We have just wrapped up our 17th Anniversary seminar weekend, now we just have to have the formal photo tonight: 1 Oct at the Burnside dojo, be there at 7.20pm.

It was a long busy weekend, but really enjoyable! Great to see so many people from Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland, and Alex Freddo from Brisbane. Who didn't pick on Freddo? A huge thanks to everyone for coming, training, and teaching.

There are a selection of photos in our aikido picture gallery from Saturday (day 2) and Sunday (day 3). We're after more photos to go online, particularly Irene and Garry's Friday night classes (day 1) and Simon's outdoor weapons class. Contact Andrew or James if you have some.

If you want to file your own event report then email them to website@aikido-chch.co.nz, it would get great to compile the different perspectives from beginners to seniors, visitors and locals. You can include photos from our picasaweb gallery.

The highlight for me was definitely seeing people throw themselves around during Kevin's class... and yes... some of that was caught on camera.

The anniversary seminar is fast approaching - it's being held during the last weekend of September.

For our newer members, particularly those that haven't been to a seminar yet, it's a great opportunity to get to know people better and to train with a higher intensity. Don't worry, there are still plenty of breaks, and the structure is very similar to regular classes - so you will fit right in!

The biggest advantages are:

• You get to train with lots of really experienced people - as well as seeing most of our higher grades, we get a number of visitors from around the South Island and the rest of New Zealand
• Each class will normally concentrate on a particular theme, helping things sink in
• There's a Saturday night dinner - a great chance to chat
• Since the seminars give plenty of teaching material for the following weeks, you'll know what the instructors are talking about (or you'll be able to help them figure out what they're talking about!)

In recognition of the training advantages at the seminars, each seminar class counts as two regular classes towards your grading requirements.

Register by emailing Andrew or by putting your name on the list at the Burnside dojo.

The classes have been counted and Paul MacIntosh has been awarded the prestigious Top Trainer award for August. 37 classes in the one month. Nice.

The first day of spring fell on a Saturday this year, helping with a big turn-out to our annual spring dawn training session. We were also helped by the mild weather, the calm sea, and a fantastic sunrise.

Garry took the class, which after some light stretches, covered a range of Aikido weapon techniques, using the jo. It was a first weapons class for some - expect similar classes on Fridays and Sundays - but without having to worry about the tide moving in!

We have also uploaded a gallery of the morning, see our Aikido dawn training session.

Few! The proficiency tests are done for another month.

As usual, it's a lot of fun to train with the added intensity of being marked, and I'm sure we've all got some mental notes of things to work on before the grading in November.

A big thanks to all the ukes, markers, and organisers.

We have uploaded a large gallery from Wednesday's brown belt proficiency tests and a smaller one from Saturday's white belt proficiency tests.

A few of the pointers which came up:

• Avoid cutting the katadori techniques down too much
• Remember to block all tsuki (punch) attacks before proceeding with a technique
• Remember which of the yokomen techniques are best done by entering (that's ikkyo and its variants) and which of the tsuki techniques are best done on the inside (ikkyo and shihonage)
• For jiyu waza we need to pay more attention to varying the distance and timing - it's not supposed to be as regular as normal training
• Know the names of the techniques!

We have just completed two enjoyable classes at Hillmorton High School, over the last two weeks. They were part of the year 11 student program to participate in a range of classes from the community.

A few of the students weren't used to moving around that much, but by the end of each class we had great participation (and less cellphones). Everyone finished happy and unscathed, even those at the back of the class who were a little over-enthusiastic with the chance to stretch their friend's joints. Remembering your friend's turn is only 30 seconds away seems to help!

Thanks to Andrew and James for taking the classes.

Seniors

• Sat 25 August Burnside Dojo, 10.00am 6th kyu – 4th kyu
• Wed 29 August Burnside Dojo, 7.30pm 3rd kyu – 1st kyu

Kids

• Rangiora Dojo: Sat 1 September 10am
• Linwood Dojo: Tues 28 August 4.45pm
• Burnside Dojo:
  • Mon 27 Aug 4.45pm those attempting Semi 10th kyu [yellow – white tips] to Semi 9th kyu [orange – white tips]
  • Wed 29 August 4.45pm those attempting 9th kyu [orange] to 7th kyu [green]

Other upcoming events are available on the calendar.

We have made a few changes to the gallery section of the web site.

There's a new layout and instead of showing the individual photos you get a fancy slideshow instead. You can still view and download the individual photos over at our picasaweb gallery.

There are also two new galleries.

1. The 2007 Mid Year Grading (thanks to Fitz for these)
2. Part 1 of the 2006 Auckland Gasshuku, with guest instructors Seki Shihan and Sawada Shihan

Enjoy!

The Burnside dojo is opening a little earlier for the kids this month. On Mondays and Wednesdays at 4pm James McNeill is opening up, and the first 30-40 minutes before the class formally starts is a chance to work on breakfalls.

Hi to Room 7!

We were invited to give an Aikido class to Room 7 as part of their cultural studies. It fitted in nicely with lots of other Japanese facts they have picked up over the last week.

The class went for an hour and was enjoyed by everyone.

For their notes:

• We did two techniques: ikkyo (which used the partner's whole arm) and nikyo (which used the partner's wrist)
• The pants (worn over the pajamas) are called a hakama
• It's a good idea to avoid the bug smashers!

Thanks to Andrew Sensei for taking the class and to Mariann and James for helping out.