Spectators are welcome to come and observe.
Phone (707) 410-9732
Aikido of Petaluma is offering a 1-month introductory class in April 2024.
Aikido of Petaluma Beginners DaySaturday, June 4th,11:30 AM |
The FREE beginners day class is oriented to people with little to no experience of Aikido and who want to learn more.
The class will include demonstrations by the instructor, Bob Noha, and students and a chance for beginners to participate.
We are in our 40th year of practice and we have many long-term students as well as beginners, who are the lifeblood of our school. We offer the opportunity for long-term in-depth practice in a supportive community of students and teachers.
There is no signup or reservation required, you can simply come to the school on beginners day.
Please note that proof of vaccination and a mask is required to attend in person.
The class will also be Zoomed.
We live in times when finding a personal center and the ability to experience life with a sense of joy and flourishing is important and challenging. Many people are looking to find the balance between a sense of competence and well-being in their daily lives.
The process of experiencing life from this perspective is our goal.
Additional Information:
Also, see the :
Due to the current Coronavirus situation, all students and visitors need to show proof of vaccination and wear masks during class.
This is done for the safety and health of all participants and we appreciate everyone’s understanding.
O’sensei Revisited • 2021 Virtual Workshop
Please use this link to register for workshop sessions in advance!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/osr-2021-tickets-142829084637
Join OSR 2021 classes on Zoom by clicking this link, or pasting it into your browser. https://zoom.us/j/97942339351?pwd=NUZvdjdEckhsbWlBeExVSzVlR2RyZz09
It is also possible to join directly from the Zoom app on your device using these settings
ZOOM session opens at 2:45pm
Please be sure to update your Zoom app to the latest version. Currently v5.5.4
OSR 2021 Workshop Instructors
Saturday March 6th First Class
Instructor: Teja Bell, 6th dan
Teja began practicing Aikido in 1971 and has been studying with Robert Nadeau sensei since 1979. He has also practiced with many of O’Sensei’s first generation teachers, including Francis Takahashi, Morihiro Saito, Akira Tohei, Kazuo Chiba, Hiroshi Ikeda, Terry Dobson, Mitsugi Saotome, and Mitsunari Kanai sensei. Teja’s relationship with Frank McGouirk sensei of Aikido-Ai spans over 35 years, integrating Aikido, Zen and healing arts. An ordained Rinzai-lineage Zen Master and meditation teacher, Roshi Fudo Myoo Teja Bell is the 84th Ancestor of this Zen tradition.
Saturday March 6th Second Class
Harry Concepcion, 5th dan
After studying Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, and Karate for years, Harry wanted a martial discipline that offered more depth and substance beyond competitive fighting and tournaments. After researching various internal martial arts, he discovered that Aikido was the right fit for him and began practicing with Jack Wada sensei in 1988. Harry continues to train and teach at Aikido of San Jose and enjoys visiting other dojos around the world.
Saturday March 6th Third Class
Instructor: Jack Wada, 7th dan
Jack began his study of Aikido in 1969 while a student at UC Santa Cruz under Robert Frager sensei, and through him came to know Robert Nadeau sensei, a close relationship that continues to this day. In 1973, Jack made his first of several trips to Japan to study at the Kumano Juku dojo under Hikitsuchi, Anno, Yanase and Tojima sensei. Since 1980, Jack has served as the chief instructor at Aikido of San Jose. He always tries to follow O’sensei’s life and teachings, letting them guide his own training and the Aikido classes he teaches. In addition, Jack is also a long-time student and teacher of T’ai Chi.
Saturday March 13th First Class
Instructor: Bob Leichner, 6th dan
Bob has practiced Aikido over many years with three American teachers: Frank Doran, Mary Heiny and Robert Nadeau. He began his Aikido study with Doran sensei in 1978. Then, he met Mary Heiny sensei in 1999. During his early years in Aikido, Bob was repeatedly impressed by the quality of the movement and presence on the mat of certain training partners, qualities that Bob felt he needed to experience and add to his own practice. When he asked who these students trained with, the answer was frequently “Robert Nadeau sensei.” And so, he began practicing with Nadeau sensei, as well. To this day, Bob considers it a privilege to train under these three exceptional Aikido teachers.
Saturday March 13th Second Class
Instructor: Elaine Yoder, 6th dan
Elaine began her Aikido training in 1977 with Robert Nadeau sensei. She has continued training and teaching in the Bay Area over the past 44 years. The focus of her Aikido teaching, as well as her professional practice as a Feldenkrais® Practitioner, is to use movement to help humans live full and healthy lives.
Saturday March 13th Third Class
Instructor: Laurin Herr, 6th dan
Laurin was introduced to Aikido in 1971 as a student at Cornell University. Inspired by his first experience on the mat, he studied Japanese intensively, moved to Tokyo and entered Aikido Hombu Dojo as an unranked white belt, earning his shodan there in 1976. He spent formative years at the Kumano Juku Dojo in Shingu, Japan training under Hikitsuchi, Anno, Yanase and Tojima sensei. He also practiced at the Bond Street Dojo in New York City with Terry Dobson and Ken Nisson. Laurin settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in 1998 started practicing with Robert Nadeau sensei. He has been teaching at City Aikido of San Francisco since 2004.
Saturday March 20th First Class
Instructor: Ross Madden, 6th dan
Ross began studying Aikido with Robert Nadeau sensei in 1980. He has trained with many other recognized teachers in California, New York City, Europe, and at Aikido Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. Ross’s teaching emphasizes the development of kindness and compassion to enhance the spiritual and emotional health of the student. He also tries to embody these same qualities in his work as an attorney and mediator. He is the author of THE THREE POISONS: A Buddhist Guide to Resolving Conflict.
Saturday March 20th Second Class
Instructor: Roy Johnston, 6th dan
Roy began his martial arts training in Goshin-do Karate in the early 1970s in New Jersey. In 1988, he started studying Aikido with Robert Nadeau sensei. His transition to Aikido, with its exploration as a budo of peace and transformation, aligned with his professional career in organizations dedicated to the health, well-being, education, and transformation of individuals for the betterment of our world. Roy holds degrees in psychology and consciousness studies and is certified in Interactive Guided Imagery, a collaborative process for accessing an individual’s inner intelligence.
Saturday March 20th Third Class
Instructor: Bob Noha, 6th dan
Bob began practicing Aikido in 1966 in Mountain View and shortly thereafter began training with Robert Nadeau sensei, the start of a life-long friendship. Bob started the first Aikido school in the Washington D.C. area in 1970 and taught arrest/restraint tactics to U.S. Military Police at Andrews Air Force Base in 1974. Then, in 1975, he founded the first Aikido school in Buffalo, N.Y. Bob travelled to Japan to further deepen his Aikido training in 1998, 1999 and 2006. He founded Aikido of Petaluma in 1983 and continues to serve as its chief instructor. In addition, Bob is also a devoted student and teacher of T’ai Chi and has a background in several other martial arts.
Saturday March 27th First Class
Instructor: Kenneth Kron, not fond of ranks 🙂
After years searching for a sensei, Kenneth found Robert Nadeau shihan in 1987. Over the ensuing decades, Kenneth has had the good fortune to travel the world studying with Nadeau and Richard Moon sensei. Kenneth co-created the well-subscribed Moonsensei Channel on YouTube, which features Aikido demonstrations and lectures from Nadeau and Moon sensei going back many years, right up to the present. Nadeau shihan once told Kenneth that rank is a private conversation between teacher and student, and only they can understand its true meaning.
Saturday March 27th Second Class
Susan Spence, 3rd dan
Susan has practiced Aikido with Robert Nadeau sensei for over 30 years, becoming, she believes, a better person, a better physical therapist, and a better healer through her Aikido training. She is currently an instructor at The Aikido Spirit Martial Arts School in Mount Shasta, Calif.
Saturday March 27th Third Class
Instructor: Richard Moon, 6th dan
Richard began his study of martial arts in 1969, training in Shotokan Karate, Kenpo and Kung Fu under various teachers. He began his practice of Aikido in 1971 under Robert Nadeau sensei, a relationship continuing to this day. Richard was also a personal student of Bira Almedia, Mestre Accordion of Brazilian Capoeira; practiced Cheng Hsin with world champion Peter Ralston; and trained in Chi Gung with B.K. Frantzis. Richard was the founder and chief instructor at Aikido of Marin. He was also a co-founder and senior instructor at City Aikido of San Francisco for many years.
Use this link to add the event to your Google calendar
Thanks to the decreased fire dangers and the improving air quality the tests that were postponed are on again for:
Energy and Tai-chi classes will be held as normal and all classes, as well as the test, will be on zoom.
For information on how to attend a zoom please reference the web site calendar.
Aikido classes are continuing on-line and are open to everyone and anyone who wishes to join. If you wish to join please request to join the Facebook Group Aikido of Petaluma. If you do not do Facebook, please send an email to virtual@aikidopetaluma.com.
We look forward to resuming normal classes. Till then, stay healthy.
John Stevens Sensei was recently interviewed on bodedit.com where he speaks candidly about his recovery from cancer, how his Aikido training helped him through this process, and how the spiritual nature of Aikido has helped him move from towards the light in the face of adversity.
“One reason we train is to meet the challenges in life. And those include, getting old, getting sick and dying and being separated from the ones you love- those are the hardest things we encounter.
I have experienced all those things, except dying. Yet, we have to learn to accept and adapt to any challenge. I’ve been sick now for four years and it’s been very difficult. But, Aikido has taught me to learn to accept any challenge, deal with it head- on, and not being discouraged, but optimistic.
With anything, you have to get used to it and harmonize with it. It’s a central factor to life and goes with the territory of being human.”
– John Stevens
Read the full interview on bodedit.com
Sensei Noha has written a wonderful review of the book “Aikido: My Spiritual Journey” by the late Gozo Shioda Sensei:
Review of
Aikido: My Spiritual Journey
By Gozo Shioda
Afterword by Yasuhisa Shioda
Compiled and Translated by Jacques Payet
and Christopher Johnson
Published by Kodansha USA
ISBN 978-1-56836-411-7
202 Pages
Publication Date: (Scheduled) February 15th, 2013
Review by Robert Noha
Introduction
Books by the early generations of Aikido teachers are getting rarer as these teachers, regrettably, continue to pass from the scene. A book by one of the early pioneers, who had in-depth personal experience with Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba, is even rarer.
Like some of Kodansha’s previous books on Aikido (Budo 1991; The Essence of Aikido 1993; The Secret Teachings of Aikido 2007; A Life in Aikido 2008; The Heart of Aikido 2010 and Stanley Pranin’s Aikido Pioneers –Prewar Era 2010) this book offers a picture of the early part of Aikido history; its practitioners and its founder.
Aikido My Spiritual Journey is by Yoshinkan Aikido founder Gozo Shioda. It is a compilation of two books he wrote in Japanese: Aikido Shugyo 1991; Aikido Jinsei 1985, the Afterword comes from Kokyuryoku de Jinsei ni Katsu by Yasuhisa Shioda 1996. Aikido Shugyo and Aikido Jinsei were also published in English in 2002 and 2011 by Shindokan Books and had the same translators as the current book. Parts of it were also translated in the Aikido Journal. You can check their excellent index for the dates.
The book contains fascinating stories from Shioda Sensei’s life. It also has detailed and helpful insights on Aikido training and many stories of his time with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. There are many well displayed historical and training photographs. Kodansha has done its usual good job of high quality book design.
It is both an autobiography and instructional book on Aikido practice. The instructional part goes beyond describing how to do specific techniques. It offers very deep approaches to training that are the result of Shioda Sensei’s lifetime of dedicated training and teaching. He also shares his views and experiences on the spiritual aspects of Aikido practice on and off the mat.
The afterword by his son and successor Yasuhisa Shioda describes his experiences in training with Shioda Sensei and his own insights into the value of Aikido training.
Chapter Summaries
Preface
The Preface provides some brief background on Aikido and its history and philosophy including its technical roots in Daito Ryu from O Sensei’s training with Sokaku Takeda.
Shioda Sensei pays tribute for the first of many times to Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.
The closing sentence offers Shioda Sensei’s feelings about how much Aikido can contribute to making the world a better place.
“I believe if true Aikido training were to encompass all countries and nationalities, it would contribute to world peace.” (Page 16)
Chapter 1 Yoshinkan Aikido
Chapter 1 provides information on the Yoshinkan School of Aikido. One interesting piece of information is the origin of the name Yoshinkan. “The name of my dojo-Yoshinkan-comes from the name that my father, Seiichi Shioda, gave to the dojo that he built on our property…Quietly cultivate the spirit of a steady, unwavering mind.” (Page 21)
Shioda Sensei tells several entertaining and instructional stories of challenges and encounters where he used Aikido to defend himself. One that is particularly satisfying involved a challenge match with a sixth dan karate instructor. “I matched my palm with his fist, received his punch and sent him flying…Since then, he and I have been on friendly and frank terms with each other.” (Page 29)
There is also an amazing story about O Sensei throwing four students when they tried to restrain him while he was literally on his death bed, validating his statement to Shioda Sensei years before that he would be his strongest on his last day.
He also outlines in some detail his version of the basics of Aikido:
The chapter also contains an equally detailed discussion of technique theory:
Chapter 2 Fundamental Principles
Chapter 2 begins by dispelling some misunderstandings about Aikido, including its effectiveness as a martial art. He tells a story about an encounter with a wrestling coach and Sambo practitioner (Russian Martial Art), whom he calls Mr. A., during a visit to his dojo.
“Mr. A. put all of his strength into his grip. As you can imagine, being such a large man he had a grip like a vise…I quickly turned my wrist over…He did a full somersault and collapsed right there on the floor of my office.” (Pages 61 and 62)
One fundamental principle he discusses extensively is riai. Shioda Sensei defines riai as not applying techniques by rote but, having internalized the skills they teach, you then respond properly in the moment of an attack.
He illustrates the principle of riai with several exciting examples from his own experience. The most amazing story is an encounter in which he and another Aikido student bested thirty yakuza gangsters.
“There was no need to wait for them to attack. Instead, I would go after them myself, confusing them and causing them to rush wildly at me…In this way Mr. T. and I created so much chaos that we were able to finish off all thirty gang members.” (Page 67)
The chapter also has an entertaining story of a 1990 visit to the dojo by then world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
Chapter 3 Kokyu Power
Chapter 3 outlines the importance of kokyu power. He explains:
“Kokyu power is produced when we push ourselves to the limits, making the most efficient use of the capabilities that lie within our own bodies. Consequently, anybody, no matter what kind of person, can use kokyu power. The only problem is whether or not you practice in such a way as to develop it.” (Page 108)
He further describes the experience of kokyu power in almost mystical terms:
“The feeling you get the moment kokyu power comes forth is an extraordinary and magnificent one. You will experience joy, happiness and paradise…When you feel it, it’s as though your entire self has disappeared.” (Pages 118 and 119)
The chapter concludes with discussions of speed, balance and letting go of strength.
Chapter 4 Shugyo
This chapter provides insights from Shioda Sensei on the proper approach to training.
He describes his early days of training in Judo and his training under O Sensei. He provides an example from the great Judo Master Kyuzo Mifune to illustrate both the differences and similarities between Aikido and Judo training:
“And in terms of someone who actually put the circular movements of Judo into practice, we cannot forget Kyuzo Mifune Sensei. Looking at the valuable films of him that remain today, we are struck by the realization that his movements are fundamentally different from what we see in today’s tournament Judo.” (Page 133)
He also details his experiences teaching Aikido at the Shotokan Dojo of Karate Master Masatoshi Nakayama.
Perhaps the most miraculous story in the book is one where O Sensei evades gunfire from a group of pre-war Japanese military firearms instructors.
“This is also something I personally saw with my own eyes…On the count of three, all six guns went off at once…before we knew it Sensei was standing behind the six gunmen smiling radiantly.” (Pages 151 and 153)
The primary emphasis of this chapter is on the importance of training carrying you beyond technique to a natural way of moving the body.
“Therefore, the proper interpretation of physical development according to Aikido is to build a physique with which you are comfortable throughout every one of your daily activities. (Page 147)
Chapter 5 Aikido and Life Are One
In the concluding chapter Shioda Sensei describes the more spiritual aspects of training and shares his own spiritual experiences.
Quoting O Sensei: “Move in unison with heaven and earth!”
Shioda Sensei adds: “There is a natural rhythm in heaven and earth, and if you can follow this rhythm obediently, you can do things without ever producing unnecessary force. Then both you and your opponent can survive.” (Page 180)
Afterword
The Afterword by Shioda Sensei’s son Yasuhisa, contains several stories about his experiences training under his famous and demanding father.
He describes some instruction he received when he was struggling to throw his partner.
“Why do you think your partner does not go down…It is human instinct to resist being thrown. To throw a man without forcing him is Aikido.” (Page 187)
The Afterword and the book concludes with Yasuhisa Sensei’s thoughts about Aikido and its practice.
“Aikido training is also about mastering a strong heart and mind. That being said, Aikido is a profoundly different martial art.” (Page 202)
Applications to Daily Aikido Training
Profusely illustrated with stories and photos the book provides many principles that can be used to improve Aikido training.
Here is an example where Shioda Sensei discusses the importance of timing.
“And there are a variety of methods of timing: there is the timing in which you blend your flow with that of the oncoming attacker; there is the timing of applying the technique at precisely the critical moment, taking care not to struggle against the attacker who is pushing in or the attacker who is pulling you; there is the timing of avoiding the attacker who is flying in at you; and there is the timing of going in to meet the attack.” (Page 41)
He also provides some instruction in how breathing properly can enhance your timing and other aspects of your training.
Conclusion
The book has three basic elements that make it well worth reading.
There are entertaining stories from Shioda Sensei’s life and his experiences with O Sensei.
There are practical training principles and applications drawn from a lifetime of training, teaching and thinking about Aikido.
There are applications of the art to our own spiritual journey both on and off the mat.
Shioda Sensei offers his view on the ultimate goal of training in Aikido.
“So then, what do you think Aikido’s ultimate technique might be? It is the ability to be at peace with your opponent by inducing him to abandon his animosity toward you.” (Page 169)
What better way to conclude a book on Aikido subtitled My Spiritual Journey?
Kodansha has three other books on the techniques of Shioda Sensei’s Aikido:
