Happii Horidee



We here at the Sanbukan Dojo wish everyone a safe and HAPPY Holiday Season.

 

In order to give our instructors and students time to spend with their other loved ones, our last class of the year is Saturday December 22nd and we remain closed until Thursday January 3rd

A very Merry XMas Party

Thank You Everyone!  We had a great party. Everyone brought such good food and other libations. I think we will all need to workout that much harder just to lose the weight. Here is a couple of pictures for those who couldn't make it.

'Tis the season

We have had a wonderful month do far. Brenda traded in her Fall Orange belt for a more Christmasy Green belt.  And did it with style and power. Jason Cordova, our friendly neighborhood boxing champ had been stopping by on a regular basis and of course the Annual Dojo Holiday Potluck Party is coming up fast.

This coming Saturday the 8th we are meeting at 8am to scrub and clean the Dojo before class. And the next Saturday, the 15th, is Party Time. So far not many people have posted what they are bringing so it'll be a surprise. The list thus far is:
Jeremy & Cindy: Coffee, Decorations & Utensils
Brenda: Carnitas and Pico de gallo
Jay O: H2O
Larry: Pizza
Gilbert: Sushi Platter

Happy & Safe Halloween Everyone!

 

Here are a couple of Jack-O'- Lanterns my son and his fiancé carved. But do you know why we do it? Or where a carved pumpkin got the name Jack?

 

THE NAME "jack-o'-lantern" is of British origin and dates from the 17th century, when it literally meant "man with a lantern" (e.g., a night watchman). It was also a nickname for the natural phenomenon known as ignis fatuus (fool's fire) or "will o' the wisp," the mysterious, flickering lights sometimes seen at night over wetlands and associated in folklore with fairies and ghosts playing pranks on travelers.

 

Over time "jack-o'-lantern" became the popular term for a homemade object also known as a "turnip lantern," defined by Thomas Darlington in his 1887 volume The Folk-Speech of South Cheshire as "a lantern made by scooping out the inside of a turnip, carving the shell into a rude representation of the human face, and placing a lighted candle inside it."

In some parts of Great Britain carrying turnip lanterns was considered a form of pranksterism. Darlington writes: "It is a common device of mischievous lads for frightening belated wayfarers on the road." For Catholic children it was customary to carry jack-o'-lanterns door-to-door to represent the souls of the dead while begging for soul cakes on Hallowmas (All Saints Day, Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2). They were also carried by parading celebrants on the night of Guy Fawkes Day (Nov. 5).

Stingy Jack

 

According to legend, the jack-o'-lantern took its name from a reprobate Irishman known as Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil into promising he wouldn't have to go to hell for his sins. When Jack died he found out he had been barred from heaven, so he journeyed to the gates of hell to demand his due. Wouldn't you know it, the Devil kept his promise and doomed Jack to wander the earth for all eternity with only an ember of hellfire of to light his way. Thenceforth he was known as Jack O'Lantern.

 

It wasn't until Irish immigrants brought the custom of carving jack-o'-lanterns to North America that the more commonly available pumpkin came to be used for that purpose, and not until the mid-to-late 19th century that pumpkin carving became a Halloween staple across the United States.

Half mast for a hero

US Flags to Half Staff on Friday August 31, 2012

Presidential Proclamation–Death of Neil Armstrong

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As a mark of respect for the memory of Neil Armstrong, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that on the day of his interment, the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on such day. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

236 Years Old

Happy 4th of July America


During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

The passing of an incredible Aikidoka

We are deeply saddened to report the passing the president and head instructor of the Yoshokai Aikido Federation, Sensei Takashi Kushida, who died on May 10, 2012 after an extended illness. Kushida-sensei was one of the first uchideshi of Gozo Shioda-sensei—an original student of Morihei Ueshiba-sensei.


Sensei Takashi Kushida
May 2, 1935 - May 10, 2012
http://www.aikidoyoshokai.org/