October was one of the busiest months we’ve had in a long time, with two major events in addition to the normal routine.

The “Least-West” Gasshuku

Over the Columbus Day holiday weekend (the 11^th through the 13^th) we hosted the annual eastern regional seminar for Shinto Muso-ryu Jo. As has been the case in previous years, Phil Relnick was the guest instructor, and seniors in attendance included Larry Bieri, Meik and Diane Skoss, David Pitard, Scott Vogeley, and Dan Soares (this group comprised a considerable portion of the alumni of the Nogawa Dojo in Japan).

Because the number of participants that pre-registered substantially exceeded the capacity of the dojo, we were compelled to rent an alternate facility. After checking a number of local high schools and universities, we signed a contract with Penn State Harrisburg to rent the gymnasium in the Capital Union Building. One of the high schools would have been less expensive, but the principal insisted we practice on neoprene wrestling mats — evidently he was concerned our bare feet would somehow damage his freshly refinished gym floor.

The gym at Penn State turned out to be pretty well suited to our needs. There was plenty of room and even though the facility is not air-conditioned, temperatures were very comfortable at that point of the year and there was adequate ventilation. The only real complaints had to do with the lighting. There was a distinctly yellow cast to the light and, more significantly, the light fixtures cycled at a rate that produced a stroboscopic effect as weapons were swung (this latter condition was most noticeable with people standing at least ten feet away).

Since the university’s liability insurance requires food brought on campus be provided by approved vendors, we had to arrange for catered lunches rather than just picking up a few sandwich trays on our own. This was an additional, albeit minor, expense.

We trained at the Penn State gym on Saturday and Sunday, and then returned to the dojo for training on Monday. Things were a bit crowded at the dojo with 21 people on the mat, but manageable. As it turned out, there was only one more person than that for Saturday, and three more for Sunday — we could have dispensed with renting the gym and saved about $1,200 (these events are not fund-raisers for the dojo; registration fees are calculated to achieve break-even, so any reductions in costs would translate directly to lower fees for everyone). Once the contract for renting the gym had been signed, cancellation had to be made no less than 15 days in advance of the event in order to avoid the full rental fee. Within just five days of the event, enough people cancelled their pre-registrations to preclude the need for the alternate facility.

In the future, pre-registration for events of this kind will require a paid registration, and refunds will be available for cancellations only subsequent to the event, on condition that all bills incurred have been paid.

As for the training itself, there was absolutely nothing to complain about. With considerable emphasis (as always) on fundamentals, Relnick Sensei demonstrated, illuminated, and instructed untiringly. Everyone had the benefit of extended, individual attention from Sensei, as well as opportunity to train personally with most or all of the seniors. The amount of information and insight conveyed under such circumstances is almost overwhelming.

Additional highlights of the weekend included an impromptu demonstration staged by the seniors, covering much of the Shinto Muso-ryu Jo curriculum, and a dinner Saturday evening at the dojo catered by an exceptional, local Thai restaurant.

Aikido with Ellis Amdur

Ellis Amdur, the technical advisor to our aikido class, visited the dojo to conduct training on the 19^th through 21^st of the month. A Sunday through Tuesday training schedule is a bit unusual, but was necessary due to the fact we piggybacked this visit on a trip Ellis made to the DC area to teach a major seminar hosted by Jim Sorrentino at Aikido of Northern Virginia.

The focus of the visit here was establishing the sankyu and nikyu test sets for our aikikai. Ellis is in the process of creating for us a unique aikido curriculum, a curriculum bringing his considerable expertise and insight to bear on the objectives we would like to achieve in our training. The endeavor began when we trained with Ellis last May, and this was the first opportunity for Ellis to observe and assess the results of five months of practice within our new paradigm. The results spoke for themselves, and had the effect of validating the underlying principles and concepts upon which we are building, as well as raising Ellis’ expectations of us. The enthusiasm and dedication with which the members of our aikikai have embraced Ellis’ instruction insure we’re going to do our best to live up to those expectations.

Calendar Notes

Commencing the second week of November, we are adding a Wednesday evening aikido practice to the schedule. This class will meet from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m., making available a fourth aikido practice each week and providing a later start time for those students having difficulty getting to the dojo in time for the 6:00 p.m. class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We’re also extending all weeknight practices to 1˝ hours, with just a few moments break between sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.