Come join us for a screening of the original Star Wars (later re-named Episode IV: A New Hope). This now classic film began as a loose Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and was heavily influenced by George Lucas's interest in Taoist philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and his friendship with the eminent scholar of comparative religion, Joseph Campbell. The film was a groundbreaking technical achievement, and also created a new genre of science fiction. Unlike earlier sci-fi, Star Wars was set in a dirty "well used universe" and mixed in fantasy elements such as knights, sorcery, princesses and swordplay. The extraordinary film won wide critical and popular acclaim, spawned an enormous franchise and remains one of the top box office draws of all time.

Saturday, November 7th
7:00 ~ 9:30

Friends, family and guests are welcome

Bring your own floor pillows!

Mike Waltz Sensei will begin teaching a regular, ongoing Japanese Calligraphy workshop at the dojo one Saturday each month. Waltz Sensei's hands on teaching style easily accommodates all levels of experience from brand-new beginner through experienced practitioner.

Shodo is meditative art and an excellent vehicle for Ki training. As Waltz Sensei explains, "Shodo involves not only accurate composition of characters, but also the way the brush is handled in their creation, the shading of the ink, and the balanced placement of the characters on the paper."

For information about Shodo classes, check out the new Shodo Program Page.

This is the fourth year that The Center for Mind-Body Oneness will be offering our 9 month long intensive training program, the Shinshin Toitsu Gakuen. The program is designed to provide dedicated students with an unprecedented opportunity for growth and development. Students who successfully complete the first year of the Gakuen:

1. Have a notable level of presence, calmness and balance.
2. Can clearly demonstrate the Kaisho and Gyosho forms of basic Aikido techniques with clarity and control.
3. Are at home and comfortable teaching the four basic principles to others and confident confident their your ability to give others a personal experience (ki ga tsuku) of mind-body oneness.
4. Are skilled at giving the first ki test—providing a partner with clear feedback to the question “where is your mind?”
5. Are at home and comfortable reading Shokushu, leading Hitori waza, and leading the Oneness Rhythm Exercise.

Interested students should turn in an application as soon as possible. Applications can be downloaded from the Gakuen Program Page.

Come eat popcorn, lounge on your favorite floor pillows, and watch the recently released Japanese film 禅 (Zen) on the silver screen. Zen is the story of the Japanese Buddhist scholar Dogen, who traveled to China in the 13th Century and brought Zen Buddhism back to Japan. The film is in Japanese. I'm pretty sure we will have subtitles :)

Friends, family and guests are all welcome to this free event.

Bring pillows (you notice we don't have much furniture), snacks, and beverages. The film runs about 2 hours.

It is time once again for the Como Park Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival. The largest Japanese cultural festival in the region, this family friendly event features Taiko drums, Ikebana, sushi and, of course, the Minnesota Ki Society. Please come join us!

The event runs 3:00pm - dusk on the grounds of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park.

The Minnesota Ki Society will have a booth and give informal demonstrations and introductions to Mind-Body Oneness throughout the day.
In addition, we will have a demonstration on the martial arts stage at 5:05pm

Because parking is limited near the park, a Free Shuttle Bus is available.

Admission to the festival is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 3-12

Dojo members who wish to participate in the demonstration and assist at our booth should e-mail me, or sign up online.

Come join us for a weekend of very special training at Wilderness Canoe Base on the edge of the beautiful Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Poppele Sensei will be leading a weekend full of games and exercises he learned from “The Tracker,” Tom Brown Jr., with a little bit of Ki Society training thrown in along the way. Tom Brown Jr. is widely considered Americas foremost outdoorsmen and one of the world's greatest living trackers. His personal life story is detailed in his many books, particularly “The Tracker,” which is available in the dojo library and the dojo's Amazon.com store. Poppele Sensei has been a student of Tom Brown's for over 10 years and interned with Tom's senior student, Jon Young, while completing his graduate studies in Conservation Biology. The camp will take advantage of our very special wilderness setting and will feature training and activities quite unlike our regular training in the dojo. This will be a fabulous end of summer retreat in a spectacular location.

We are now past our preliminary registration deadline, but expect to have additional space available. If you would like to join us for Summer Camp, please contact Poppele Sensei.

You can download a flier and registration form below.

Also available below is a packing list and list of frequently asked questions.

Here is a Google map to Wilderness Canoe Base

Every year the Phalen Park Dragon Festival coincides with the Center for Mind-Body Oneness Anniversary Celebration. At this year's festival, the dojo will be presenting a Ki & Aikido demonstration AND participating in the Festival's premier event, the Dragonboat Racing!

Here is the full schedule of events for Saturday & Sunday.
All events are posted on the dojo calendar.

Saturday, July 11

1:15 - 1:45    Ki & Aikido Public Demonstration at the Martial Arts Stage

2:30 - 3:30    Dragon Boat Team Practice -- all paddlers should attend if possible

5:00 -             Pot-luck social at Poppele Sensei's home, 846 Clear Ave, St Paul, MN 55106
                       RSVP here


Sunday, July 12

9:00               Racing begins

10:36            Minnesota Ki Society Round 1 race

1:36              Minnesota Ki Society Round 2 race

~3:00            Award Ceremony

We will have a canopy set up for shelter from the sun throughout the day on Sunday.
Information about parking and shuttle buses to the Festival site is available here

Come join us for this grand celebration that will mark our dojo's 3rd anniversary. Please see the note below from Chad & Susan regarding the dojo's participation in the Dragonboat Racing.

plus ki,

Jon

***

The Dragon Festival

This year, the Minnesota Ki Society will be participating in the Dragon Boat Races at the Phalen Dragon Festival. The Festival will be on July 11th and 12th. The Dragon Boat Race is expected to be a grand event this year as they are allowing 26 teams to enter! So, Susan and I are co-captaining our first ever Minnesota Ki Society team. The following are a few details:

A team consists of 20 people with a minimum of 8 females. We are allowed a maximum of 25 members on the roster to allow for substitutions or breaks. The 20 people are positioned as 18 paddlers, 1 flag catcher, and 1 drummer.

The cost will be $65 to cover the Dragon Boat (supplied by the festival) and a necessary Team T-Shirt. (The t-shirts are always the best part of any team activity!)

Please make checks payable to Chad DeBruzzi and include your desired t-shirt size in the memo. I will leave receipts in the desk at the dojo in a white envelope. Required waiver forms are now available at the dojo or can be printed from the attachment below.

Spots on the boat are available on a first come first served basis.

Please contact Chad and Susan at:
email: chaddebruzzi@gmail.com
home: 651-793-6232
cell: 651-356-9389

Plus Ki

Everyone did a wonderful job and put on a great demonstration of Ki Development and Ki Aikido. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the event. Please join me in extending your warm congratulations everyone who presented at our Spring Exhibitions.

Sankyu in Shinshin Toitsu Aikido:
Susan Bolstad
Laura Colon
Laurel Strand-Crawford
Adam Tews

Chukyu in Shinshin Toitsudo:
Laura Colon
Cynthia Egli
Laurel Strand-Crawford
Adam Tews

Yonkyu in Shinshin Toitsu Aikido:
Jon Banyard
Cynthia Egli

Gokyu in Shinshin Toitsu Aikido:
Josef Siegel

Shokyu in Shinshin Toitsudo:
Rosmary Senjem

Rokukyu in Shinshin Toitsu Aikido:
Parker Banyard

Please join us for our Spring Exhibitions on Sunday, June 14 at 1:00pm . We will be hosting exhibitions for rank for youth and adult members, followed by a social hour. If you are interested in exhibiting, please contact Poppele Sensei.