Dear parents and students, (emailed on Wed. 21st June 2023)

Thank you for your attendance and practice over the winter and spring cycle of classes. Welcome to the longest day of the year, and officially summer! I joke that it's all downhill after today; with the days getting shorter again. I love the long summer days. So much can be done and squeezed into each day: and yet, I still find that there doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything. Learning to accept that, and that each decision made is made in a given space and time based on what one is presented with, is still a challenge for me to not label it "good" or "bad". Just as each day is perfect as is, rain or shine, cold or hot, no matter what is faced at work or at home: how it is perceived, received, and interpreted does not change that the sun still shines, the plants still grow, and life still goes on.

And so it is, as we practice in each class. The movements and techniques that we learn to familiarise and apply are just that - a series of responses to apply appropriately in relation to the nature of any given attack. I know that students are sometimes confused as to why I focus on a certain movement for a foot or hand, or practice a particular technical response in isolation and seemingly out of context over and over again. As parents know, sometimes the bigger picture is difficult to convey in its totality, so we address the little details in the hope that it would lend itself and contribute to a response in our children that will address the whole. It is a little more challenging with Aikido as learning to apply a technique in harmony and flowing along with the energy of an attack is not easy. So, we ensure that we are well-versed in the basics, no matter how seemingly simple and insignificant, and in maintaining one's balance. Taken impersonally, like a drill, the student has to learn that it does not always have to "feel good" or "make sense" at the time. How often have we, ourselves, asked "Why, Lord?", or why is this happening to me? The advice we have often been given is that when we fall or fail, it is important that we get up and keep going: not stay there wallowing in the failure or the fall, and complaining about it. It is always in hindsight that all becomes clear, including the reason why it happened the way it did. Similarly, the constant reminder I give to students in class when applying a technique, is to keep on moving forward, facing and going in that same direction, whether one is swiveling, turning, throwing, or pinning: without hesitation, right through to completion.

Having been a drill sergeant myself, shouting "Fall in!" and sending recruits back to their bunks when they are slow, sluggish, or disorderly only to shout "Fall in!" again is not because I enjoyed torturing them. Expecting an immediate and prompt response when a command is given trains and conditions the recruits to work and learn to move swiftly together as a team with (at the time) strangers. Having change-parades where recruits rapidly change uniforms and dress quickly, and learning to assemble weapons within a minute, and in the dark, have purposes beyond the immediate perception that it is punishment. Eventually, each "punishment" conditions the soldiers to respect the chain of command, to be accountable, responsible, and to work and move swiftly as a team, together within each platoon's section. By extension, this enables the platoon, company, and brigade as a whole to eventually be able to respond and be mobilised immediately as a single unit should a camp site need to be vacated in an instant in the event of an unexpected raid by the enemy, or to quickly re-group to launch a counter-attack. Consciously and purposefully having to sweat and learn tough discipline is not being abused or being abusive. Playing in the dirt can build immunity in the body, and running up and down hills can build muscles, resilience, and toughness. When exercising, muscles grow and are strengthened after being worned down, through healing. Similarly, often unnoticed by the student, when learning and practising to take "ukemi" in Aikido, after being pinned or thrown, we practice receiving and flowing with the technique being applied, getting up with grace and immediately "when we fall".

Talking about "moving forward" or "moving on", please update your contact list with my new email address: rafoeisensei@gmail.com. After almost 20 years with the same provider, I have decided to go with another. That was a big decision as it means updating our family contact information with everyone, every business, and every government body and institution we have ever been associated with through all these years.

Also, this September, we will be away from September 25 to October 12 to celebrate our daughter's wedding in Japan. So there will be a little break in the class cycles this September. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.

If you are around through the summer and would like to continue working out and practicing, classes will continue through July and August at the usual times on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays of 5 to 6 pm for the youth, and 6 pm to 7 pm for adults.

For students between the age of 8 to 16, the annual Aikido Warriors' Camp is scheduled to run on the last week of July. Please come in comfortable gym wear, no shorts please, and with water-bottles filled with water. If you have your own bokken and jo, please bring them along.

Here is the schedule for Summer 2023.

SUMMER Cycle:
Tuesdays
5 pm : (# 96772) Youth Mixed Levels - July 4 to August 22, 2023
6 pm : (# 96770 ) Adult Mixed Levels - July 4 to August 22, 2023

Thursdays
5 pm : (# 96773) Youth Mixed Levels - July 6 to August 24, 2023
6 pm : (# 96771) Adult Mixed Levels - July 6 to August 24, 2023

AIKIDO WARRIORS CAMP, 8-16yrs:
(# 96364) 9 AM to 3 PM, Monday to Friday, July 24 to 28, 2023 At the time of writing, there are only 4 spaces left.

Please click here to register.