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Up until the Event
Background
I've been on Aikido-L since late 1994, the year that I started
training in aikido. Day in and day out, I'd log into my account here
at work and read through all of the postings from aikido people from
all over the world and sometimes even share something of my own
experiences. You might say that this list has been an integral part
of my aikido training. As such, much of the discussion that has
occurred on the list has shaped my own aikido training very much.
Through the years, there has very often been talk of a gathering of
the folks on Aikido-L. Although there have been many informal get
togethers by people on their own, there was no concerted effort to
bring together the enormous collective experience of the people on the
list to a single location.
Last summer (1997), the idea of an Aikido-L seminar began to generate
a lot more interest. We all knew that such a seminar would be
intereting, but could we actually pull it off? We went through a
process of asking people to volunteer their dojo space for the seminar
which resulted in five very generous offers across the country. Then
we had the list vote on said location and dates for the seminar, and
off we went. At the end, holding the seminar in San Antonio, Texas on
Memorial Day weekend of 1998 came out ahead.
From the pool of very experienced teachers on the list, we selected
the five instructors -- Chuck Clark, Carlos Escobar, Chuck Gordon,
Dennis Hooker, and George Simcox -- based both on their experience and
especially their willingness to volunteer their time and knowledge.
And so the ball started to roll.
The Location
Lee Escobar, prodded along by Polo Zapiain, volunteered his Texas
Aikikai San Antonio (TASA) space in San Antonio, Texas which
ultimately was chosen by the people of Aikido-L for the seminar
location.
I will have to say that the location was a great choice. The training
space, the airport, the hotels, and the restaurants were all within
fifteen minutes' driving distance which made everything very convenient.
I actually thought that the climate within the dojo was, although on
the hot and humid side, very nice. The space (River City Gymnastics)
actually had air conditioning and many large (and, unfortunately,
noisy) fans to aid in air circulation. People heeded nurse Janet's
warning to make sure to take in enough liquids ("If you ain't peeing
every two and a half hours, you ain't drinkin' enough liquids") and
paced themselves through the seminar. TASA also provided fruits,
water, and Gatorade on the premises which was great.
The mat space was plenty. The main mat was a very springy gymnastics
mat, complete with tiny gymnasts bouncing and jumping around on Friday
night. Although I could tolerate the springiness of the mats, I would
_not_ want to practice on their for any prolonged period of time; such
a soft, springy mat would really produce improper ukemi by fooling
people with their falls. I much preferred the smaller space that TASA
normally uses for their classes on the other side of the building
which had a firm surface. Much, much easier on the joints.
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