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Dear Everybody,<br><br>
Aikido practice begins at 8 p.m. on Tuesday the 2nd of
September. We'll be meeting in our normal room, the Multipurpose
Room that is located upstairs in the main Gym building, by the running
track. <br><br>
We'll be practicing at the same times as last year: Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Sundays from 8-11 p.m. For those of you who
are new, I recommend that you try to come to class at least twice per
week. And don't worry if you have to come in late every time due to
a class conflict or if you have to leave early most nights. You are
students first, and that is totally understandable. Just try to
come as often as you can and for as long as you can.<br><br>
We're very fortunate that this year Professor Fumiaki Shishida
will be spending his sabbatical at Vassar and teaching us Aikido.
Professor Shishida is an 8th Degree Black belt, and one of the two
highest ranking practitioners of the Tomiki style of aikido. He
will be arriving Sept. 6th and should be at the practice on Sunday Sept
7th. Several of the New York City area aikido sensei have asked
that Shishida teach on Saturday afternoons so that they can train with
him regularly. So, be expecting us to add a 4th practice time to
the schedule, although this class may be restricted to those of you who
have more than just the basics down already.<br><br>
Finally, a few other things. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>First, the
club web site is now greatly expanded. I commend David Chiu for
getting it started and keeping it going. Good job, David.
Check it out at
<a href="http://vsa.vassar.edu/~aikido/" eudora="autourl">http://vsa.vassar.edu/~aikido/</a>.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Second,
Professor Marco was kind enough to set up an aikido club mailing
list. Please go to
<a href="http://lists.vassar.edu/mailman/listinfo" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>http://lists.vassar.edu/mailman/listinfo</a></u></font>
and sign yourself up.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Third, I'm planning on taking as many of you as want to go to participate to the aikido events at the Arnold Battle of Columbus (ABOC). This is the world's largest martial arts competition, with over 9,000 athletes and 2,000 referees and officials. Something like 40 different martial arts will be having within-art competition. Plus, there are forms competitions open to all arts. It's a really fun weekend and this coming year it will be held March 5-7, 2004, which happens to be the first weekend of Spring Break. So, no academic pressures. We can keep costs down by driving there on a Vassar bus, and Sensei Moe Stevens will give us free crash space. So expect a fun, low cost event. The ABOC weekend also features gymnastics, power lifting, and body building contests, and has one of the world's largest sports fairs. It's a really fun time. Check out, <a href="http://www.wuma.com/aboc/" eudora="autourl">http://www.wuma.com/aboc/</a>.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Fourth and finally, I need a volunteer or two to help promote aikido and get aikido listed as an event in the Empire State Games. For any of you who would like to work on your lobbying skills and political abilities, this is an ideal project. If you think you'd like to try the project out, come see me!<br><br>
<br><br>
Your Sensei,<br><br>
Sean Flynn<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Yours truly,<br><br>
Sean Flynn<br>
Assistant Professor of Economics<br>
Vassar College<br>
124 Raymond Ave #424<br>
Poughkeepsie NY 12604-0424<br>
USA<br><br>
Telephone: <x-tab> </x-tab>845-437-5209<br>
FAX: <x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab>845-437-7576<x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab><br>
E-mail:<x-tab> </x-tab>flynn@vassar.edu<br>
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