Anyone know any good aikido dojo's in SF?

[beau_safken]

I want to see if any of you guys can recommend and places that have decent hours, good instructors and a kind atmosphere. I have always wanted to do Aikido and now that I am in San Fran I cant think of a better chance.
Any hints or tips would be nice. Thanks guys

 

[Flying Crane]

City Aikido under Bob Nadeau is very good, I believe. They are on Mission Street, around 10th street, or so. Mr. Nadeau studied for a couple years with the Founder back in the 1960s, and I think he is very very good.

Also, there is a good aikido school in Japantown, I think on Laguna, in the basement of one of the Zen churches. Wander around there and you will probably find it.

These are probably the best two to recommend, from what I have seen.

 

[beau_safken]

Thanks, I'll check those two out.

 

[kenpojujitsu]

These are probably good reccomendations.
But try looking at aikiweb.com or the dojo search at aikidojournal.com

 

[beau_safken]

http://www.pacific-aikido.org/sfcenter.html

Is that the one in Japan town you recommended?

 

[Flying Crane]

http://www.pacific-aikido.org/sfcenter.html

Is that the one in Japan town you recommended?

yup, that's the one.

 

[kenpojujitsu]

http://www.pacific-aikido.org/sfcenter.html

Is that the one in Japan town you recommended?

I never heard of this teacher before, but it looks like a good school.
There may be other's but I am sure you will do well by enrolling there.

 

[Flying Crane]

I've watched a couple of his classes a few years ago. I have never studied aikido so my knowledge is limited, but he and his students were pretty impressive.

 

[kenpojujitsu]

You probably just know how to judge a good etacher, even if you don't know much about Aikido.

If the instructor appears to move well and have good technique, then he is probably good at what he does.

If you can look at the black belts and they look good too, then you know he's a good teacher too.

You can't tell a lot by the web site. But often there are red flags on sites. I see none here and it seems to be a traditional school with ties to the honbu and good lineage back to O-Sensei.

 

[beau_safken]

Thanks for the evaluation guys. I'll still go either way to check it out when I get closer to joining and all.

 

[Flying Crane]

Drop in at least a couple of times to both of these schools, and any other that you get wind of. Watch the classes and compare what you see. Sometimes there will be different instructors teaching at different times, so you get to compare that as well. Don't wait until you are "ready to join". Go before that so you have time to think about it and compare the schools.

By the way, we train Chinese martial arts across the street (Geary) at the Japantown YMCA on Saturday mornings (directly across from the Pagoda). It is primarily a Tai Chi class for health thru City College, by my Sifu teaches me stuff on the side and that is how I spend the morning training. I am looking for someone who wants to learn Tibetan White Crane, so that I have a training partner to beat on...

 

[beau_safken]

Tibetan White Crane?

 

[Flying Crane]

Tibetan White Crane?

Yup. It's a bit rare, and has a couple sister arts that came from the same root and are very similar: Hop Gar and Lama Style.

It is a really agressive long-arm style with some similarities to Choy Lay Fut. Rather unusual, difficult to do, a huge challenge, but I love it (probably at least in part because it is rare).

Stop by the YMCA on a Saturday morning, class formally starts at 9:00 and goes til about noon, but I am usually there by about 8:30. Like I said, it is mostly Tai Chi for health for older people, but there are some kids doing wushu, and I do traditional chinese martial arts. Always looking for a training partner. My Sifu's name is Bryant Fong.

 

[beau_safken]

Sounds good man, I'll make sure to make a plan to get down there fairly soon. Maybe not this weekend but probably next. Just getting work all setup and all that fun stuff.

Hmmm is it like long fist or what? Just trying to get a more general feel for it is all.

 

[Flying Crane]

Sounds good man, I'll make sure to make a plan to get down there fairly soon. Maybe not this weekend but probably next. Just getting work all setup and all that fun stuff.

Hmmm is it like long fist or what? Just trying to get a more general feel for it is all.

Technically it is "southern", but it is very very mobile and just about as long fist as they come.

The class is actually taught as an extension of City College, and the Tai Chi is free. If you decide to take classes then you need to sign up for the class, but that is free to do and is done at the class (you don't have to submit a formal application to City College or pay tuition for this class). So when you drop by, just tell them you are there for the Tai Chi class and they should let you come right in.

When City College semester is not in session then we have to pay the YMCA for classes.

 

[beau_safken]

Cool I'll put that on my list of places to check out. Thanks crane, I'll let you know when I will be coming...Just no sandbagging the newbie kk?

 

[Flying Crane]

Cool I'll put that on my list of places to check out. Thanks crane, I'll let you know when I will be coming...Just no sandbagging the newbie kk?

no worries. I'm the only one doing this stuff, so I'm excited about the prospect of having a training partner. Lots of forms and technique, but little opportunity to develop application. That's what I need!

 

[beau_safken]

Sure man, no prob. I can only imagine attempting to learn a art without a partner... Kinda like driving without the car