AikidoKids.com and Aikido of Berkeley Present a Kids 24-Hour Gasshuku

AikidoKids 24-hour Bay Area Gasshuku

Aikido of Berkeley - 2pm Saturday March 6th through 2pm Sunday March 7th, 2010.

AikidoKids.com is pleased to announce our next kids 24-hr. event - A total of seven classes, with five instructors, and kids from all over the Bay Area - Housing and 3 meals provided.

Click on thumbnail to download flyer as a pdf.


"Gasshuku" means "Intense Training Experience" - Please note that the flyer specifies kids need to be age nine or older. Mature and experienced 7 and 8 year olds interested in attending with either a parent or their own instructor are also welcome - contact rk@aikidokids.com for details. This spring's gasshuku is also a benefit for charity. The PeaceCamp Initiative brings Palestinians and Jewish youth leaders from the martial arts community (all candidates are participants in Budo for Peace programs) to an American summer camp in upstate Pennsylvania, where they forge the friendships and trust they will need when they return home to start sowing seeds of peace and tolerance in a land where both are scarce. All participants paying the $75 registration fee will get a tax receipt for $25 contribution. Any donations beyond that are fully tax-deductible. In a new benefit, all registering students will also get a one-year youth membership to Aiki Extensions (link) - a nonprofit network of aikido practitioners who take aiki principles off the mat and into the world in areas like youth violence prevention, K-12 conflict-resolution curricula, business consulting, psychotherapy, and Israeli/Palestinian peace programs (one of which is the PeaceCamp Initiative).
	Anyone planning to attend is asked to pre-register Download the Registration form and send it in (before 3/1, if possible). Please note the checkbox and read carefully. We are thrilled to be able to feature Jim Alvarez Sensei, 5th Dan - who will lead students in a weapons class and then help oversee live-steel sword cutting for those students judged to be ready for it, who also have their parent's permission (as significd by checking the box) We've had 43 on the mat at these events - so register early!
	If someone else (another parent, an instructor) will be bringing your child to the event, download and fill out the Aikido of Berkeley waiver form (or your child will not be able to train). ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST HAVE A VALID, PARENT-SIGNED WAIVER IN ORDER TO TRAIN. (waivers will be available at the Berkeley dojo if you are bringing your own child on Saturday)
	We've emailed flyers to every Bay Area dojo we could find an address for, but if you'd like your own copy, you can download it here.
All participants need to be ready, in terms of maturity and experience, to train with young-at-heart adults as well as other kids
Participants are asked to bring bokken and jo, but the Gasshuku will have some training weapons available for those without their own.
Students who need scholarship assistance to attend should contact Robert Kent - rk@aikidokids.com