SMAA Online Store

The SMAA is active in Japan, Spain, Italy, Canada, England, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Ecuador, Germany, Sweden, the USA and other nations. It offers its members access to international instructional seminars, a quarterly journal, an e-mail newsletter, a blog, and a website. Internationally recognized teaching certification is also available to qualified individuals.

The SMAA online store, which sells SMAA logo items like T-shirts, mugs, hats, bags, and other fun items, can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/shudokan/.

The SMAA Welcomes Richard Yamamoto Sensei

We would like to welcome Richard Yamamoto Sensei to the SMAA! Yamamoto Sensei has been practicing classic Kodokan judo since he was a teenager. At over 90 years of age, Yamamoto Sensei is still a very active senior citizen and a seventh dan with the Kodokan Judo Insitute in Tokyo. One of the pioneers of judo in the Northwestern part of the US, Yamamoto Sensei was the chief instructor of Seikikan Judojo for many years. Seikikan was established in the 1930s, and we'll have a biography of Yamamoto Sensei in an upcoming issue of the SMAA Journal.

Warren Agena Becomes SMAA Senior Advisor

Warren Agena Sensei is the head instructor of the Northglenn Judo Club in Colorado. He has decades of traditional judo experience, having studied with many top judoka, including Otaka Shuichi Sensei, Kodokan shichidan. Northglenn Judo Club has been in existence since 1965 and is the longest continually operating judo dojo in Colorado.

According to USA Judo, Inc., Agena Sensei’s dojo is the fifth largest judo dojo in the USA.  In addition to judo practice, the club participates in local, state, national, and international competitions. They also sponsor social events for the whole family and participate in fundraising to benefit judo players. Northglenn Dojo is also the home club of two Olympians: Craig Agena, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and Jo Anne Quiring, 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Moreover, Northglenn Dojo is the club of Lance Nading, former number one ranked judo athlete in 100 kg division and current President of USA Judo, and Agena Sensei has many junior elite athletes practicing at his club as well. Under Agena Sensei’s direction, the Northglenn Judo Club won the team championship at the 2003 USA Judo National Junior Olympics. Agena Sensei was also a successful competitor, having won his division in many tournaments, including the US National Junior Olympics in 1977. 

Agena Sensei has a Masters degree in geophysics, and he is a geophysicist working with the prestigious US Geological Survey. More specifically, he is Geophysics Group Leader - Central Energy Resources Science Center.  

He is ranked as rokudan with the Kodokan Judo Institute in Japan and the United States Judo Federation. He is also a member of the Intermountain Yudanshakai, Colorado Judo League, and USA Judo, which is affiliated with the US Olympic Committee. He has taught at the USJF National Teachers Institute. He is one of the judo seniors (sempai) of Richard Burkland Sensei, SMAA Senior Advisor, who has known him for years and who contacted him about joining the SMAA. 

Agena Sensei has a detailed knowledge of classic judo kata, in particular Kime no Kata. Kime no Kata is a self-defense oriented kata developed at the Kodokan around 1888. The series is composed of eight techniques from a kneeling posture and 12 techniques from a standing position. Both sets of techniques contain defenses for both armed and empty-handed attacks. Agena Sensei has presented clinics on Kime no Kata at various locations in the USA, including the US Department of Commerce Judo Club in Colorado.

We'd like to welcome Agena Sensei to the SMAA Board of Advisors. He joins many other top martial artists in Japan, the USA, and Europe that are SMAA officials.

 

 

SMAA Workshop for Children

H. E. Davey and SMAA member Martha Gayton

 

The Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts will host the first SMAA Workshop for Children in November. The instructor will be H. E. Davey, a Director for the SMAA Jujutsu Division and a seventh-degree black belt. The workshop will be open to children age five and above, and instruction will be offered in Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu, a traditional Japanese martial art.  

 

Here’s all you need to know to have your child participate the SMAA Workshop for Children: 

 

What: Traditional Japanese martial arts for children age five and above

When: Sunday, November 18, 2012 from 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM

Where: The Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts

1053 San Pablo Ave.

Albany, CA 94706

USA

Who: The workshop will be taught by H. E. Davey, one of the founding members of the SMAA and Shihan/shichidan in the SMAA Jujutsu Division

Cost: Children, who are current SMAA members, can participate for just $15 using their SMAA member discount

Contact Information: Participants must be registered two weeks before the date of the workshop. Parents can contact the Sennin Foundation Center for registration forms and additional details. E-mail: hedavey@aol.com. Telephone: 510-526-7518. 

 

About the Workshop

The SMAA Workshop for Children will present training in Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu, a traditional martial art. While many Westerners use "jujutsu, jujitsu, or jiu-jitsu" to describe their art of self-defense, most of these methods bear little resemblance to the original Japanese jujutsu, Japan's oldest martial art. Both aikido and judo stem from jujutsu, and the SMAA is one of few associations outside of Japan to offer authentic Japanese jujutsu.

 

Saigo Ryu features a wide variety of powerful throwing, pinning, and grappling techniques stemming from older methods originating in the Aizu-Wakamatsu area of Japan. Saigo Ryu also features advanced training in the sword, spear, staff, short stick, iron fan, and other weapons. It is unique and distinct from many more well-known martial disciplines. While training is dynamic, and the practiced self-defense techniques effective, the emphasis is on subduing an opponent without unnecessary injury. Workshop participants will learn to improve their health while studying martial arts as meditation. Children will receive valuable training that can help them to remain calm under pressure, a skill that they can use at home and at school. 

 

About the Instructor

H. E. Davey began studying Japanese martial arts as a child, and he is one of the highest ranking traditional jujutsu teachers outside of Japan. This background made him ideally suited for creating the program for children at the Sennin Foundation Center, a program that has been offered since 1981. Under his guidance, and with the help of his staff of expert teachers, young people from the San Francisco Bay Area have discovered their true potential and hidden talents for many years. He is now offering the same instruction to SMAA members at the first SMAA Workshop for Children. Contact the Sennin Foundation Center soon to register for an event that can help your son or daughter to become healthier, safer, and more confident.

 

SMAA Kentucky Seminar

Fabian Sensei

SMAA Kentucky Seminar!

Sorry for the late notice, but Stephen Fabian Sensei will be teaching a special SMAA Seminar in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, August 4, 2012. Fabian Sensei holds the ranks of Shihan and seventh dan in the SMAA, and he is a Director for the SMAA Jujutsu Division.

He will be presenting basic instruction to the public in Hontai Yoshin Ryu jujutsu, an authentic and ancient version of Japan’s oldest form of martial art. People attending the seminar will need some prior experience with falling safely (ukemi), but Fabian Sensei is willing to work with people with all levels of martial arts ability. SMAA members will receive discounted training and have a chance to learn dynamic throwing and grappling techniques from one of the SMAA’s best teachers. 

Fabian Sensei is the author of Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons for Life from the Martial Arts. He learned Hontai Yoshin Ryu in Japan, where he studied with the 18^th and 19^th generation headmasters of this ancient martial art. People outside of Japan rarely have a chance to study an authentic form of Nihon jujutsu, and we hope SMAA members will attend this important event. Here’s all you need to know:

WHEN: August 4, 1:00 to 4:00 PM

WHERE: Taka no Ko Dojo, 299 Brent Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40212 USA

COST: $30 general public, $20 SMAA members

CONTACT: Brian Barnes Sensei, logician@hyrusa.com, 502-338-1338 

You can read more about Fabian Sensei here: http://smaa-hq.com/bio.php?bioid=4 and you can see him in action here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.344381234573.152324.339229289573&type=3. 

This is a great opportunity to practice with one of the highest ranking teachers of classical jujutsu living outside of Japan. We hope to see everyone on August 4!



Michael Donnelly Sensei

On Friday, July 20, SMAA Senior Advisor Michael Donnelly passed away suddenly from heart-related issues. He was 61 years old.

Donnelly Sensei was one of the first people to join the SMAA. He actually paid for our newsletters and partially funded the SMAA for the first couple years of its existence. He also hosted the first SMAA Seminar, bringing the late Walter Todd Sensei to his dojo to teach aikido.

He used his experience as an attorney to offer the SMAA free legal advice. He also helped with the design of the SMAA logo and patch. And at one point, when we really needed someone to take over as General Manager, he took on this role for about two years. (Nicklaus Suino Sensei succeeded Donnelly Sensei as SMAA General Manager.) Donnelly Sensei did all of this for free.

His interest in Japanese culture began with his exposure to aikido at the New Jersey School of Aikido in 1976, while in the U.S. Navy. He eventually became an aikido yudansha and operated his own dojo for many years. Mr. Donnelly lived in New Hampshire with his wife Jayne. He worked as a New Hampshire attorney and, in many hospitals in multiple states, as an ASCP certified pathologists' assistant.

Eventually health problems made it difficult for him to teach aikido, but he remained passionately devoted to the SMAA and budo. Even after his dojo closed, he encouraged his students to remain in the SMAA, and several of them are SMAA members to this day. SMAA membership was a requirement for anyone joining his dojo.

When Donnelly Sensei's daughter discovered he had passed away, her first thought was that her father would now be able to practice aikido again. Everyone in his family knew how important our association and budo was to him. After relatives, SMAA Primary Director H. E. Davey was one of the first people to hear of his death, because Jayne wanted his extended SMAA family to know that he was gone.

Flowers were sent to his wife and daughter on behalf of all of us in the SMAA. We will have a tribute to Donnelly Sensei in the next SMAA Journal, and information about his passing will appear shortly on our blog and website.

Not every SMAA member knew Donnelly Sensei personally, but all of us have benefited from his contributions to the SMAA. The SMAA has lost one of its most devoted members, but his vision of a budo fraternity, a worldwide martial arts association without politics or conflict, will live on. In some ways, the SMAA is part of his legacy. Let's all work together to further this unique international organization that fosters friendship among budoka, regardless of martial arts style or nationality.

Sato Tadayuki & John Gage U.S. Seminar

Great news! On August 17, 18, and 19 Nicklaus Suino Sensei, SMAA Judo Division Director, will be offering a special seminar at his Michigan dojo featuring budo experts Sato Tadayuki Sensei and John B. Gage Sensei. Both teachers are coming direct from Tokyo to the U.S., and they’ll be offering instruction in three important Japanese martial arts:

• The Kodokan judo of Kano Jigoro Sensei
• The Shodokan aikido of Tomiki Kenji Sensei
• The Nihon jujutsu of Sato Shizuya Sensei

 

Sato Tadayuki Sensei is an expert judoka and a direct student of the late Tomiki Kenji Sensei, founder of Shodokan aikido. He teaches Tomiki-style aikido at the Japan Police University, and he lives in Tokyo.

John B. Gage Sensei is also a high-ranking judoka, and he is a direct student of the late Sato Shizuya Sensei, a judo and jujutsu expert. He is also the current head of Sato Sensei’s system of modern jujutsu. He teaches judo and jujutsu at the American Embassy Judo Club, and he lives in Tokyo.

Not only have we arranged for SMAA members to be able to study with two of Japan’s top budoka, their SMAA membership will allow them to receive a special discount at this event. This is due to Suino Sensei’s close involvement with the SMAA, and it is just one of the many advantages of SMAA membership.

Space is limited for this special seminar, so contact Suino Sensei soon to get more details, and be sure to mention your SMAA membership to receive discounted training in world-class judo, aikido, and jujutsu. He can be reached at shudokan@smaa-hq.com or (734) 645-6441.