Testing Results- Adults- 7/25/09

Name____________________Rank

Laura Butler.......................3rd kyu
Kobe Harkins......................3rd kyu
Mike Jacobs.......................3rd kyu

Den Go.............................5th kyu

Laura Patterson.................6th kyu
Sherrie Hald......................6th kyu
Mike Ryan.........................6th kyu
Patrick Ryan......................6th kyu
Andrew Hanson..................6th kyu

Testing Results- Youth Program- 7/23/09

Name_______________Rank

Jessica......................9th kyu
Scott........................9th kyu
Ellie..........................9th kyu

Presley....................10th kyu
Mason.....................10th kyu

Conflict Resolution Seminar for Inter-Tribal Council

On July 21st and 23rd, Aikido of Reno participated in the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada's Domestic Violence Prevention Project Conference held at Circus Circus Hotel and Casino. The theme of the conference was, "Prevent, Protect and Empower." Vince Sensei addressed the issue of conflict in relationships and suggested three approaches to peaceful resolution. These included the following techniques: breathing and being grounded and centered when experiencing emotions such as anger, fear or revenge; gesturing to set a physical boundary around oneself when approached too closely; and using a questioning, soft verbal approach in contentious situations.

The group in attendance brought up various examples of conflict in their lives, such as with family, road rage, or neighbor problems. They had the opportunity to try out the techniques for themselves in a way that helps to remember for future application. Many of the participants seemed to enjoy the physical process of becoming relaxed and centered, so hopefully they will infuse it into their daily lives.

If you have a group or business that would be interested in having this type of seminar, please contact our school at 337-8030.

Betsy and Shelley

Seminar and Black Belt Testing – August 8th & 9th

On August 8th and 9th, Greg Olson, Sensei of Big Sky Aikido in Bozeman, Montana, will lead a seminar at our dojo. Olson Sensei holds a fifth degree black belt in Aikido and a third degree black belt in judo. He has been practicing martial arts since 1964, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Physical Education at Montana State University. He has written extensively about the physiological aspects of Aikido techniques.

Two of our students recently had the pleasure of training at Big Sky Aikido, and they had high praise for Olson Sensei. Students will find his explanations and insights into various aspects of Aikido fascinating and fresh.

We will also have three students testing for their black belts, and a ceremony to present dan certificates and deshi program graduate certificates.

This seminar is open to all ranks. Look for the signup sheet on the bulletin board.

New Soto-Deshi Program Sign-Ups Starting

The current Soto-Deshi program is coming to an end August 1st and Sign-Ups are beginning for the next Soto-Deshi program. The program lasts for 6 months and meets every Monday from 6pm-7pm. The program is open to everyone from Beginners to Black Belts. Come take a more active role in the Dojo. Come help work on some exciting new projects. In the program that is ending now we helped work on getting the new website up and running. Plus we had a role in organizing some fun future events. I highly recommend it for everyone to come participate in the program. A sign up sheet will be posted in the Dojo. If you have any questions please ask Sensei or one of the current Soto-Deshi members for more information. We hope to see you there!

6/30/09 TESTING RESULTS

Youth/ Adult_______Name____________Rank
Youth................... Kai ......................... 5th Kyu
Youth.................. Anya ........................ 6th Kyu
Youth ................. Sennen .................... 9th Kyu

Adult ................... Kat Gallagher .......... 1st Kyu
Adult ................... Laura Klaich ............ 3rd Kyu
Adult ................... Robert Kucera ......... 5th Kyu
Adult ................... John Ferriera ........... 5th Kyu

Name That Blog Contest!!

The new website is coming along very well but we need your help! The blog section of the website is going to become a magazine for the dojo and we need your help finding a name for it. The magazine will contain Articles, Stories, Tips, Interviews, News and other interesting things. But we need your help to name it. So we are going to have a name that blog contest. The winner will receive one of the brand new Dojo T-Shirts that are arriving soon. The contest is open to everyone. So take a deep breath, get centered and put on your thinking cap and come up with a catchy name for the new online Dojo Magazine!
Send all your ideas to renoaikido@hotmail.com . Just put Blog Contest in the subject line. Good Luck!!

Conflict Resolution for CFO’s at Montreux

On June 9th I attended a Conflict Resolution class presented by Vince Salvatore Sensei to a group of CFO’s from the Reno/Sparks area.
Some important questions were asked of the participants about their business practices, such as; What is your intention? How can you apply this intention to customer service? Are you approaching situations with win/win outcomes? Does your mission statement truly represent what your company is and does? Are all of your employees passionate about the mission statement?
A group of approximately twelve individuals pondered these questions for the next two hours. In addition, we physically experienced that being centered and breathing could create a calm approach to dealing with conflict. We also experienced the opposite of this by being tense, which did not present a positive intention and resulted in negative outcomes.
The main lesson I learned about conflict is as situations change, I will have to readjust my center or reidentify where the center is. This was a very worthwhile class.

Lonnie Klaich

Conflict Resolution at the Art Museum

On March 14th and 21st Vince Sensei, with the help of several students from Aikido of Reno, taught a conflict resolution class for front line service and security personnel at the Nevada Museum of Art.
In the first class Sensei taught techniques to help the employees of the museum to stay calm in stressful situations and to diffuse aggressiveness in conflict. Each participant experienced neutralizing conflict first-hand through the exercises and techniques Sensei offered in the one-hour class.
On the 21st, Sensei asked the museum employees what new insights they had noticed in the week after the first class. One student mentioned being more aware of her surroundings and of other people’s feelings. Another said her awareness and focus on breathing increased her feelings of being calm and centered.
In the 2nd class, participants learned about the cultural conditioning of many people’s dislike of being given orders, and some ways to get around that conditioning. Because most of the people in the class were security personnel, Sensei also taught some physical restraint techniques. From personal experience, I can tell you they learned these restraint techniques quite well in a short timeframe!
At the end of class I took a moment to talk to a couple of the participants. One gentleman told me the biggest thing he took away from the class was how the moment of first contact set the tone for an entire encounter. I asked the head of security for the museum how many times he has hosted Vince Sensei to teach conflict resolution at the museum. His reply was, "Multiple times." His emphatic response to my question if he would recommend this class to other businesses was, "Absolutely!” He went on to say he thought the class was, “completely appropriate to the museum’s situation". When asked what he felt the biggest thing his people took away from the classes was, he replied, "confidence". The experiential nature of the exercises allowed the students to swiftly and effectively internalize the lessons.
If you own a business and would like your employees trained to turn potentially customer-losing conflict into win-win situations, give Aikido of Reno a call and schedule a class today.

Jay Northrup