01/12/09

An Authentic Practice

by tapbarry

I've been practicing at Brooklyn Aikikai for about 5 months now and really enjoy it. It is challenging, but with that challenge comes growth. Sensei Savoka keeps the practice very clear and is dedicated to the Dojo and his students. The community is very supportive. No one is meant to feel that they "can't" but everyone is regularly encouraged to work hard and improve. The overall feeling is that the tradition is being honored and transmitted authentically. And an added bonus, it's a great workout. My body was back in shape after just a month and a half of 3 classes a week.

• Pros: Dedicated teacher, supportive community, great workout

01/11/09

Amazing Place

by ddc9999

From day one, I've loved coming to Brooklyn Aikikai. Everyone is very kind there, and Sensei Savoca really devotes and immerses himself in his craft. His work ethic is contagious and makes the dojo a wonderful place to practice Aikido, get into better shape, and simply relieve stress and help find a center in your life.

05/09/08

Great Training, Excellent Instruction, and Supportive Students

by greycloak

I have been training at Brooklyn Aikikai for 4 months now, and I think it is an amazing training environment. The training (aikido, zazen, and misogi chanting) is extremely challenging. Savoca Sensei is an incredible instructor. And the fellow students are very supportive (both on and off the mats).

If you are interesting in training in a martial art, studying aikido under Savoca Sensei is the way to do it. He embodies "martial", and I feel that I learn something every time I am in the dojo. Off of the mats, Savoca Sensei is approachable and friendly. He socializes with his students, and makes it very easy to be a part of the aikido community.

Training with Savoca Sensei has been a great learning experience for me. I hope you can come be a part the community.

• Pros: Training here will change your life. =]

04/28/08

An enriching place

by JonathanR2008

Training at Brooklyn Aikikai has been transformative. I've been training for almost four months and have found the stress of work and city life don't get to me like they used to. I'm generally more calm and present than I've ever been. Not only is Aikido training part of this, but also Savoca Sensei and the students at Brooklyn Aikikai. Savoca Sensei is very exacting, but he is also patient and will encourage you in your training. The community is open and warm, and even though I have never trained in a martial art before, I never really felt that it was a deficiency--the spirit of the dojo quickly overcame any such thoughts. I've found the ranking students to be extremely encouraging, not only when I started, but also as I continue my Aikido training.

Brooklyn Aikikai is a wonderful place to study Aikido, not only for the physical benefits, but also the mental and spiritual ones as well.

04/28/08

Beginners warmly welcomed

by CNuut

I had always wanted to dedicate myself to a martial art but I worried about my physical strength, my abilities, my time constraints, etc. Before I joined I had no experience with any martial art, I had never done any kind of fighting, I hadn?t done any intensive physical training of any kind. I have no background in dance or gymnastics or yoga or anything else that could have remotely prepared me for what was to come. Basically, I was jumping into something completely new.

It is now only three months since I joined and I have already learned lessons I will take with me for the rest of my life. The changes you experience are profound. You can?t help but feel the external, physical effects, but it is the internal shift that is most striking. Everything from little things I can be aware of and use daily like breathing techniques, stretches, and warm up exercises, to deeper, spiritual, intellectual and challenging thoughts and ideas that I would not have been exposed to otherwise.

The people who make up the dojo are amazing. They have created a friendly, warm, inviting, family atmosphere that they welcome everybody into. Every single person in the dojo is kind and helpful, if you live in New York, you won?t believe it. They are not only there to train for themselves, they are there to help and guide, to share your experience.

If your main concern is that you have never done anything like Aikido before, that alone should be your main motivation for joining this dojo. They will welcome you warmly, encourage you, motivate you, and challenge you. Like anything else in life you get out what you put in. And nobody would regret any energy they put into this dojo because you get so much out. So much new spirit and fresh perspective, so much rejuvenation and stimulation, so much friendship. Simply put, the dojo is for anyone, of any age and any ability, who is willing to be open to life. You will learn alot about yourself you didn't know.

04/17/08

Excellent dojo

by AldSannes

I have been training at this dojo for a couple of months. It has a very serious and quality level of instruction.

Sensei is very sensitive of what happens on the mat. He can literally hear how heavy everyone's breath is and adjust the techniques practiced accordingly. The school has live-in students, regular visitors from other dojos around the country. The schedule is very flexible, and one can attend as many classes as he has energy for.

05/21/07

Amazing teacher!

by skiankook

I had the honor of training at Brooklyn Aikikai with Savoca Sensei for about a year and a half. I have the utmost respect for him. His sustained dedication and commitment to Aikido and Zen training are truly inspirational. And humbling. I am always motivated by teachers who practice what they preach and whose trials far exceed my own as a student. He can be demanding, but he is also humorous and compassionate. Off the mat, Savoca Sensei is very approachable and unassuming, but on the mat... let me just say that 'awareness' and 'being present' that many talk about in martial arts, takes on a new meaning. Though it has been a few years since I trained at Brooklyn Aikikai (I moved to another state), I will always hold his teaching and the time I spent there in the highest regard.

• Pros: Proficient instruction, welcoming community

04/03/07

Brooklyn Aikikai - The Real Deal!

by barrybichard

I'm writing this review from Toronto, Canada. As a close student of Sensei T.K. Chiba, Shihan, Savoca Sensei of Brooklyn Aikikai is highly respected within the Aikido communities of The US and Canada. After seeing him at Aikido Summercamp last year, I decided I had to journey to Brooklyn Aikikai, in order to experience the Aikido there first hand.

What I found was simply awesome!! Savoca Sensei and all his students train hard! - it's serious and martial and one's whole person is challenged to respond to a vigorous call: Aikido, Weapons work, Iaido, Zen training and Misogi. At the same time the energy within the dojo is warm and supportive - one gets a real sense of community. The quality of Aikido and the depth of care that is taken to teach and transmit the essence of this japanese Martial Art - to experience this first hand defies words. Go to Brooklyn Aikikai and begin to study Aikido under Savoca Sensei's guidance...Immerse yourself, give yourself - your whole!-Self. You will receive the world in return.

01/24/07

truly special and rewarding training

by konradical

It's a level of martial arts training that's almost impossible to find these days - the chance to learn from someone who's devoted his life to the practice, as it was in the "old days."

Aikido is best known as "the martial art where you use the attacker's force against him/her." It's a modern embodiment of the Japanese martial arts which encompass judo, the samurai fighting arts, and zen. Japanese weapons training (sword and "jyo," which is a kind of staff/spear) is also offered to students when the teacher feels they're ready.

My "fitness history": For almost a decade I used to go to the gym, lift weights. I trained in Tae Kwon Do with an amazing teacher in Astoria for three years and competed at a few tournaments. I moved to Harlem and realized I'd gone as far as I wanted to with TKD. By 2005 I had lost all motivation to exert myself aimlessly in hamster machines in order to elevate my heart rate...I was looking for a martial arts practice, but one where my mind and body would be engaged for a purpose beyond sheer competition (and also not have to get injured all the time). And I just found Brooklyn Aikikai by "chance" walking around Park Slope/Gowanus. I quit my gym and after a year and a half I'm in great shape and am very happy to train there as much as I can.

If you've ever thought there's value to martial arts that are infused with a spiritual discipline, you owe it to yourself to have first-hand experience of it at some point in your life.

It'll also definitely keep you in shape and help you develop ways to handle other people's physical aggression. It's rigorous training, - you don't just engage with air but with people - but it's not some sadistic, macho slugfest. The two most senior students there are women.

It's not expensive either -- $115 a month for unlimited classes, and discounts for three months and a year.

• Pros: excellent teacher, authentic training, good community, awesome mind/body benefits
• Cons: you might learn something about yourself

01/22/07

high level instruction

by mbrenbrook

I?ve been practicing Aikido at Brooklyn Aikikai for the past year, and here are some of my observations:

1) The ratio of black belts to beginners at this dojo is something like 5 to 1. So beginners, like me, are constantly benefiting from experienced instruction. Their teaching styles vary to some degree too, so the instruction is nuanced.

2) There?s a strong spiritual and social component to the dojo. Zen meditation (Zazen), weekend Zen retreats, potluck dinners, and parties are all in the offering, and any student can participate as much as they like to.

3) A number of visitors frequently pass through Brooklyn Aikikai; other Sensei, Roshi, Jujitsu and Karate specialists, Aikido students from Japan and South America, students from local high schools, etc. So there are always new people adding something to the practice sessions, which never feel repetitive.

4) The physical space of the dojo is special too. It?s very traditional (Japanese), and has an immediate mind-clearing ambience. It?s truly an oasis from normal city life.

5) Lastly, but most importantly, Sensei Robert Savoca is an extremely gifted instructor. He has an uncanny ability to account for each student?s individual level of development and push them to new heights. He is constantly available to every student as well. I can honestly say that I have never met a more physically fit person before in my entire life, and I have been astounded by the level of athleticism that I scene in practice. Sensei Savoca?s extreme dedication to Aikido, in the fullest sense of the discipline, is extremely admirable.

Brennan