Editor's Corner

Welcome to the spring edition of USAF Aikido News. I hope you are enjoying the change of weather.

In this edition I have launched two new sections. The first one, Aikido Related Products & Services, was created as a place to put writings, promotions or announcements regarding aikido related businesses, crafts, endeavors, publications etc. It will be at the sole discretion of the Editor whether a submitted piece will work best in this or the "article" section. Do you have a book announcement to make? Do you sell aikido jewelry or deal in martial arts insurance policies? Perhaps you know of an herbal remedy for sore muschles. If so, please email your information for the September 2009 edition and be one of the first highlighted entries in this new section.

The second addition to the newsletter is the section titled USAF Dojo Newsletters. Many of the USAF dojo take advantage of our electronic age by providing their members with regular "in-house" newsletters. I have been fortunate enough to have seen many of these wonderful products, and thought it would be a good idea to share them within our community. Since many instructors and students of aikido surf the web, looking at eachother's sites, this would be a centralized and easy way to find out what is going on in eachother's dojo. The first submission in this edition is the Peachtree Aikikai's Children's Newsletter. I hope you enjoy this section and look forward to receiving your newsletter in either a pdf format or as a link to your website.

The response to the USAF 2009 Summer Camp has been trememndous. If you have not yet registered for camp or reserved your room at a nearby hotel, you can still do so by checking the online site at www.usaikifed.com.

The USAF Board of Directors and the USAF Technical Committee have had an extremely productive start for 2009. There are many projects underway which will excite Chief Instructors and their members with techincal guidance, a continued effort at securing a strong infrastrucure for the Federation, and a unified vision for our long term goals. Announcements regarding some of these plans are forthcoming.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this edition of the newsletter so abundant in content! It has become a strong source of communication, and a centralized location for us to share your ideas and your wonderful photos.

As of this spring, please address any www.usaikifed.com issues, concerns, event postings, listing changes or announcements directly to me. For so many years Bob Zimmermann was web manager, but we recently agreed that in an effort to centralize the communication and the USAF database, the site should be maintained from the USAF main office. The site refelcts the new contact information should you have any further questions. And thank you for your years of dedicated help Bob!

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

Laura Jacobs Pavlick