Editor's Corner

Welcome to the winter edition of USAF Aikido News. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and that you enjoying the many expressions of winter that have swept the country so far this year!

This edition of the newsletter has a great turnout in the seminar and article section. Thank you to all who have shared your thoughts and your photos! I would also like to thank everyone who followed the guidelines and submitted their paperwork on time for the New Year's promotions. The 5th and 6th dan promotions were just approved at Hombu, and those certificates should be returned to me shortly. If you tested in Florida, or submitted your forms to me in November for any other ranks, you should have already received your certificates. In addition to those mentioned, we are now awaiting certificates for all December submissions which I received before Christmas.

The USAF 2009 Summer Camp committee is already working hard to confirm the dates and details about this year's camp so we can pass along the information to you as soon as possible. We hope to have news for you before the end of the month, so you can save the dates and prepare for another wonderful week together.

We also hope to have the USAF website repaired shortly - it is being reworked so it will be virus-proof for the future. Thank you for you patience and understanding.

The USAF administration, the Board of Directors, the Technical Committee, and Yamada Sensei are all working together to continue to enhance your experience as members of this organization, and to provide clear and productive guideance for the future. Your membership to the USAF is valuable to all of us, and we continue to be committed to creating and growing a strong community in which we can all practice aikido for many years ahead.

I actually do not have a lot of news or reminders to report - and I think that is a good news!! All's well and running smoothly. The USAF is ready to embrace the New Year and whatever exciting challenges may lay ahead.

The next edition will be online May 15th 2009, so take notes, take pictures and stay in touch!

Laura Jacobs Pavlick