Silent Warrior Martial Arts

John, his wife Mona and I checked out the space at WREN we'll use to teach the program. The space will suit us well, with space for a class up to about 12 people. The ceiling is also high enough that we can do work with long weapons like the bo staff or three section staff. John commented that he thinks the space is actually bigger than the old school's.

We've settled on a few things. First, age range is fourteen and up. Starting off with this, we should hold back on a kids program until things are well established.

Also, an update to the old logo would be nice. The old logo consisted of a monk, sitting within a dream catcher, surrounded by the seven animals of Ninpo Chuan Fa: Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Monkey, Crane, Leopard and Praying Mantis. Mona's a good artist, so she'll show John and I some of her ideas. I'm hoping the theme will stay similar to the former symbol. I always liked the dream catcher as an ode to John's Lakota heritage.

We're slightly changing the name, calling the program "Silent Warrior Martial Arts", to acknowlegde the new chapter from the days of "School of the Silent Warrior", which was an established school and business. Our program is part time, after all, since John and I are both too busy with full time jobs to fully open up a new school.

Last thing, we take the next month and a half to train together before we start teaching. This will give us time get up to speed and time for me catch up again so I know all my forms, combinations and techniques. It'll also give us plenty of time to decide on other aspects: uniforms, our schedules, time and days of class, promoting the program. I'm sharing all my ideas, but ultimately it's John's art, and his decision on the direction it goes.

Once we start training this week, I'll have to let my Aikido instructor know that I won't be attending classes anymore. I've been training in Aikido for almost a year now, and it's an excellent martial art, with a unique philosophy that I still find fascinating. And while I've enjoyed my training in Aikido, I'm really looking forward to training again in Ninpo Chuan Fa.