Aikido of Charlotte's Page

On April 13-14, Several Aikido of Charlotte students and instructors headed to the 2012 Atlanta Friendship Seminar taught by Y. Yamada Shihan, President of the USAF. We are pleased to announce Steve Brandon's promotion to Ni-Dan (2nd Degree Black Belt). It is a rite of passage to test in front of over a…

Well, I just got back from dropping off Andy Demko, 7th Dan, Shihan and his son Andrew, 4th Dan, Fukushidoin at the aiport.  I was honored and pleased to host them at my house and along with our Chief Instructor, Dennis Main, 5th Dan, Shidoin at our dojo this past weekend.  As usual, the instruction was top notch and you can clearly see from that the apple does not fall far from…

We had 8 members of our dojo attend the annual USAF Atlanta Seminar featuring Yamada Shihan this past weekend.  I can speak for everyone when I say that the trip went extremely well.  First and foremost, it was great to have such a positive turnout from our dojo support this great seminar where one of our members, Jim Hyde tested and was promoted to Shodan (First Degree Black Belt).  He's been training diligently for the past 5 years and was more than prepared.  Kudos to one of our black…

USAF Dan Testing

Several of our students have inquired about Dan testing (Black Belt Testing) in our organization. So I thought I would share my opinion and experience on this matter. It normally takes anywhere from 4-7 years with diligent practice to be ready to take a Shodan exam. There are some…

In the movie, Rising Sun, Sean Connery educates Wesley Snipes on the Sempai/Kohai relationship. What does the term Sempai | Kohai mean to you in the Aikido community?