Heart of San Francisco Aikido

Special Seminar with Linda Holiday Sensei - Sunday, December 13, 2020, 10:00am - 12:00pm Linda Holiday Sensei, 7th dan, chief instructor of Aikido of Santa Cruz, will teach a seminar based on the central Aikido principle of "love and protection for all." Linda Sensei is also the author of Journey to the Heart of Aikido, which focuses on the teachings of O-Sensei and Anno Sensei. The seminar will be a Zoom event.... $15 dojo members $25 guests Register at http://www.heartaikido.com/schedule.html

Wonderful opportunity to focus on harmony. No time like these present times.

Wonderful opportunity to focus on harmony. No time like these present times.

We’ve had wonderful whole dojo classes on Zoom for over 3 months now at Heart of San Francisco Aikido. When outdoor exercise classes were permitted starting in mid-June, we also added some outdoor small group practice, with masks and 6 feet apart, a step we were able to take because dojo students had kept the dojo strong and connected via zoom.

Craig Fife - our California Aikido Association president, wonderful human being and caring teacher - suffered a serious motorcycle accident this past week. Lots of broken bones, several surgeries already performed and others planned. We can help him by contributing to the GoFundMe campaign set up for him.

Start learning Aikido online! Heart of San Francisco Aikido is offering a 4-class, online Beginning Aikido series Saturday mornings in October, 9-10am, on Oct. 3rd, Oct. 10th, Oct. 17th, and Oct. 24th. The series will give you a good overview of Aikido, its meaning, and the basic movements involved. ... Enrollment will be limited to 12 students, so if you are interested in participating, it would best to reply soon, within a few days. The cost for the 4-class series is $20 and you can register for the course on the beginners page of our website at http://www.heartaikido.com/begin.html

At Heart of San Francisco Aikido, we’ve expanded our class schedule of zoom classes to include outdoor training in small groups. We’re learning how to maintain physical distance while practicing outdoors and it’s such a joy to see each other in person again.

Jerilyn Munyon Sensei of Aikido of Santa Cruz taught class at our dojo today. She spoke about regeneration, how in giving energy, you receive energy. She pointed out that this cycle is also used in sustainable agriculture.. Jerilyn Sensei also reflected on how we can practice Aikido off the mat. For example, she herself has a practice of extending good energy in some form to everyone who she encounters during the day. We left contemplating how we might also augment our practice of Aikido throughout the day outside the dojo.

We’ve had wonderful whole dojo classes on Zoom for over 3 months now at Heart of San Francisco Aikido. When outdoor exercise classes were permitted starting in mid-June, we also added some outdoor small group practice, with masks and 6 feet apart, a step we were able to take because dojo students had kept the dojo strong and connected via zoom.

Heena Patel and Jaime Austin, students at Heart of San Francisco Aikido, were just weeks away from their 4th kyu exam in mid-March when we needed to close the in-person dojo. They so clearly deepened their practice during the more than 3 months of dojo zoom classes that we promoted them to 4th kyu. We are inspired by them and proud of them.

We have canceled in-person classes at Heart of San Francisco Aikido, but many students joined in this morning for a Zoom meeting at our regularly scheduled Saturday class time. What emerged was a plethora of wonderful ideas for how to stay connected as a community and how to continue our practice - such as sharing our practice intentions for the week and online instruction for weapons and other practices that can be done at home. More to come . . . This photo shows Penny Sablove Sensei leading the Zoom meeting.

Where nature itself is the shrine. It was forces of nature such as the Nachi waterfall that inspired Osensei in his creation of the art of Aikido.

An important message from our chief instructor, Penny: Dear Students of the Dojo, Given the escalating uncertainties around the Coronavirus, I reluctantly have concluded that we will need to cancel regular classes at the dojo through the end of the month. It is also quite possible that we will need to extend these cancellations, pending new information and public health policies.... After meeting online with a few others in the dojo, we recognized that there wasn’t a sure way to adequately reduce risk at this time, especially in a space that we share with other groups. So, there will be no class tonight or on Friday. However, we will hold a meeting at the dojo this coming Saturday morning at our usual 10 am class time for all of us to share ideas about ways to continue practicing Aikido at home, and continuing to connect as a community. Some ideas on the table so far include my sending online videos out for home practice with weapons or video discussion topics. If you are unable to attend, do not want to be in an in-person group discussion or if you or someone close to you is ill, you are invited to send me your ideas and I will bring them up at the meeting. Aikido is about connection and so I’m thinking about how can we continue our practice while also honoring the request to exercise social distancing. Let’s explore that together. Hope to either see you on Saturday or to receive your thoughts and ideas digitally. Love you all of you, Penny

Jerilyn Munyon Sensei of Aikido of Santa Cruz taught class at our dojo today. She spoke about regeneration, how in giving energy, you receive energy. She pointed out that this cycle is also used in sustainable agriculture.. Jerilyn Sensei also reflected on how we can practice Aikido off the mat. For example, she herself has a practice of extending good energy in some form to everyone who she encounters during the day. We left contemplating how we might also augment our practice of Aikido throughout the day outside the dojo.

A seminar to support and empower women in Aikido.

Practicing outdoors helped expand our ki and our connection with the natural world, from which Osensei drew his inspiration for the creation of Aikido.

Still standing after a week of focused training.

Where nature itself is the shrine. It was forces of nature such as the Nachi waterfall that inspired Osensei in his creation of the art of Aikido.

Penny Sensei just got back from Japan today, where she trained at the Funada Dojo with Anno Sensei and did spiritual practice along the Kumano Kodo. May aspects of the kami of Kumano travel back to Heart of San Francisco Aikido and inspire everyone in our dojo as well.