Grass Valley's Family Martial Arts School -- Focus, Fitness & Fun
At about 10 am on Saturday, December 10, Gabriel Cuppet will be doing his shodan (1st degree black belt) test. Gabriel is, and has been, a key member of Aikido’Ka for years. Please join us and support Gabriel on his big day! There’s no charge for watching the exam (or the seminar).
Gabriel’s test is part of the Aikido’Ka Seminar Series: Getting to Shodan and Beyond, Applying Principles to Technique. The seminar is being taught by Chuck Hauk and Daryl Berlie Senseis, both 6th dan.
Thanks to our amazing
Thanks to our amazing
It’s hard to fathom how the country went so wrong with yesterday’s election. I can’t say that things won’t be as bad as we fear. I’m afraid that they’ll be worse. So many, many people are going to suffer badly.
Our task is to figure out how to thrive given the circumstances.
One of m
y favorite sayings is . . . “The best revenge is living well.”
That’s what I think we should do. Let’s not pretend that something horrible hasn’t happened. It has. But we should enjoy ourselves and our loved ones. We should work to create a better, happier world. We should work to increase well-being. What other people do certainly affects us, but they’re going to do what they’re going to do. And we can live well.
Which brings me to how we can do this. And, for that, I turn to Nkosi Johnson:
“Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are.”
That’s how we can make things better. Or, at least, that’s what I’m doing to increase well-being:
I’m going to do everything I can with what I have, in the time that I have, where I am.
Re-starting now.
Way more to come.
As you probably know, we’ve had a lot going on this year.
I am, along with Michael Freidl Shihan, co-host of the Aiki Summer Retreat. The last few years, we’ve held the Aiki Summer Retreat in Quincy, California. Until this year, we’ve been spending thousands of dollars each Retreat on renting mats. So we decided to buy our own mats. We were fortunate enough to buy mats with our friends at Aikido of Santa Cruz. The mats we bought cost our dojo around $5,000.
Since we don’t have enough space to safely store all of the mats in the dojo, we bought a storage container. That storage container cost around $3,200.
We plan on using some of these new mats to create a new, beautiful dojo mat with a floating floor. The new floating floor will be much gentler on everyone’s body and make training easier and more fun.
Problem is that the floating floor is probably going to cost another $3,000, or so. In other words, this new mat process is costing the dojo over $11,000.
And, we’ve kind of run out of money.
So, I’m heeding the advice of my friends and we’re doing a dojo fundraiser. We’re looking to raise $5,000 to cover the cost of the new floating floor and recoup some of the other expenses.
We really could use your help!
For more information and to donate to our new mat fundraiser, please click here.