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Shodan

• Mohamed S. Abdel Mottaleb – Florida Aikikai
• Crystal Aldrich – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Paul Alexander – New York Aikikai
• Henry Alpert – Aikido of New Orleans
• Ameer Benno – Aikido of Park Slope
• Kathy Berliner – Aikido of Park Slope
• Marla Blauschild – Aikido of Ramapo Valley
• Paul Boccia – Aikido of Westchester
• Jack Bogatko – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Matthew Bolton – Aikido of Park Slope
• Michael Brown – New York Aikikai
• Alex Casuso – Miami Aikikai
• William Chen – Aikido of Westchester
• Katherine Clark – Newport Beach Aikikai
• Ben Cote – Portland Aikido
• Eric Courchesne – Aikido de la Montagne
• Isabell De La Vega – Florida Aikikai
• Lindsay Donaghe – Aikido of Scottsdale
• Kirk Eakes – Asheville Aikikai
• Ronald Esposito – Mohawk Valley Aikido
• John Peter Fuller – Tenshin Shinjitsu Dojo of Chicago
• James Gauthier – Portland Aikido
• Gregory Hart – Woodstock Aikido
• Luis Hernandez – Aikido of Staten Island
• Robert Hill – Aikikai of Philadelphia
• Peggy Huben – Muso Aikido
• Stephanie Hull – Greater Hartford Aikikai
• Mathew Knezich – Suncoast Aikido
• John Lawson – Suffolk Aikikai
• Jorge Lopez – Tenshin Shinjitsu Dojo of Chicago
• Anthony Marchitelli – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Matthew McCann Jr. – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Rolando Morales – Aikido of Park Slope
• Michael Neolostupenko – Florida Aikikai
• Thomas Newcomen – New York Aikikai
• Christine Nguyen – Aikido de la Montagne
• Victor Ortiz – Florida Aikikai
• Jesus Pacheco – Florida Aikikai
• Butch Phillips – Aikido of Westchester
• Yuriy Pustovoyt – Aikido of Park Slope
• Helen Reynolds – Florida Aikikai
• Benjamin Richards – West Georgia Aikikai
• Abel Ruiz-Diaz – Miami Aikikai
• Rain Sadkane – Sadkane School for Aikido
• Steven Sanders – Suncoast Aikido
• Fred Serricchio – Aikido of Fairfield County
• Myron Thomas – City Aikido of Los Angeles
• Miguel Trevino – Suncoast Aikido
• Bernardo Vega-Smith – San Juan Aikikai
• Steven Wachtel – Aikido North Jersey
• Brian Weinberg – Aikido Center of Atlanta
• Benjamin Wetstone – Greater Hartford Aikikai
• Charles Williams – Aikido of Westchester
• Andrei Yamshchikov – Florida Aikikai
• Sau Yan Yee – Aikido of Ramapo Valley
• Tal Yardeni – Aikido of Scottsdale
• John Zdrodowski – Florida Aikido Center

Nidan

• Evelyn Acosta – Gold Coast Aikikai
• Gidon Albert – Northern Virginia Aikikai
• Oded Berkowitz – Aikido North Jersey
• Howard Blum – Aikido of Fairfield County
• Andrew Bogatko – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Gerry Breen – Aikido of Park Slope
• Robert Fisher – Aikido Center of Atlanta
• Bernard Hodelin – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Marianne Kobbe – Aikido of Nasau County
• Alex Lau – Fudoshin Aikikai
• Gary McIntosh – Aikido of Cincinnati
• Rivhard McKeever – Aikido of Cincinnati
• Atu Ram – New York Aikikai
• Bradley Rettew – Aikido North Jersey
• Tom Simpson – Aikido of Floyd
• Pejman Soheili – Nations Aikikai
• Ilgar Taghiyev – Nations Aikikai
• Lawrence Tricarico – Suffolk Institute for Eastern Studies
• Armando Valeriano – New York Aikikai
• William Whyte – Monadnock Aikikai
• Ryan Wild – Aikido of Ramapo Valley

Sandan

• Jeff Allen – Nations Aikikai
• Gina Boccolucci – Florida Aikido Center
• Lynette Carpenter – Aikido of Columbus
• Pasqualino Colombaro – New England Aikikai
• Simon Cruz – Aikido North Jersey
• Andrew D’Angelo – New York Aikikai
• Jorge Del Castillo- Florida Aikikai
• Anthony DiBartolo – Aikido of Nassau County
• Matthew Forrester – Peachtree Aikikai Atlanta
• John Huang – Aikido of Ramapo Valley
• Adam Hudd – Nations Aikikai
• Tom Ito – City Aikido of Los Angeles
• Norishige Kanai – Aikido of Houston
• Chris Kerin – Aikido of Fairfield County
• Michael Livingston – Suffolk Institute of Eastern Studies
• Andreas Martin – Aikido of Park Slope
• Hal Martin – Nations Aikikai
• Sachin Mayi – Florida Aikikai
• Philippe Niemetz – New York Aikikai
• George Ozuna – Nations Aikikai
• Pat Patton – Aikido of Cincinnati
• Clemon Richardson – Aikido of Park Slope
• Enrique Salguero – New York Aikikai
• Scott Shaw – University of Iowa Aikikai
• Garn Sherman – West Georgia Aikikai
• Evan Sobel – Aikido of Park Slope
• Derrell Thomas – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
• Brian Vacante – Aikido North Jersey
• Krzysztof Zawadzki – Aikido of Fairfield County

Yondan

• Rachel Renee Bean – Chushin Aikido Center
• Susanne Beisert – Aikido de la Montagne
• Driss Benmoussa – Aikido of Park Slope
• John Black – Framingham Aikikai
• Javier Burghi – Aikido of Park Slope
• Michael Clair – Fudoshin Aikikai
• Sergio Cuevas – Aikido of Summit
• Brian Curtis – Aikido of Park Slope
• Brian Dupont – New York Aikikai
• Laura Gabbe – Aikido of Park Slope
• Wendell Gault – Aikido of Park Slope
• Philippe Gendrault – AAU Aikidokai
• Roger Gonzalez – Florida Aikikai
• Walter Gonzalez – Asahi Aikikai
• Jamal Granick – Aikido of Park Slope
• Darrell Grant – Southern Maryland Aikido Center
• Philip Halpern – New York Aikikai
• Colleen Hogan – Aikido Institute of Newfoundland
• Michel Hovan – Granite State Aikido Club
• Michael Huben – New England Aikikai
• Scott Korbylo – Hunterdon Aikikai
• Richard Morrison – Suffolk Institute for Eastern Studies
• Lawrence Ozenberger – Aikido of New Orleans
• Martin Perez – Toronto Aikikai
• Oleg Polishevich – Aikido of Park Slope
• David Reinfeld – New York Aikikai
• Wigberto Rivera – New York Aikikai
• Jose Rodriguez Vazquez – San Juan Aikikai
• David Ross – New York Aikikai
• Juan Sampayo Sarraga – San Juan Aikikai
• Carl Schmidt – New York Aikikai
• James Shell – Baltimore Aikikai
• Steven Soderman – Palm Beach Aikikai
• Susan Soderman – Palm Beach Aikikai
• Michael Terruso – Vineland Aikikai
• Mark Voorhees – New York Aikikai
• Michael Yergeau – New England Aikikai
• Gennadiy Zolotarev – Aikido of Park Slope

Godan

• Ty Barker – Portland Aikikai
• Allan Bowman – Toronto Aikikai
• Fabio Chirinos – Aikido de la Montagne
• Diana Harris – University of Iowa Aikikai
• Ayal Joshua – Miami Aikikai
• John Kilpatrick – Okolona Aikido
• Larry Linder – Aikido of Columbus
• Richard Nardi – Aikido Center of Atlanta
• Edward Schechtman – Suffolk Institute for Eastern Studies
• Wayne Sherman – Central Aikikai Rhode Island
• Edwin Stearns – Aikido Center of Atlanta
• Kevin Templar – Aikido of San Antonio
• G. Jeffrey Vernis – Palm Beach Aikikai

Rokkudan

• Eugene Abarrategui – Aikido de la Montagne
• Louise Jalbert – Aikido de la Montagne
• Lowell Miller – Woodstock Aikido
• Herve Rouxel – Palm Beach Aikikai
• David Smilow – Woodstock Aikido

In addition to Mr. Purcell attending the event to watch the children work tirelessly towards their goals, Litchfield First Selectman Leo Paul was there to show his support as well. The local flavor of the event was topped off with other contributors: a special thanks to Bantam Market for its support – their donation of snacks and drinks was greatly appreciated by the kids after all their hard work was done; local artist Elizabeth Wolff for providing her great art work for the documents and certificates; and photographer Jacek Dolata for his outstanding pictures which capture the essence of this important project. Click here to the photos of this.
To learn more about the Aikido Dojo go to www.litchfieldaikido.com

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed, but when I look on the back of my office door at my calendar for 2012, I think that the new year will be just as busy. Even though I am tired from traveling so much, every where I go the aikido is growing and the people are excited to learn. Many people who live in countries where they have to struggle every day are so happy on the mat. It makes my job so much easier because of that. And as always, being at our own Summer Camp is one of my favorite weeks of the year – it makes me very proud to see so many members coming to camp, and now they are bringing their families. As you know, I love children and as we are all getting older, this seems to make it feel more complete.

The Board and Technical Committee meetings every year are usually very long, but I sit through them because I know how important it is to listen to what our members are discussing and see how hard they are all working to keep the USAF the best aikido organization possible. They have worked very hard this year to make sure that the future is in order for the USAF to continue in a strong and positive way. The TC will be in touch with instructors this year to discuss suggestions for how to improve our teaching curriculum and they will continue to work with the Board towards providing the best benefits for our members possible. Next fall will be the IAF meeting in Japan, where I will go with representatives from the Board of Directors and Technical Committee. Since this happens only every 4 years, we will spend a lot of time preparing for the meeting so we can have a good voice representing the future of the USAF.

As usual, I would like to thank everyone who came to the christmas seminar at New York Aikikai this year. We had close to 250 people here, and 46 tests. I like to be at my dojo when members and visitors from all over the world are all around me. It feels like the dojo is alive and home to everyone.

As I sit in my office and listen to the song “There’s no place like home for the holidays,” I think they are right.

Sincerely,
Y. Yamada

Dear Aikidoka:

New York Aikikai will be hosting its annual holiday seminar on December 17th-18th. Information about this great event can be found through the link on their home page, www.nyaikikai.com.

If you, your student or your friend will be testing at the NYA seminar, please be aware that all test payments will be collected separately from the seminar fee payments. That is, all seminar fees will be payable to NYA, and all dan test fees will be payable to the USAF. For the seminar fee, NYA will accept cash, checks, or credit cards, which will be charged at the time of registration.

Please be prepared to make 2 payments if you will be testing, with your test payment in cash or by check made payable to the USAF. If you would like to pay with Mastercard or VISA (not Amex or Discover), you will be asked to fill out a credit card form authorizing the USAF to charge your card at a later date – your card will not be charged on the day of your test, but rather at a later time from the USAF office.

In addition, please remember that all dan applications need to be typed. They are available online through your instructor or dojo-cho in a fillable pdf format. There are 4 forms for shodan, and 2 for nidan and sandan. Shodan is $200, nidan is $250 and sandan is $300. Please come prepared with your paperwork and payments ready to be handed in. With the number of seminar participants and dan tests, this will help the process remain as efficient as possible. It’s always an exciting day, so your help with this will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for passing on this important information. See you next week.

Sincerely yours,
Laura Pavlick
Director of Operations

Members of the USAF Board have undertaken extensive research into insurance options for USAF dojo. While no solution has been found yet that can cover the broad spectrum of our needs, we are talking with a company right now about a few possibilities and a brief questionnaire may be circulated shortly.

As the success of this new resource is based on our group participation, thank you to all who provided the information which helped launch this exciting project. We each hold much knowledge based on our own personal experiences teaching Aikido and running a dojo, and exchanging this will create a wealth of information while supporting each other in our shared endeavors.