Basic Information for Students

Fees

We have done our best to limit tuition to $75 per month for well over a decade. Recent increases in rent, however, have necessitated a tuition increase. The Board of Directors for Northcoast Aikido has implemented a rate increase of $15 to $90 per month, beginning April 1, 2022.

• Adult monthly membership dues:  $90 (PayPal subscribers receive a $5 per month discount on dues!)

• Mat fee for Aikidoka visiting from out of the area:  $20 per class

• Aikido Beginner’s Special: $135 for 2 months unlimited training. Includes a Gi.

• Children’s monthly dues: $50

• Adult gi: $45

• Children’s gi: $30

• Used gi: $20 (or $10 for just a jacket or pants)

• Test Fee: $45 (5th – 3rd  kyu), $55 (2nd – 1st kyu)

• Aikibojitsu (Saturday mornings, 7am) : $20/class

Etiquette

1) Remove shoes at the top of the stairs. Never enter the dojo with shoes on and never carry shoes inside.

2) Due to the close contact that occurs during training personal hygiene should be well maintained. Feet must be clean and toenails and fingernails kept short.  Remove jewelry.  Uncut nails and certain types of jewelry can cause lacerations.

3) Always bow lightly when entering or leaving the dojo, as well as when stepping on or off the mat area.  Keep to the rear of the dojo when crossing the mat.

4) The whole class performs a formal bow to the shomen at the beginning and end of class (the formal bow varies from dojo to dojo, so observe custom when visiting other places). Never sit with your back to the shomen.

5) Maintain a straight,  alert position when the teacher is demonstrating to the class. Although this may be difficult for long periods of time, view it as part of  your training. Never lean against the wall.

6) Respect your partner regardless of rank. Remember that you are practicing for mutual self‑improvement and, in a sense, all partners are your teachers. Always thank, your partner(s) after training and after class.

7) Address the teacher as “sensei,” accompanied by a light bow when requesting assistance.  Always thank the teacher when ever you receive personal instruction

8) Keep talking during practice to a minimum. Aikido requires the emergence of new sensory capabilities, and talking interferes with this process. It is permitted to discus points of technique, but it is usually possible to communicate these points nonverbally.

9) Always  inform the teacher  if you have to leave practice early. If you arrive late to class, after changing into your gi wait to be invited onto the mat by the teacher, then perform the opening bow before starting training.

10) Take personal interest in the cleaning and maintenance of the dojo (except the shomen, this is cared for by yudansha only).

11) Practice with care. Assume responsibility for the safety of your partner when  training.

12) Pay dues promptly.

History of Aikido

Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed in the mid-1900’s by the extraordinary teacher Morihei Ueshiba, also known as O’Sensei.  In possession of incredible martial abilities from many years of study in traditional jujitsu and other arts, O’Sensei was widely acknowledged to be immensely powerful and virtually invincible.  A profoundly spiritual person, O’Sensei was deeply concerned by mankind’s destructive and violent path exemplified by World War II. O’Sensei transformed his art to be explicitly nonviolent and noncompetitive, with the goal of not only safely subduing physical attackers, but importantly, of achieving victory over one’s own inner conflicts and ignorance.  O’Sensei went on to declare that the ultimate goal of Aikido is the “completion of all religion” and the development of global human potential.  Hundreds of thousands of people in countries all around the world now practice Aikido diligently in pursuit of this very important vision.

Aikido teaches that effective self-defense requires intelligent action and precise movement.  Force should only be used appropriate to developing circumstances. Although the techniques of Aikido can be devastatingly powerful, overall emphasis is on peaceful resolution of attack, and control of an attacker rather than destruction. This results in an extraordinarily wide range of responses available to meet aggression, based upon the philosophical, the psychological, and the technical aspect of Aikido, making it an ideal method of self-defense and self-discovery.

Formal practice of Aikido takes place in a dojo, where persons of all ages, wearing traditional practice clothing (gi), train together in a harmonious atmosphere.

The beginning student is carefully led, step by step, through simple falling exercises, to more complicated ukemi (the art of falling). At the same time, students are introduced to simple and then progressively more complex techniques to neutralize attack. All classes are carefully supervised, making the Aikido dojo a positive, serious place to study the Way of Harmony.