Greetings from the board of Shintaido of America! It is time to renew your membership.
Moving forward in our world, which is filled with chaos, there is an urgent need for peace. As we re-dedicate ourselves to our practice of Shintaido, let our practice bring peace inside each of us so we can share it with our world. We aim to support our community of practitioners by providing members with:
Full access to the Shintaido of America Website. Check it out! New things are happening all the time! We also feature a media page that includes our newsletter, YouTube, and Podcast links.
Body Dialogue is now completely digital and appears in real-time as postings on the website.
Liability Insurance for instructors and students – so you and your students are covered no matter where you practice. This is available to members at no cost: http://www.shintaido.org/membership/member-resources/
ZOOM classes and in person Keiko -a full listing of these – is available on the SOA website where you can get access to the most up-to-date changes to the curriculum, which continues to develop, especially the Kenjutsu curriculum.
Support to our instructors and the National Technical Committee. Support communication with International Shintaido Technical and Exam Committee (ITEC). Support leadership by SOA and ESC as the organizing and sponsoring organizations for international activities.
Eligibility to challenge SOA examinations and receive SOA Diplomas
Access to grants for travel and education scholarships for Shintaido events worldwide. This past year, we were able to send 8 members on travel scholarships to the International Gasshuku – Dokan.
Support to upcoming groups. In 2025 SOA is providing fiscal sponsorship to Global Taimyo Community. Look for the announcements for the July workshop.
Shintaido of America Examinations were held on Monday, 20 January 2025 at Cotati Veterans Memorial Building, Cotati, CA. Examiners were Jennifer Peringer, Yondan Bojutsu, Nidan Karate and Senior Instructor and Byron Russell, Sandan Bojutsu, Nidan Karate, Nidan Kenjutsu and Senior Instructor.
Shintaido of America is happy to announce we will be holding exams the day after Pacific Shintaido Kangeiko. Jennifer Peringer, Senior Instructor, Bojutsu Yondan, Karate Nidan and Byron Russell, Senior Instructor, Bojutsu Sandan, Karate Nidan, Kenjutsu Nidan will be examiners.
Exams: up to and including: Shintaido Graduate, Karate 1 kyu, Nidan Bojutsu and Nidan Kenjutsu
When: Monday, January 20th, MLK Day, arrive at 9am, exams to begin at 9:30 am
Location: Cotati Veterans Memorial Building, 8505 Park Ave, Cotati, CA 94931
To Register for these Exams please contact Connie Borden at bordensheets@aol.com
Payment for exams for this event should be paid at the event, please bring correct amount in cash.
Cost are $30 for challenging 10-6kyu in boh or karate, $40 for Shintaido up to Assistant and 5-1kyu challenge in boh or karate, for higher level exams please see exam page on Shintaido of America website.
The Shoshi-no-kon bohjitsu workshop was held Sunday May 192024, in Cotati, California. Robert Gaston, Senior instructor and SanDan Bohjutsu taught two keiko and associated kumiboh. Sally Gaston and Nicole Masters organized the workshop. Nicole Masters hosted a potluck brunch at her home. Thank you to PacShin for providing financial support for the workshop. This workshop was held for the first time at a veterans facility in Cotati.
As reported in the April Body Dialogue article, Rob Gaston attended a European Shintaido College (ETC) workshop in Macon France. This workshop was taught by Alain Chevet, General Instructor and Yondan Bohjutsu, to share the newest Boh Kata – Shoshi-no-kon. This kata has been under development by HF Ito for the past 15 years. Shoshi translates into “Joyful Warrior” to reflect the state of relaxed joy after a shared moment of happiness.
Seven Shintaido “Joyful Warriors” attended the workshop: Shin Aoki, Sandra Bengtsson, Sally Gaston, Nicole Masters, Jason Ravitz, Mike Sheets and Robert Gaston. Go to the Shintaido YouTube channel to see videos of this kata:
Lee Seaman, Chairperson of the National Technical Council, sent in these official exam results from the recent international gasshuku, MATSURI 2004. She has indicated the country each person is from as: US=United States, J=Japan, GB=Great Britain, F=France, I=Italy.
By Connie Borden, the Shintaido Of America Board President
Welcome Jim Sterling and David Palmer as new SOA Board Members! Shintaido of America board has had several vacancies in the past few months, so we thank Jim and David for agreeing to an interim board appointment until June 2025. Board members serve two-year terms and we appreciate that Jim and David would complete vacancies until our next board elections in August 2025.
Meet these two people:
Jim Sterling
Jim Sterling is ranked in Shintaido as General Instructor, Yondan Kenjutsu, Sandan Bojutsu and Nidan Karate. Most recently he has been serving as an officer of SOA as Editor of Body Dialogue and is a member of the SOA National Technical Committee (NTC) and International Technical and Examination Committee (ITEC). Jim has worked as a writer, consultant, and project manager in San Francisco for many years. Since Jim started practicing Shintaido in 1976 he has been a guiding force of the Pacific Shintaido group and interested in advancing Shintaido both through keiko and organizational structures.
David Palmer has been involved with Shintaido since 1984 when he met H.F. Ito and asked him to critique the first iteration of his seated massage protocol. Both Shintaido and massage are movement forms, one active (you move yourself) and one passive (someone else moves you). The interplay of these two sides of the movement coin have been foundational to his professional and personal life.
Prior to entering the field of massage, David spent ten years as a developer and administrator of social service programs for nonprofit agencies in Chicago and San Francisco. His work included the creation of the first nationwide social service hotline in 1972, the National Runaway Switchboard. While working for the Wieboldt Foundation, in 1974, he staffed the development of the first association of private family foundations in the United States, the Donor’s Forum, a model that has been duplicated in major cities throughout the country.
David began his professional massage career in 1980. Before his teacher, Takashi Nakamura, returned to Japan in 1982, he prepared David to assume operation of The Amma Institute. The Amma Institute was the first school in the United States exclusively devoted to traditional Japanese massage. It was here that David first began experimenting with teaching his graduates to work on clients seated in a chair, rather than lying on a table. In 1989 David stepped down as Director of the school to focus full-time on the development of the Chair Massage industry.
