness is appreciated. It's always good to see a dojo consisting if people willing to help others.

May 18 , 2005 -
On May 1, 2005 a celebration was held in Myakka City, Florida to commemorate Saotome Sensei teaching Aikido in the United States for 30 years.  The guest list was basically limited to those who were a part of the original Sarasota dojo.  Mary and Tom Sensei were among the fortunate people who were a part of that group.  The day started with a 10:00 AM work-out; followed by a wonderful barbeque lunch prepared by John Messorees; and conversation — including plenty reminiscing — that lasted into the next morning.  Patty Sensei provided a cake with the words "30 Years of Patience — Saotome Sensei's Zoo" (yes, we were called "Saotome Sensei's Zoo") and pictures of zoo animals.  She also provided champaign which we eagerly used to toast Sensei, the old gang, etc.  Nashville Aikikai presented Sensei with a silver plaque with the inscription,

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