What a season coming up at JuShinKan!

Autumn schedule starts up on Monday 16. september, we’re back with a 5 days a week practice schedule!

JuShinKan Aikido is organizing several seminars this season and new this year, we will be organizing club trips to Haugesund and Bergen! Mark and reserve the dates below:

- Marc Bachraty, 5th dan (9-12 September, 2010)  see details here or FB-event here
If you like Christian Tissier, this Marc Bachraty seminar is for you! Marc is one of Tissier’s main students, teaches at his dojo in Vincennes and serves as uke for Tissier in many demonstrations (see YouTube videos) and seminars, as well as giving many seminars throughout Europe himself. A down to earth person with a warm personality, a good teacher with a powerful and clean technique!

Bachraty Sensei volunteered an extra practice session on the thursday (9.9 – for free!) and JuShinKan will be taking Bachraty  and all who are here to the fjords on friday daytime. We will be hosting aikidoka coming from Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm and from all major cities in Norway – so we have plenty of good practice partners!

- Kayla Feder, 6th dan (15-17 Octobre, 2010) see details here or FB-event here
Kayla Feder is one of the highest ranking lady aikidoka in the world and runs her own dojo in Berkeley, California, where also Jan Nevelius teaches once a year. Having been uchi deshi with Saito Sensei in Japan, Feder  brings a crisp and clear, yet circular and smooth technique, especially in weapon work, which this seminar will emphasize. Stavanger is the end station of her 4-week European tour (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vanadis in Stockholm, Germany, Switzerland and Stavanger). Visitors can stay until Monday and join Kayla Sensei and us for a little fjord-gazing as an optional extension to the seminar!

- Frank Ostoff, 5th dan (22-24 Octobre, 2010, in Haugesund!) see details here or FB-event here
Frank Ostoff has been giving seminars in Oslo and Trondheim for years. He is known for his soft aikido and developping a soft high fall pedagogy together with Jan Nevelius.

Now the West Coast clubs are cooperating to bring Ostoff to the Western Norway on a rotational basis, this year for a weekend seminar in Haugesund followed by a monday session in Stavanger (next year Stavanger and Bergen, and so on).

JuShinKan will organize a club trip to Haugesund for the event!

- West Coast Aikido Festival (21-23. January 2011) details coming soon
We will also organize a club trip to Bergen, where the 3 West Coast dojos (Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger) will get together for the third time. The instructors of the 3 dojos will each be teaching one session each. The aim of the event is to “know each other better, train with others than we are used to, learn from each other, and so that it will be easier to stop by in each other dojos and open our horizon”. Read the articles about the 1st festival in Haugesund and the 2nd festival in Stavanger to know more about it. You can count on some great socializing there!

- Fabrice Somers, 5th dan (30 april-1 May 2011) 

Fabrice Somers is coming back to hold his 2nd seminar in Stavanger! Somers is a close student of Endo Sensei,  whom he often accompanies as uke in his European tours. He also spends a few weeks every year at Hombu to practice with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. He has a vibrant and joyful presence and is very generous when sharing his experience, emphasizing the principles that Endo stands for, taking the time to work with everyone present.
Read more about Fabrice Somers in this article: (English version) (Norwegian version) and see a video with Fabrice on the Junten Dojo site.

Welcome to Stavanger!  (also in between seminars, of course!)

Time for a change of .. dress!!

Jacqueline

Originally uploaded by ..AikiDude in China..

Many super congratulations to Jacqueline that yesterday graded to 3.kyu and soon will then wear a different skirt.. one completely black!!!

So after the traditional Swiss costume, she starts wearing a more traditional Aikido costume!!!

Many many congrats from China!!!!

A big hug from the east…..

Fabrice & gf!

Originally uploaded by ..AikiDude in China..

My best greetings from China to all my former fellow aikidokas in Stavanger.
I am sure you are super enjoying the seminar with one of the best Aikido instructors I met in the recent years!!
I am not only little envious of the occasion I have missed, but I hope one day to cross his road again on some tatami in some parts of the world!

So, from a very early Sunday morning in Hefei, a big aiki-hug to Fabrice, and my aiki-family in Stavanger, from an aiki-dude very much in Aikido withdrawal!!!!

2 more weeks for my first seminar since I moved to China: Etsuji Horii Shihan (7th dan). I hope to still remember something, at least ukemi!!!

Easter Holiday coming up!

Here is the practice schedule for the week of Easter:

Monday 29 March: regular practice (18.30-20 & 20-21)
Tuesday 30 March: Teppanyaki at Mikado at 18.00 (good-bye dinner for Andrea)
Wednesday 31 March: absolutely last chance to practice with Andrea (18.30-20 & 20-21)

Thursday 1. april – Tuesday 6. april : Happy Easter Holiday!

Wednesday 7. april: first practice after Easter (18.30-20 & 20-21)

Throw you soon!

More Endo-rphines in Stavanger!

We are preparing for the next big event for our dojo:

Fabrice Somers, 5th dan

(14-16 May 2010 – Ascension long weekend)
see details here or FB-event,
Fabrice Somers was just awarded his 5th dan in January 2010 on the recommendation of Endo Shihan and presented by Doshu. Congratulations!

Fabrice’s own dojo just south of Brussels was recently inaugurated by Endo Sensei, to whom Fabrice is very close and often accompanies as uke in his European tours. Fabrice also spends a few weeks every year at Hombu to practice with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. He has a vibrant and joyful presence and is very generous when sharing his experience, emphasizing the principles that Endo stands for, taking the time to work with everyone present.  See video with Fabrice on the Junten Dojo site.

Read more about Fabrice Somers in this article: (English version) (Norwegian version).

Note to travelling aikidokas: Do Consider this event as a possible mini aiki-holiday, as the Thursday 13.5 is a holiday (Ascension / Kristi Himmelfart). How about a daytrip to the fjords to climb the nearby Pulpit Rock? and the Monday after (17.5) is the Norwegian National Day (the most Norwegian of Norwegian celebrations, here’s the city’s int’l celebration).

There are a few places available for private accomodation – and there is free overnight at the dojo (bring sleeping bag and a sleeping mat).

Welcome to Stavanger!  (also in between seminars, of course!)

West Coast Aikido Festival 2010

The second edition of the West Coast Aikido Festival had been organized in Stavanger by our dojo, and also this seminar, like the first one in Haugesund, was a success!!!

We had a really great participation of people from Bergen, Haugesund, Stavanger and even Oslo and Bø. For JūShinKan Aikido, it was indeed the seminar with the highest participation! And I think all the people had a great time practicing the 7 session instructed by 7 different instructors from the 3 dojos!  Here are some pictures.

Besides the good practice, we had also a very nice graduation session, with all the instructors in the graduation committee. All the people taking the exam passed: congratulations to all of them and particularly to Carlos Sanchez from Stavanger JūShinKan Aikido, who took 6.kyu.

Read more about it in Julie and Kristofer’s article about the seminar:  ‘West Coast Aikido Festival 2010 – the start of something great?‘ – also in Norwegian: Vestlandet Aikido Festival 2010 – begynnelsen på noe stort?

The way of the teacher!

Respect your sensei, 先生, this is proper bushido, 武士道, the way of the warrior!!! And have a laugh!!!

Thanks to my friend Pedram for the suggestion!!!

New dojo for JūShinKan!!!

JūShinKan is very happy to announce its move to a new location – smack in the middle of town! What a Christmas present!

The dojo is a beauty – a bit smaller than we’re become accustomed to – but big enough to comfortably accommodate our sessions. It’s a dojo about 120 sqm, with good mats, a japanese feel with calligraphy on one wall, kimonos hanging on another, weapon racks and even a samurai armor! (see photo here and another one here). There are also posh changing rooms… with showers! (The two columns in there are meant to help practice awareness – so do take care, both when tori and when uke!).

From New dojo

The dojo is part of ‘Personlig Trener Service’ (PTS) run by Elias Krzywacki (photo), who is also the head instructor of Bujinkan dojo Norway, with whom we will be sharing the mat hours. Bujinkan practices the art of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, you can read more about them on their website. There are also a chiropractor and a dietitian with offices at PTS.

We had the first two preview sessions on Monday 28 and, tonight, Tuesday 29, and  here  are a few pics!

Location: Same entrance as ‘Personlig Trener Service’ to the left of the Narvesen kiosk in the Radisson Atlantic Hotel building (here’s a map). Parking: on the street behind Atlantic Hotel (point B on the map), which is free after 17.00. (PS – there are short cuts down to PTS… you’ll find them eventually…).

A new place means new routines, new considerations and a new schedule – but the welcome we’ve received there augurs a good cooperation.

New customs:
- all take off shoes at the entrance, do bring zori, slippers or flip-flops
- change quickly then wait in the reception area until the instructor signals the beginning of class.
- we clean the dojo after every practice (hoovering and wiping with a humid mop). Bujinkan does likewise.
- please respect the remaining area (eg. weightlifting area) which is NOT open for us to use. We only cross it to get to the changing room or to get to the dojo when it is time for class.
- we respect others users and do not bother, disrupt or distract PTS clients or other users of the location – and we can expect the same respect in return.

 A new location also means a new schedule which will be tentative for a while, meaning we are trying to find the most suitable times to cater to both those who prefer early and those who prefer late. The practice hours will most likely be adjusted – so keep checking in!

Pictures from seminars

We have finally uploaded quite a few pictures on Picasa web galleries and organized a new page to keep track of it.

If you find there a picture that you do not want to share, let us know and we will remove it!

until that time, I hope many will enjoy and download the pictures, and join the next seminars for contribute to more photo uploads

Great seminar season at JuShinKan! Mark the dates!

JuShinKan Aikido is organizing 4 more seminars (so far…) before the summer holiday – mark the dates and consider a trip or two to Stavanger!

Note that visiting aikidoka get a rebate and private accomodation (as long as you let us know ahead of time!). There are flights to our airport from most major cities in Europe!

- Börje Lindén, 6th dan (6-8 November, 2009)  see details here or FB-event here
Börje comes from the Iyasaka dojo in Stockholm and lists his inspiration sources to be:
Endo Sensei and all aikidoka with a positive attitude and are “searchers”,  as well as Ichimura Sensei (1975–1980) , Kobayashi Sensei (1977–), Igarashi Sensei (1978–). Kanetzuka Sensei (1986–1988), Frank Noel (1993–)…

- Alessandro Costa, 4th dan (4-6 Decembre, 2009) see details here or FB-event here
Alessandro has his own dojo in Bolzano, Italy, and lists his inspiration sources to be: Seichiro Endo, Masatoshi Yasuno, Christian Tissier and Alain Tendron. More about Costa on his website. Three of Alessandro’s high graded students are accompanying him to Stavanger – plenty of opportunity to train with very competent aikidoka!
(the Friday session will be a special introductory session with Andrea Raviglione)

- West Coast Aikido Festival (22-24. January 2010) see details here or FB-event here
This is where the 3 West Coast dojos (Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger) get together. The instructors of the 3 dojos will each be teaching one session each. The aim of the event is to “know each other better, train with others than we are used to, learn from each other, and so that it will be easier to stop by in each other dojos and open our horizon”. Read the article about the previous festival in Haugesund to know more about it.

- Fabrice Somers, 5th dan (14-16 May 2010) see details here or FB-event here
Fabrice Somers was just awarded his 5th dan in January 2010 – congratulations!
Fabrice’s own dojo just south of Brussels was recently inaugurated by Endo Sensei, to whom Fabrice is very close and often accompanies as uke in his European tours. Fabrice also spends a few weeks every year at Hombu to practice with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. He has a vibrant and joyful presence and is very generous when sharing his experience, emphasizing the principles that Endo stands for, taking the time to work with everyone present.  See video with Fabrice on the Junten Dojo site.
(note to travelling aikidoka: Do Consider this event as a possible mini aiki-holiday, as the Thursday 13.5 is a holiday (how about a daytrip to the fjords to climb the nearby Pulpit Rock?) and the Monday after (17.5) is the Norwegian National Day (the most Norwegian of Norwegian celebrations, here’s the city’s int’l celebration).

Welcome to Stavanger!  (also in between seminars, of course!)