From Our Students at Abiding Spirit Aikikai
I have been a student at the dojo for just over 5 years. In this time, I have grown as a person, thanks to my teachers and fellow students. cherish the sense of community in the dojo, where people invest in each other's development. Training has not always been easy, but it has always been valuable. I like the emphasis on etiquette and tradition and the various opportunities available to train oneself off the mat as well. I've become more aware, calmer and more physically fit due to my training here.
Anoop Chengara
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Everyone here made me feel like part of a family the first class I tried, I felt like my learning began when I first entered the dojo and continue to learn on and off the mat. Everyone's just the perfect amount of encouraging and supportive.
Any more or less would mean I'm not learning anything.
Tarek Malkosh
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I've been training at this dojo for almost 6 years now, and the instructors and fellow students have become like family. For me, my mom wanted me to take martial arts before I went away for college, and what I gained has impacted my life in so many ways. I'm healthier, more thoughtful, and a happier person in general. If I'm having a bad day, I leave the dojo feeling uplifted.
As an artist, I feel I've learned more about my other artistic disciplines through aikido than anything else - it's all an expression of yourself, of your spirit, and what I've learned by channeling that physically on the mat carries over to my other arts, and vice-versa. It's mind-blowing sometimes, the way everything's connected.
The amount of patience, genuine care, and investment the instructors put into all their students, have put into me personally, is humbling. And you won't get this much personal attention from such experienced instructors most other places you go. Training is always a challenge(always!) but I think that's what makes it so fun and rewarding. And I gotta say...we all have pretty great senses of humor too!
Thanks for everything,
Shanna Brown
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When I first came to the dojo, three years ago, my plan was to learn Aikido and Iaido. Something different enough to break up my weekly routine. But after learning my first Iaido technique - Koranto. I realized this was much more than just a place to go every week and train. Over the past three years I have been able to improve my coordination, concentration, training and watching the other students grow each week. and my understanding of the Japanese culture. I truly enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques, The sensei are excellent, patience and understanding. We're not just another dojo, we're family.
Thad Taylor
Anoop Chengara
********************
Everyone here made me feel like part of a family the first class I tried, I felt like my learning began when I first entered the dojo and continue to learn on and off the mat. Everyone's just the perfect amount of encouraging and supportive.
Any more or less would mean I'm not learning anything.
Tarek Malkosh
********************
I've been training at this dojo for almost 6 years now, and the instructors and fellow students have become like family. For me, my mom wanted me to take martial arts before I went away for college, and what I gained has impacted my life in so many ways. I'm healthier, more thoughtful, and a happier person in general. If I'm having a bad day, I leave the dojo feeling uplifted.
As an artist, I feel I've learned more about my other artistic disciplines through aikido than anything else - it's all an expression of yourself, of your spirit, and what I've learned by channeling that physically on the mat carries over to my other arts, and vice-versa. It's mind-blowing sometimes, the way everything's connected.
The amount of patience, genuine care, and investment the instructors put into all their students, have put into me personally, is humbling. And you won't get this much personal attention from such experienced instructors most other places you go. Training is always a challenge(always!) but I think that's what makes it so fun and rewarding. And I gotta say...we all have pretty great senses of humor too!
Thanks for everything,
Shanna Brown
********************
When I first came to the dojo, three years ago, my plan was to learn Aikido and Iaido. Something different enough to break up my weekly routine. But after learning my first Iaido technique - Koranto. I realized this was much more than just a place to go every week and train. Over the past three years I have been able to improve my coordination, concentration, training and watching the other students grow each week. and my understanding of the Japanese culture. I truly enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques, The sensei are excellent, patience and understanding. We're not just another dojo, we're family.
Thad Taylor