Interview

The Gallagher family is leaving Reno for new adventures. It has been great training with and getting to know the whole family, parents Jamieson and Rachael, and children Kathrin, age 17, Caroline, age 15, and Regan, age 9. We will miss all of you. Best wishes!

What do you like best about Aikido? 

Kathrin: I really like the people that Aikido brings in. Whether someone has been training for 2 years or 2 days, Aikido helps to bring out the best in someone. Training seems to add a shine or radiance to people. It gives them a sense of self-confidence and helps them be who they are.

How has training in Aikido affected your life?  

Kathrin: I feel that Aikido has helped me to come out of my shell. When I first started training I wouldn't talk unless necessary and wouldn't look anyone in the eye. I was pretty shy. But Aikido gave me confidence in myself. When I finally realized this it made me feel strong and really good about myself. So the next time I went and trained I had this wacky grin on my face and was shouting as loud as I could. Now, no matter where I am, I can look a complete stranger in the face and talk to them. I'm no longer afraid to let people see me as myself. 

What will you miss most about Aikido of Reno? 

Kathrin: Again, I have to say the people. I have never had so many friends before in my life. There are so many amazing people at the Reno Dojo. For me, the dojo is like a family. It feels like I have so many Aunts and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters to support me. I love having so many wonderful people in my life and will miss them all very much.

Rachael: I have driven my kids to everything from dance class, soccer, bowling league, trombone lessons - just to name a few.  But Aikido is the one activity that has held their interest year after year.  I know that aikido has made them more self confident, more able to calmly handle stressful situations, and more respectful and tolerant of others.  I have seen first hand how they use the principles of aikido in everyday life, and I am so very proud of my kids!  

When we came to Reno, we were going to be here for 11 months. That was over 2 years ago!  Jamieson's company just kept extending us, and we all considered it a blessing. The people of this dojo welcomed us like family, and we've celebrated Christmas and Hanukah with you, had Japanese lessons around the kitchen table, sleepovers, cook-outs, and fly fishing in the backyard.  Reno has become our home, and we will miss it.  But life is continual change, and so we change with it.  For now we leave Nevada, but next year....who knows?  

Best wishes to everyone at Aikido of Reno!

Book Review of George Leonard's Mastery

In his book Mastery, George Leonard applies his years of training in Aikido to the process of any role in life.  One of the main points of this book is that when people engage in a process, they will spend much of their time on a plateau.  In the modern world, success is often rated on moments of achievement or gain.  However, the master is one who enjoys the process and does not attach to outcomes. 

George Leonard gives many examples of ways to apply the concept of mastery to your life, including loving the basics in Aikido.  As they say, practice makes perfect!  This is a quick read and well worth it.

- Reviewed by Aric Shapiro

Reno Gazette Journal Article by Frank X. Mullen Jr.

Sensei reaches high rank in Japanese martial art

Vince Salvatore of Reno recently reached the sixth-degree black belt rank in the Japanese martial art of aikido, an honor that took decades of learning and teaching. But that doesn't mean he's a master of anything, he said. “There are no masters; you never master it,” said Salvatore, 45, owner of Aikido of Reno. “You can only try to get better with continual practice.” Salvatore apparently is the first Nevadan to reach sixth-degree rank in aikido, which means “way of spiritual harmony” in Japanese. The art was developed in Japan by Morihei Ueshiba, known as “O Sensei” (Honored Teacher) to generations of students. Ueshiba was a martial arts instructor who lived through World War II and sought a system to resolve physical conflicts without violence. The result was aikido, which makes use of techniques borrowed from jujitsu and other self-defense disciplines. An observer watching an aikido demonstrations sees a teacher's almost efforless reaction in responding to multiple attackers. Bodies fly, but nobody gets hurt. The person being attacked moves in circular patterns, flowing like water, as attackers are thrown outward. “The main focus is harmony with yourself and with whatever attack comes at you,” Salvatore said. “The idea is to neutralize an attacker, not defeat him or hurt him. It's a true self-defense art, not a sporting contest.” The techniques of aikido rely on using an opponent's own momentum against him, rather than meeting force with opposing force. For instance, a student acting as an attacker may grab a fellow student by the wrist, shoulder or arm. The defender moves with the attack, usually in a circular motion, and the attacker's own force of motion causes him to lose his balance and be guided to the floor.

Honor took him decades of learning to achieve

Salvatore trained in Iwama, Japan, for 11 years under Morihiro Saito Sensei, a direct student of Ueshiba. He came to Reno in 1998 and started his dojo (practice hall) with students from the Reno Aikido cooperative, the forerunner of Aikido of Reno. The dojo is a renovated former warehouse on Wells Avenue now has more than 200 students, ranging in age from children to adults older than 60. “Vince is an excellent teacher,” said Randy Onitsuka, 61, of Reno, a third degree black belt who began training at the aikido co-op in 1996. “We have many (skill) levels of students, and he allows everyone to train at their own level. ….There's something there for everybody.” Salvatore, who also teaches conflict resolution seminars, said aikido is mental as well as physical discipline. “Aikido looks at conflict in a very different manner than something won or lost,” he said. “You have a choice. The result of conflict can be win-win.” He said anger, such as in a road rage incident, is an uncontrolled reaction. Anger makes people lose their emotional centers and often results in physical confrontations, he said. “In aikido and in conflict resolution, being centered and in control of your emotions is key,” he said. “That state of calm takes practice, … Aikido is the physical manifestation of conflict resolution.” Being able to control and neutralize verbal and emotional confrontations is something aikido students strive for, he said. “In World War II, O Sensei saw the destruction of Hiroshima and Nakasaki and knew if we all can't get along as people, we may face the destruction of the human race,” Salvatore said. “In aikido, we strive to find creative solutions to conflict that are win-win solutions.”