Author Archives: Flo Li

Special Training Week with Jacques Payet Shihan

jacques payet, 7th dan

Jacques Payet Shihan, 7th Dan in Yoshinkan Aikido, will be visiting us from Japan. It is a rare opportunity to train with such a highly ranked instructor and we are honored to host him this year.

The schedule of classes for his visit to Southern California is as follows:

LOS ANGELES AIKIDO
12418 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Saturday, February 18, 2-4pm  $50
                                          4-6pm  $50
Sunday, February 19,    11-1pm $50
                                          $120 for all three classes

AIKIDO OF DEL MAR
3800-A Mykonos Lane, San Diego, CA 92130
Main hall at the Boys and Girls Club
Monday, February 20,       7-9pm  $50
Tuesday, February 21,        7-9pm  $50
Wednesday, February 22, 7-9pm  $50
                                               $120 for all three classes

IMPORTANT! As a result of holding these special classes, all of our normally scheduled classes on Saturday (Feb 18), Monday (Feb 20) and Wednesday (Feb 22) are cancelled.

Some of the advanced Aiki-kids (you must receive an invitation from your teacher to attend), and all of the Aiki-Youth can attend the first part of the training on February 20th from 7:00 to 7:30pm (cost is $10). Aiki-Youth students are also invited to participate in all of the trainings. All adult students are highly encouraged to attend regardless of rank. Visitors from other dojos in Southern California are also invited. Spectators are welcome.

We will be carpooling to Los Angeles for the classes on Saturday and Sunday, so let us know if you can join us.

Looking forward to seeing you there! Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

About Jacques Payet Shihan: Payet Sensei has the unique distinction of being uchi-deshi (live-in apprentice) directly under the guidance of Shioda Sensei longer that any other Westerner. He was appointed staff instructor at the Yoshinkan Honbu dojo (world headquarters in Tokyo) and during that time he designed the Foreign Instructor course in 1991 and translated Aikido Shugyo the autobiography of Kancho Gozo Shioda. He was appointed technical director for the English Aikido Yoshinkan Federation. He has taught classes and seminars in many private companies, university clubs and dojos in Japan as well as in many other countries around the world.


A Wonderful Celebration at Aikido Del Mar

Bonjour!

We had another successful Kagami Biraki celebration this year. There was a spectrum of demonstrations on the mats from the youngest participants to well-seasoned aikidokas.

 

Congratulations to all the students demonstrated an aspect of aikido they were working on and we are excited to see more progress throughout the year of 2012!

 

A special appreciation goes to Tomoko (Thomas’s mother) for taking time out of her busy schedule to prepare this year’s mochi soup as part of our yearly Kagami Biraki tradition. It was also beautiful to see parents helping put away the mats with such vibrant enthusiasm!

 

Thank you everyone for making Aikido Del Mar a wonderful family community with your love and your participation.

Here is the link to some unprocessed pictures from our event, enjoy!

Welcoming 2012!

Happy New Year Everyone!

It is that time of the year again where students of aikido can officially kick off another year of training by a tradition of reflecting on the past year and rededicating to the new year called Kagami Biraki (鏡開き).

Aikido Del Mar will host our Kagami Biraki celebration on Saturday January 21st, 2012 from 11am to 1pm. It is our tradition to have all students (Aiki-Kids, Aiki-Youth and Adult) meet on the mats together. Each student will demonstrate some aspect of aikido one’s working on. Note: parking on Saturdays will be busy from now on since the Boys and Girls Club hosts a junior basketball league, so please allow yourself plenty of time to find parking.

After the demonstration we will enjoy a potluck lunch together as a renewed aikido family. Family and friends are also invited to this special dojo celebration. The potluck signup sheet will be on the clip board during class so you can write down what you plan to share.

Here’s one of our most memorable dojo moments in 2011 – Joe’s Shodan Test Jiyu Waza (aikido freestyle). Enjoy!

Dojo Holiday Schedule

Hello everyone,

We will have regular classes on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next two weeks. No classes on Saturday, Dec 24th and Saturday, Dec 31st.

Happy holidays!

December Kyu Test Completed

Congratulations to everyone tested on Dec 10th and Dec 12th! It has been exciting for us to witness so much progress in our dojo. All the white belts have graduated to yellow belts in the Aiki-Kids class. Two students from Aiki-Youth have been promoted to the adult class. And we had our first ever shodan test in the adult class – congratulations to Joe Cornwell for earning his black belt!

aikido del mar kids class

Congrats Aiki-Kids!

aikido del mar youth class

Congrats Aiki-Youth!

Joe Family Aikido

Congrats to everyone tested in the adult class, notably the Cornwall family for supporting Joe Cornwall's shodan achievement.

To access and download pictures from the recent kyu test, please click on the link KYU TEST DEC 2011.

You can also access other pictures from 2011 through the following links.

DEL MAR PICNIC DAY

KYU TEST AUG 2011

KAGAMI BIRAKI 2011

RANDOM 2011 PHOTOS

Thank you everyone for being a part of Aikido Del Mar and sharing the journey of aikido!

Aikido Ukemi Clinic – how to do a proper forward roll

Most students have trouble with ukemi – especially when it comes to the forward roll. Some smaller children tend to put their head down to support their body. A few older kids do not maintain the strength in their body to remain round throughout the roll. Adults tend to deal with fears of “falling” might contract the body and can end up injuring themselves.

We have published as few helpful hints and videos to help you safely practice the forward roll -

1. you can swing your front arm over your head to initiate the circling movement of the body toward the mat;

2. make contact with the outer edge of your front hand with ample strength that feels like you are pushing into the mat (it is also helpful to make a fist);

3. push with your back foot then push with your front foot to follow the circle;

4. use your core to remain circular throughout the roll in a continuous manner and do not let go the power from your abs until you are back on both feet again;

5. land with a straight back leg and walk out of the roll with focus.

Parents familiar with aikido can also help their children to practice the forward roll at home on a soft surface as shown in this instructional video below.

Another wonderful resource via “Aikido From the Inside Out” explains ukemi is not passive but an active endeavor. http://www.designeq.com/deq/aikido/insideout/ukemi.html

We have open mat time from 7:10pm to 7:30pm for anyone who wishes to practice. And please let us know how we can help.