New Blog URL

Attention Members

This blog is no longer active. You can find the new dojo blog at

http://melbourneaikido.wordpress.com/

please update your bookmarks.

Arigato gozaimasu!

4 Places left!

Weekend Intensive

Friday 15^th - Sunday 17^th October

A weekend of intense training

At Millgrove, near Wurburton, at the edge of the Yarra Ranges

Cost is $ 300 per person and includes food, accommodation and all classes

Retreat is strictly limited to 16 participants, so please book and pay in advance at the front desk

Dojo Dinner Pics 7/8/10 - Chiba

Congratulations Simon and Imogene :-)

Congratulations to Simon and Imogene on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl Eddy Hollier Mcgowan - 3.56kg's of wonderful smile!

Tea and Zen Exhibition at NGV

Tea and Zen

Tea was cultivated in China thousands of years ago. Chinese scholars took on tea drinking as a form of relaxation from the cares of everyday life. Chinese Zen (Chan in Chinese) Buddhist monks drank tea to stay awake during long hours of meditation. In the Tang dynasty (618-906), the `Tea Classic’, the first book on tea in the world, was written by Lu Yu, a Chinese scholar-official, on the cultivation and preparation of tea.

Tea was introduced to Japan in the Asuka and Nara periods (538-794) by Japanese Buddhist monks who traveled to Tang China and returned to Japan with the Chinese products and inventions of paper making, printing, written script and importantly tea and its utensils. However it wasn’t until the Muromachi period (1333- 1568) that the unique Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi “beauty in imperfection” was developed and culminated in the practice and teachings of the great tea master, Sen no Rikyu during the Momoyama period (1568-1600).
This exhibition will show tea utensils in the form of ceramics, lacquer and bamboo and also Zen paintings and calligraphy to create a contemplative setting to evoke the spirit of the `Way of Tea’.

We will present the history of tea in China and Japan and its spiritual connections with Zen Buddhism. We will explore the philosophical meanings underlying the `Way of Tea’ in both China and Japan and make artistic and cultural comparisons.

Finally we will draw attention to tea’s continuing practice in present day Japanese culture - the tea ceremony (cha-no-yu) and its influence on contemporary Japanese artists.

Free entry 15 Apr 2010 -
29 Aug 2010

NGV International

180 St Kilda Road
Temporary Exhibition Space 1, Level G

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/exhibitions/tea-and-zen

Recent holiday footage from our fearless Kristine!

Takeno Sensei London 2000 demonstration

July Test results

Results of Test conducted on the 23st of July 2010

The following students have been promoted to:

7^th Kyu

Matt O’Meara

Daniel Harper

Kai Machida

Angelo Di Francesco

5^th Kyu

Grant Ring

Kate Vigo

3^rd Kyu

Fazel Shabanpoor

1^st Kyu

Daniel Gomez

Quang Kwanon Truong

* Certificates and Belts will be issued shortly in class.

Dojo dinner 7th of August

Dear Members, Mums and Dads

For those of you who have signed on, the dojo dinner is on Saturday the 7th of August at 8:00pm. This date was selected as it suited the majority of members who were keen to attend.

The Restaurant is Japanese:

Chiba Japanese Restaurant

19 Hall St, Moonee Ponds VIC 3039

(03) 9326 0248

‎

http://maps.google.com.au/places/au/moonee-ponds/hall-st/19/-chiba-japanese-restaurant?hl=en&gl=au

Anyone who would like to attend but has not yet signed on contact the office ASAP with numbers.

Arigato gozaimasu

Admin

Easter seminar in Blitz magazine

Dear Members,

The dojo is proud to announce the featuring of the Takeno and Nakagawa Sensei's Easter Seminar in Blitz Martial arts Magazine. The magazine features a fantastic write up of the Seminar By Kristine Cao and an interview with Takeno Sensei and Nakagawa Sensei. The dojo would like to thank Kristine for all her hard work in realising the article and organising the interview and translations. Special thanks also to Matthew Wings for his sensational photos featured in the article.

the Magazine is available at Newsagents now and is featured in July Vol.24 No.7.

arigato gozaimasu!

Queens Birthday Holiday

Dear Members

The dojo will be closed on Monday the 14th of June.

Please also note that classes will run as usual this Saturday (12th of June).

We hope you enjoy your Queen Birthday Holiday!

Arigato Gozaimasu

Admin
Melbourne Aikido

Adult test Saturday the 29th of May 2010

The results of the adult test held on Saturday the 29th of May 2010 are as follows

The following students have been promoted to



7th Kyu
Natasha Zonn
Shae Nechwatal
Tristen Jones
Felim Milne


6th Kyu
Ngoc Bao Nguyen
Akshay Bhurtun
Kristine Cao
Dylan Mraz



5th Kyu
Shaun Bennett
Andrew Jameson




Belts and certificates will be issued during class over the newt two weeks.

May test

The next Adult test is on Saturday the 29th of May 2010. The test will start at 12:30pm. Testing candidates must be in their dogi on the mats by 12:15 (clean dogi, short nails and neat hair). All candidates must fill out a testing form and pay their testing fee by Friday the 28th of May. Testing forms are available at the office (Cash only).

All members please note there will be no regular classes on Saturday the 29th as it is a testing day.

Arigato Gozaimasu

ANZAC day long weekend

Dear Members

The dojo will be open on Saturday the 24th of April.

The dojo will be closed on Monday the 26th of April due to the ANZAC day long weekend

Takeno Sensei Seminar

Thanks to our resident photographer, Matt Wings, we have some great photos of our seminar with Takeno Sensei and Nakagawa Sensei.

For more images, go to http://gallery.me.com/uberdruid#100255



Arigato gozaimasu to Takeno Sensei and Nakagawa Sensei for their insightful instruction.

Easter Seminar

The dojo will be closed for normal classes from Friday the 2nd of April until Tuesday the 13th of April.

Over the Easter long weekend, Takeno Sensei (9th Dan) and Nakagawa Sensei (5th Dan) will be teaching a three day seminar. Takeno Sensei is the founder of Aikido Yoshinkan Yamanashi and was Instructor at Honbu Dojo for over 10 years.

30 Melbourne Aikido students will be attending this unique experience. There will photos posted after the long weekend

All classes resume as normal from Wednesday the 14th of April.

Test resuts March 2010

The results of the Adult Test held on the 27th of March 2010

The following Students have been promoted to:

7th Kyu

Georgina Costello
Mandi Sebasio-Ong
Aiden Varan
Aaron Drew
Leigh Stillard
Akshay Bhurtun

5th Kyu

Rory Christensen
Frank Mesiti

4th Kyu

Robin Linhart

3rd Kyu

Elly Davis

2nd Kyu

Daniel Gomez
Kelya Perez
Sophie Harle
Quang Kwanon Truong




Certificates and belts will be awarded during class

Saturday March 27

This Saturday (27th of March 2010) is a testing date. There will be no regular classes (adults or juniors) on this day.

Kids Test:

On the mats in a clean dogi, with neat and tidy hair by 10:45am sharp. All parents must fill out a testing form and pay testing fee by Friday the 26th of March (cash only payment).

Adults Test:

Senior test candidates must be on the mats in their dogi by 12:15pm. All candidates must have filled out a testing form and paid testing fee by Friday the 26th of March (cash only payment).

Family and friends are welcome to watch the test. Photos are fine - no flash please!

Gambate Kudasai!

Admin

Test results: February 2010

The results of the test held on Saturday the 27th of Feb 2010 are as follows:

7th Kyu

Dylan Mraz
Kristine Cao
Paul Melillo
Kate Hale
Andrej Mijanovic
Daniel Lee
Ngoc Bao Nguyen

6th Kyu

David Haidon
Andrew Bowles
Brad Ashlock
Simon McGowan
Bachir Khoury
Nigel Williams
Yvette Blanchard
Elnaz Sheshgelari
Jeffrey Blanchard

5th Kyu

Nesidah Jonsin
David Lewin
Masumi Namiki
Voytek Lapinski

Belts and Certificates will be issued shortly during regular class.

Dojo picnic - 14 March

There will be a dojo picnic on Sunday March 14 at Studley Park Boathouse from 11am to 2pm

Partners, friends and family are all invited, and is a perfect chance for all members of the dojo to catch up and relax. There are also various boating options available at the boat shed.

There is a sign up sheet at the front desk, as well as a map and other details.

Hope to see everyone there!

Labour Day long weekend

Dear Members

The dojo will be open on Saturday the 6th of March.

The dojo will be closed on Monday the 8th of March - Labour Day

arigato gozaimasu

Admin

Elly's Granola Recipe

For those who only survived the intensity of the intensive weekend thanks the Elly's granola - here's the recipe!!!

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=216

Some possible adjustments:

Make the chocolate/peanut variation (note at end of the recipe).

It's best to blitz the nuts in the food processor a little bit first which makes the nuts a bit smaller.

It's hard to get the rice malt syrup so just add extra honey/golden syrup to compensate.

If you're classy, use Vahlrona cocoa which is quite expensive, but ideally you want the best quality cocoa you can get if making the chocolate variation.

Australia Day long weekend

Dear Members

The dojo will be open Saturday the 23rd of Jan.

The dojo will be closed Monday the 25th of Jan and Tuesday the 26th of Jan.

Classes resume as normal from Wednesday the 27th of Jan.

arigato gozaimasu!

More photos from Demonstration

Dylan has sent through some lovely black and white pics from the demonstration

here's one of the jos


and the go waza...