Aikido Kenkyukai Dojo Takes Flip Side with Fun-Raiser

Roll-A-Thon promises to keep both adults and students in the loop while pursuing objective of new home.

By Joni Kelly | Published on 02.20.2009

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Students of Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara will be thrown for a loop during Tuesday's fundraiser.
Students of Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara will be thrown for a loop during Tuesday’s fundraiser. (Lia Suzuki photo)

Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara is going head over heels with an innovative fundraiser for the nonprofit aikido school: A Roll-A-Thon that promises to throw adults and children alike into dizzying fits of fun.

The Roll-A-Thon will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Buddhist Church of Santa Barbara, 1015 E. Montecito St., and is open to the public. During the event, both adults and children will be thrown over and over, limited only by stamina and class time. Participants will collect donation pledges from sponsors for a specific value per roll.

Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara has been in dire need of funds since it lost its “dojo” (training hall) on Lower State Street. A steep rent increase in mid-2007 forced the dojo to close its doors. The creation of the State Street dojo was a community effort, led by Lia Suzuki, the founder and Sensei (teacher) of Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara. Dojo members — including carpenters, engineers, draftsmen and painters — volunteered their time and skills to gut out the space and renovate it. The end result was an environment whose beauty and serenity visitors could not help but notice.

During the five years that the group was at the location, it hosted high-ranking Aikido practitioners from Australia, Canada and Japan, conducting international seminars and giving demonstrations for the public. It also participated in outreach programs within the community, by giving conflict/resolution seminars at facilities such as La Morada Women’s Jail in Goleta and at events like the Sober Women & Healthy Families Conference, organized by the Santa Barbara Drug and Alcohol Commission.

After regrouping and reorganizing, the adult class members came together in a temporary space at the Veterans’ Memorial Building, 112 W. Cabrillo Blvd., and urged Suzuki to return as the head instructor. The children’s class reconvened a year later.

Now, Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. The future goals are to once again have a dedicated training space, take field trips to Japan, and hold events to benefit the community through this fantastic art that they love called Aikido — the Art of Peace.

Joni Kelly represents Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara.

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