News
Dear Shintaido practitioners:
It is membership renewal time and membership dues are the main source of income for Shintaido of America (SoA). Here are some of the benefits and accomplishments of Shintaido of America:
- Liability insurance for every member of SoA regardless of where you practice. This insurance is good at any Shintaido class, workshop, or gasshuku.
- Exams offered by accredited SoA Instructors at Pacific Shintaido’s Kangeiko in January, Shintaido Northeast’s Kangeiko in February, the Shintaido Farm in June, and Bellingham, Washington in August.
- SoA Instructors also held numerous local and regional workshops, including several in Bellingham, Washington, and others in Northampton and Worcester, Massachusetts.
- The Shintaido Farm in Deerfield, Massachusetts, the first dojo in the United States owned by Shintaido members is active with gasshuku and workshops. For more information on the Shintaido Farm, please see the News item on our web site at http://www.shintaido.org/news/index.html.
- Our SoA Technical Committee sent two delegates from this country to participate in the European Shintaido College event in October 2006.
- Our online photo archive continues to expand, and we have developed a number of professional-quality brochures for promotional purposes.
Here are some ongoing benefits of being a member of SoA:
- Online registration for events and dues payments
- DVDs, videos, written publications, and other materials sold on the SoA website
- Accreditation and continuing training for Instructors, and the ability of all SoA members to take exams
You can pay your dues online at: http://www.shintaido.org/docs/membership.htm or you can send a check or money order to PO Box 1979, Novato, CA 94948-1979.
Thank you for your support of Shintaido of America, and Shintaido in America.
Best Regards,
Connie Borden
President, SoA
News
Giveline.com is an online store created for the community-minded shopper, offering more than a million bestselling products including books, movies, music, electronics, housewares, gifts and more. Every purchase generates a substantial donation to SHINTAIDO OF AMERICA – an amazing average of 16% of store sales, sometimes as high as 33%. Giveline has great products, great service, and great prices – the only difference between Giveline and other major online retailers is that every purchase earns money for our organization.
Check it out today, and if you decide to buy, remember that SHINTAIDO OF AMERICA will earn significant funds in support of our mission!
News
In January 2007, I completed my second two-year term as chairperson of the National Technical Council (NTC). The job of chairing the NTC rotates among the NTC membership; previous chairpeople have been Jim Sterling and Joe Zawielski. Shin Aoki has been elected as the new chairperson from January 2007.
As background, the NTC is a group of Shintaido of America (SoA) members who have reached the rank of Senior Instructor or 3-dan in karate or bojutsu. Currently the group is responsible for the SoA exam curriculum. We work to clarify exam requirements, so that students and their teachers know what techniques are required at each exam level. We also discuss how the techniques should be performed, and communicate that information to the instructors.
NTC members are Shin Aoki, Connie Borden, David Franklin, Rob Gaston, H.F. Ito, Jennifer Peringer, Lee Seaman, Friedemann Shultz, Jim Sterling, Michael Thompson, and Joe Zawielski.
Much of our work in the last four years has involved a broadening of responsibilities and decision-making, from Ito-sensei and Michael-sensei to all members of the NTC. In the last few years we have selected representatives to the International Shintaido Federation (ISF) Technical Committee (Jennifer Peringer, Jim Sterling, and Joe Jawielski), and gave them our recommendations on examiner requirements for upper-level Shintaido exams, which they then gave to the international Technical Committee for submission to the Board of Directors the International Shintaido Federation.
On the home front, we clarified a number of technical points on techniques in the SoA Exam Curriculum.
We have also worked to clarify the job of the NTC itself, and to establish procedures so that we can work together more effectively. Recently we named “point people” within the NTC, so that instructors will know who to contact with specific technical questions.
The NTC hopes to improve the flow of information to instructors. Any instructor with a technical question about Shintaido is encouraged to contact the point person in that area (Shin Aoki for karate and kenjutsu, Rob Gaston for open hand Shintaido, Jennifer Peringer for bojutsu).
Thanks to Shin for taking on the leadership of this important group. And thanks to all of you for your support for instructors and for the teaching of Shintaido. We look forward to more good keiko together in the coming years!
Lee Seaman
News
On January 14, 2007, exams were offered at Pacific Shintaido’s Kangeiko. A new examination format was used where Sensei’s Shin Aoki and Connie Borden were examiners for the kyu-level exams while Sensei Jim Sterling and Master Instructors Ito Sensei and Minagawa Sensei were examiners for the dan-level exams.
Shintaido examinations provide an opportunity for assessment of our practice by several very senior instructors. Exams are rigorous and challenging, and it is quite common for a practitioner to repeat the same exam several times before advancing to the next level.
We celebrate the commitment and courage of all examinees, who spend long hours in preparation and then demonstrate their form in front of the examiners and the audience.
KARATE
| Name |
Results |
| Hal Siden |
10 kyu |
| Chris Nash |
Shodan |
BOJUTSU
| Name |
Results |
| Hal Siden |
8 kyu |
| Lucian Popa |
Nidan |
OPEN HAND SHINTAIDO
| Name |
Results |
| Nao Kobayashi |
Advanced Student |
| Hal Siden |
Advanced Student |
| Lucian Popa |
Graduate |
2017, All Years, Body Dialogue Newsletter, News
In June, 2006, when Ito came to the Shintaido Farm to teach the Shintaido Sans Frontieres workshop, he gave the dojo a name: Tenshinkan, which means, “Heavenly Truth Building”. The farm as a whole is still called the Shintaido Farm, but the dojo now has its own name.
Ito contacted Aoki Sensei and asked if he would do a calligraphy of the new name. Aoki Sensei graciously agreed. On Tuesday, October 3rd, Ito visited the Shintaido Farm again, led class, and presented Stephen Billias and Bela Breslau with a beautiful calligraphy by Aoki Sensei of the new name.
The framed calligraphy now hangs between the picture windows in the Tenshinkan dojo on the Shintaido Farm.
