Plano Aikido Center

Check the article below. It is very interesting.

In the martial arts we all strive for a purpose.  Some of us may have multiple purposes, but in general most of us strive for physical and mental development through shugyo.  Some individuals might want to develop a certain skill level; others are more concerned with rank – especially the untrained newcomer.  In a recent situation that I’m sure many will recognize, an individual walked into our dojo after contacting me previously on numerous occasions.  Almost immediately on arriving, he asked me, “how long would it take me to get a black belt?”.  I chuckled and replied, “Oh… around 2-3 days for an average one and about 7-10 days for a really nice one from Japan”.  After he looked at me quizzically for a few moments, I explained the joke to him.  Fortunately he chuckled and the ice was broken.
Read the whole entry: http://www.aikidojournal.com/blog/rank-versus-skill-by-salvatore-forestieri/

Mark your calendars. The next Kyu test is schedule to Saturday January 31. As usual, if you meet the time requirements and wants to test, please let the chief instructor know.

If you need assistance on some techniques, don’t hesitate to ask the instructors or sempais.

Hello everyone,

Sensei asked me to email all of you the information on these two books, so I’m taking the liberty of posting it here so it will be archived.

Both of these books were authored by Moriteru Ueshiba, grandson of O-Sensei, and current Doshu. Both are excellent. I have found the first of these books particularly helpful by going to practice, then coming home and finding the techniques we worked on in the book. This helps not only with understanding of the techniques, but with learning the terminology as well. The sequential photography is good, and since the techniques are demonstrated by Doshu, you can be sure they are the “Aikikai” way of doing things.

Any Amazon associate payment from purchasing from these links will eventually go to the dojo (whenever Amazon pays me — Bob).