Welcome!

Posted by Lori Basiewicz for Sangamon Aikikai.

Welcome to Sangamon Aikikai’s new blog. Glad you found us. In the tradition of Asian culture and martial arts dojos, shoes aren’t worn here. Feel free to kick yours off and make yourself comfortable.

In the coming days, weeks, and months, my fellow practice partners, our sensei, and I will be sharing our thoughts and experiences with you. What those thoughts and experiences will be about is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, discussions of Aikido might creep in. Who knows? Only time will tell.

Overall, we’re an eclectic bunch. As I type this, we range in age from 20-something to 50-something. We have both men and women, tall, short, muscular, and those who are a bit more stout. There’s a couple of teenagers who occasionally make an appearance, too, but they’ve gotten a little scarcer since they got old enough to drive. It happens. I have confidence they will return one day, especially since one has already started to drift back.

Our newest member has been with us for a few months; our highest ranking member is the sensei. She’s a Sandan Fukushidoin (pronounced the same way it is spelled), or a 3rd degree black belt whose teaching credentials are certified by the USAF, our parent organization. She’s been training in Aikido for about twenty years, I believe? As with most things, there’s a core group who show up more frequently than everyone else, but we’re – oops, I should only speak for myself – I’m happy to have the chance to train with whoever is there on any given day.

Let’s see, I can keep babbling or else I can post this and see what happens. Why don’t I post it?

Is there anything else you wanted to know? If so, just ask.