Aikido of Austin

My kids really enjoyed summer camp at Aikido of Austin last summer. I have two boys who were 6 and 8 at the time and they attended one of the week long day camps led by Aaron Poteet and other senior instructors from Aikido of Austin.
They enjoyed learning about Aikido and it really wore them out! Aaron and his associates are patient and great with the kids. My boys made some new friends at the camp and also were exposed to interesting aspects of Japanese culture, such as origami, calligraphy, the art of making sushi, and the Japanese language.
If the camp fits in this year’s schedule, I will be sending them back.

I started at this dojo to take up Aikido, had some interesting experiences. I first looked at there website to get information about this location. Going on the info I found there I next went to watch a class. The senior student that spoke to me was very courteous and explained a little about the class and how it works. The following week I called back during class hours as the website stated, no one was returning my calls; I left messages with every call. I wanted to join but no one would contact me. I finally decide to show up again since this was my only option. Finally spoke to a different senior student that had me fill out an app and get me geared up. After that first class I finally got 3 phone calls from the senior sensei.
After a few weeks of class the students and a few seniors stated that thought the website says any class is a beginner class, this is not accurate. The noon classes tend to be advance classes and the evening class in more geared to beginners. That means if you’re new and show up to noon class they will just go slower for you, even though you do not have the fundamentals of Aikido.
The instruction from the senior students is great they are friendly, patient, and are willing to work with you. Though as I attended noon classes first, I finally went to an evening class for beginner’s instruction. There is not to much instruction in to the etiquette of Aikido, if you haven’t read their website then don’t expect to know.
Overall a rough start getting in, not sure that I will continue with this dojo, since the evening class is what I need and I have other commitments in the evening.