Member Page
Welcome,
Alamo City Aikido member!
This section of the
website is devoted to keeping you informed of current news, events, and
organizational/dojo updates. Minutes from Board and Officer meetings
are posted here, as well as our by-laws and financial reports. This
information can be found in the links to the right.
As always, if you have any questions
regarding the dojo, contact us and we will do our best to answer them. Questions and/or
suggestions can be submitted via the Feedback Form link to the right. Please note that your name and e-mail are optional if you wish to submit comments anonymously. You can also e-mail us directly at
email@alamocityaikido.com or call us at
845-3546. We'll get back to you
as soon as we can.
News and Current Events
-06/13/07 Financial Update- The financial report current to
June 2007 is now available, click the "Finances" button above to see it.
-1/20/07 Board Meeting- A board meeting was held on Friday evening 1/19/2007. Minutes for the meeting will be available online soon. There are a couple of topics covered that we want to make everyone aware of currently though.
A usual part of the meeting is covering our finances. Our organization is not a money making business, but we do have a responsibility to the membership and community to pay professional attention to the dojo's financial security. We want to keep dues affordable, while at the same time meeting our current and future projected expenses. There are many costs associated with running the dojo, and it is an unfortunate reality that as we remain in existence these costs do increase. Our membership dues have not been increased since the dojo's buildout 3 years ago, while costs have slowly risen. In order to meet these conditions the board has decided to raise monthly membership dues by $5. This is an increase we feel is small enough that it will not negatively impact anyone's finances, while at the same time the extra income will benefit the dojo's bottom line. This increase will go into effect April 1st. As always, if anyone has a financial difficulty please contact
Sensei. Our goal is to allow anyone to practice regardless of finances, and accomodations can be made for any member needing assistance.
Another significant change in the dojo structure will be the cancellation of the Youth Program. No new youth will be accepted effective immediately, and the schedule of classes for the current youth members will cease March 1st. After organizing and heading the Youth Program for 3 years, Shawn Young has made the difficult decision to step down as the Youth Instructor. She has done an oustanding job and has been thoroughly dedicated to the children who have been her students over the years. Thank you for all of your hard work on behalf of the dojo Shawn!
The decision was made to cancel the Youth Program due to the following reasons:
At this time there is no one else qualified, and with the time available to donate, to take over the Youth Program.
The program's membership is down to only 6 participating members, with an overall lack of attendance to classes.
The current youth members have enough ability to integrate into the adult beginner classes.
What this will mean to the current structure of classes, is that some youth will be attending Monday and Saturday 1st hour classes. This is a way to eventually integrate them into the regular classes as they mature and progress. Basically this adds to Monday evening the same type of class that exists currently on Saturday morning. Any adjustments during classtimes will be minor.
-1/11/07 Gleason Seminar- We would like to give everyone the option to pay for the seminar fee in a way that will work best for them. 3 options we are presenting are as follows:
-Pay the Seminar Fee on Feb. 1st on your automated payment in addition to your monthly dues
-Pay the Seminar Fee by either cash or check by the seminar date
-Pay the Seminar Fee on March 1st automated payment in addition to your monthly dues
Please let us know which option you would like to use by January 15th. If you need to make other arrangements, please contact Mike Young or Sylvia Castillo. We don't want anyone to miss the seminar because of financial issues.
-1/08/07 Finacial Summary to Nov. 2006 now online: click here The full year including Dec. will be available soon.
-1/08/07 Annual Membership Meeting- Minutes from the annual membership meeting will be available online soon. As a brief synopsis:
- Voting for the position of board members was accomplished, the make-up of the board did not change from 2006, they are:
Sylvia Castillo, Jurgen Schmidt, Craig Slack, Shawn Young, and Michael Young
- Voting of officers was also accomplishe, the new officers for 2007 are;
President- Michael Young
Vice President- Neal Mailman
Treasurer- Sylvia Castillo
Secretary- Shawn Young
Other business covered was a financial report and a report on the current level of membership. Future possible capital expenditures for 2007 were also discussed, including strategies for increasing membership in the next year. Thank you to those that took the time to make the meeting, your participation is not only greatly appreciated but a necessary part of keeping our small organization operating.
-1/08/2007 ASU Dues- the annual dues for ASU membership will be collected with all member's monthly AAC payment on Feb. 1st. The dues for non-yudansha are $35. If you need to make other arrangements, please contact Michael or Sylvia.
News Archives
- 7/12/06 Some recommended reading: Here is a link to several articles by George Ledyard Sensei on Aikiweb, all are worth reading and give some great insights into several aspects of Aikido. Ledyard Sensei will give a seminar here at our dojo in October:
- 6/30/06 Basic Aikido Etiquette document now online. Sensei has requested that all members read and familiarize themselves with this document. Click Here
- 6/23/06 Since we have such a large number of new members and have received several inquiries about purchasing weapons, I've put together a short guide on purchasing weapons for Aikido practice. note: We will soon have available at the dojo hickory jo for $28, and white oak bokken for $35. Please talk to Mike if you are interested in purchasing either of these weapons.
- Many of our members have questions about Aikido books and videos. So by popular demand, a new section has been added to the "Media" page. Many recommended books and videos are listed on the page with links for their purchase. Any of the products listed are good additions to your library, but if you don't have any at all, the books and videos by Saotome Sensei are a good place to start from and work from there. (list updated 6/10/06)