How Are You All?

The coronavirus impacted the dojo around the middle of March. Now here we are the beginning of July. Boy things can change in a hurry, can't they? Classes have shifted online via Zoom then posted on Youtube. We have done Saturday outdoors classes the past 3 Saturdays at Bestor Park around the corner from the dojo. Social distancing with weapons work and with Masks(Wear one!) I personally got online a Spider-man mask. Guess I get to be your friendly neighborhood Aikido-ist. Hope everybody is safe, taking precautions, and for now healthy.

My own situation is safe and healthy for now. I enjoy the video classes and I realize they are no substitute for real classes. I continue to train on a daily basis. One thing we have been covering online and in the outdoor classes is the basic suburi cut.

The above photo is what I study the most about Osensei's sword work(bokken). Notice how alive it is, even in the photo. And when I trained in Shingu I really studied Tojima sensei's cut.

And the above cut is a photo (obviously taken from a video) of Tojima sensei in 1979 teaching a sword class at UC Santa Cruz. Even though the angle of the cut is slightly different my sensei is that they are very close. So in the midst of the downtime of the coronavirus I have been practicing that cut.If I can make deep inroads into this journey it will be time well spent.

My partner Elle fell and broke her hip just about the time the dojo was closed. She is scheduled for surgery early next week. I will keep you posted. I have been in contact with my daughter and Nora. We observe social distancing. Nora is growing and is so cute I think the social distancing is so hard especially for children.

Nadeau sensei and I continue to do our 'research' but over the phone. No Occidental this year and a lot of events have shifted to online. Nadeau sensei has shifted for now to a virtual dojo. He has a show Friday nights at 6:30. NO show this week because of July 4th. Similarly we will do Zoom noon class tomorrow July 3rd, but no class Saturday July 4th.

San Jose State classes will be online this fall. So I have to format a class without falling, student teacher contact other than online. So it will be a challenge.

Those of you who have continued to pay tuition online, thank you very much. You are the lifeblood of the dojo and keep us going. We will persevere, push through, and come out on the other side hopefully stronger, wiser, and with a greater appreciation for what we have. I hope all of you are safe, healthy, and with family and loved one.

I'm still playing music. Here is a video I did recently. Nardis is a Miles Davis tune Chet Baker played. It has for me an Egyptian feel. For non music people it has some fun photos of dojo people, and Nora.