The Dojo is OPEN!

Today, the North Texas Aikido campus passed its final inspection and we are now cleared to begin classes at our new, permanent home!

Make plans to attend our first official class in the new building on Friday, February 19 at 7:30 pm.

Bring snacks and beverages for a celebration immediately following our inaugural keiko.

All regularly-scheduled classes for kids and adults are back in session.

We'll see you there!

Anticipation...

The dojo building is scheduled for what should be its final electrical and plumbing inspections today. Once this hurdle is cleared, we move on the the final inspection for our Certificate of Occupancy.

UPDATE: PASSED!

Bonus points: It turns out that this inspection grants us our Certificate of Occupancy, pending the official blessing of the Fire Marshall. There are just a few more things we think he'll want to see before we ask for his inspection, but we are in the home stretch!

A Big Thank You!

A big THANK YOU to the members of North Texas Aikido who answered the call - despite short notice - on Sunday to help with the roadside trash pick up. We were able to clear out 18 bags of garbage and 8 bags of recyclables in record time.

We appreciate you all!

So, what's next?

Now that we've taken the leap of faith of moving out of our temporary home, people are wondering what happens next.

For now, we're concentrating on our final push to qualify for our certificate of occupancy from the county, before we can resume any classes in the new building. Until then, we'll continue to meet at the usual class-times to clean, paint, stain, sand or any of the myriad details that will still need to be done at our new home.

Weather permitting, we'll conduct outdoor classes before or after the work details.

As a reminder to people wishing to visit the new facility, our property is still legally considered a construction site, and as such is not yet open to the general public. Folks wishing to visit or desiring any information about North Texas Aikido should call the dojo first at 972-390-9600.

All In!

Contrary to the overly-optimistic previous post, North Texas Aikido has been continuing its classes in the temporary Richardson location for the last month or more, while we worked to finish-up several nagging details that got bogged down (literally) by weeks of rain.

With the end of the October rains, we were able to have a very productive November and complete most of the remaining tasks that stand between us and our "Certificate of Occupancy" from the county.

While not everything is finished, we believe that we are close enough at this point to go "all in."

After tonight's class at the Richardson location we will toast the future with some saké and unlace the mat cover to prepare for our move into our final, permanent home.

The Countdown BEGINS!

On Monday, September 28th, Russ-Sensei gave our current landlords our 30 days notice of intent to vacate our temporary location in Richardson.

In 30 short days our new address will be 2150 E. Lucas Road, Allen, Texas.

There's still plenty to do at the construction site, but it's close enough for us to finally begin getting ready to move into our permanent home.

If you haven't seen it in a while, you can always seen the latest pictures HERE.

The walls are going up!

Well, technically the walls have been up for some time, now, but the sheetrock is now in place.

All those weekends of hand-stuffing the recycled blue-jean insulation in the walls is now hidden from view by nice, smooth drywall. The tape-and-bed crew began work on Friday, and the texture crew will be out on Wednesday.

You can check out the pictures from last Saturday here.

Texas "Trash-Off" Saturday, April 4th

Saturday, April 4th is this year's Texas Trash-Off and North Texas Aikido is doing our part!

We'll be picking up trash and recyclables along the 2-mile stretch of our adopted roadway, starting at 9:00 am.

As usual, bring gloves, water and comfortable clothes to be outside for a few hours. If you have a grabber of some sort, you'll be happier than those who have to touch some of the garbage on a more personal level. Bags, stylish orange vests and erudite conversation on a variety of topics will be provided.

Feel free to bring refreshments for responsible enjoyment afterwards.

Demo Photos Added

North Texas Aikido recently hosted a demo at our current, temporary location. Photos from the event have been added here.

Roadside Trash Pickup This Saturday!!

North Texas Aikido will be conducting a roadside trash/recyclables pick-up this Saturday, April 5th, in keeping with our commitment to the Don't Mess With Texas campaign.

All members of North Texas Aikido, 15 years old or older (and all Parents and friends!) are encouraged to participate. The hard-core group that always does the job on your behalf could use some fresh company and new ears to hear the same tired, old jokes.

Meet at the Dojo property in time for our 10:00 am start. Call the Dojo for directions or more information. If you've never been out to see the building under construction, this would be an excellent time to see our future permanent home. 

Bring gloves, water and comfortable, layered clothing to be outside for a few hours. If you have a "grabber" of some sort, you'll be happier than those who have to touch some of the garbage on a more personal level. Bugs may be starting to make an appearance by now, so hedge your bets and bring some bug spray.

Bags, vests and erudite conversation on a variety of topics while picking up roadside cast-offs will be provided.

THE DOJO HAS MOVED!!

  

North Texas Aikido Family,

The dojo has moved to a temporary home in Richardson. We had
hoped to make the transition directly from Allen to our new
home in Lucas but it is still under construction. Until we can
take up residence there we will be training on Plano Road just
south of Arapaho. The Address is 651-681 Plano Rd. Suite 129
in the Richardson Tech Center. There is a map on the website
at www.northtexasaikido.com, just click on Map. The complex
is the red brick buildings about a 10th of a mile south of the
intersection of Plano and Arapaho on the west side of the
road. Suite 129 is the first unit closest to the street. Don't
let the Hartman Floors and Walls sign fool you, we're there.

The Aikido and Yoga schedules will remain the same and
training will continue uninterrupted. The phone number is
still 972-390-9600. If you have any questions give us a call.

See you soon,

Russ and Vicky

WE'RE MOVING!

Unfortunately, our lease on the current location of North Texas Aikido is expiring before we can finish construction on our new, permanent home.

In the meantime, we've secured a spacious, new, temporary home in which to train. Located just south of Arapaho Road on Plano Road/Highway 5 in the Richardson Tech Center, we'll have nearly 5,000 square feet of space in which to rattle around after nearly 8 cramped years in our old 1100 square foot location.


View Larger Map

Note that the address above is approximate, based on where Google thinks you are when you are looking at the building. We'll update this post with an actual mailing address once we figure out exactly what that is.

On the west side of the street, you should see the new facility.

View Larger Map

Our phone number will remain the same.

There are still some papers to sign and other logistics that need attention, but we expect to be moving in this weekend, immediately following our regular Saturday Weapons Class.

If you can help, we can put you to use.

ALL DOJO MEETING TUES, FEB. 26

This Tuesday, February 26th, there will be an ALL-DOJO MEETING immediately following the evening class. If you cannot otherwise attend class, please try to make it to the meeting at 8:30 pm.

Thanks!

Dojo Construction Photos

Until I get a chance to add them to the Gallery Section of the website, you can find the occasionally updated pictures of the Dojo Construction here.

DOJO CONSTRUCTION PICTURES

Roadside Cleanup This Saturday!

North Texas Aikido will be conducting our final roadside trash/recyclables pick-up of the year this Saturday, December 8th in keeping with our commitment to the Don't Mess With Texas campaign.

All members of North Texas Aikido, 15 years old or older are encouraged to participate. The hard-core group that always does the job on your behalf could use some fresh company and new ears to hear the same tired, old jokes.

Meet at the new Dojo property in time for our 9:00 am start. Contact the Dojo for directions or more information.

Bring gloves, water and comfortable, layered clothing to be outside for a few hours in the cool weather. If you have a "grabber" of some sort, you'll be happier than those who have to touch some of the garbage on a more personal level. Bugs really shouldn't be a problem this time of year, but you may want to hedge your bets and bring some bug spray.

Bags, vests and erudite conversation on a variety of topics while picking up roadside cast-offs will be provided.

THANK YOU

A BIG THANKS to the few who turned out to help with yesterday's trash pick-up. Even though only half our usual number of volunteers were kind enough to help this time, we still managed to clear our two-mile stretch of road in around three hours. Some of us helped with much-needed mowing and weed-eating as well.

Besides clearing the roadsides of trash, we also seperated out all the recyclables and turned them in at the Branch Volunteer Fire Department for their fund-raising purposes.

Maintaining a volunteer presence in such activities as the quarterly road-side trash pick-up and donating recyclables to the local fire department are just two ways in which North Texas Aikido can build new and better relationships in our community.

Please consider participating in the future.

Roadside Cleanup This Saturday

In keeping with North Texas Aikido's committment to the Don't Mess With Texas campaign and simply making good neighbors, we will be conducting our quarterly roadside trash pick-up this Saturday, October 20th.

Meet at the new Dojo property in time for our 9:00 am start. Contact the Dojo for directions or more information.

Bring gloves, water and comfortable clothes to be outside for a few hours. If you have a "grabber" of some sort, you'll be happier than those who have to touch some of the garbage on a more personal level. Bug spray is never a bad idea, either.

Bags, vests and erudite conversation on a variety of topics while picking up roadside cast-offs will be provided.

Dojo Construction Update

Remember that concrete slab pictured here?

It looks a little different now. Maybe you should take a look.

Dojo Clean-Up

The New Year is almost upon us and we want to welcome it with a shiny, clean Dojo. In keeping with traditon, North Texas Aikido is having a Dojo Cleanup Day on Saturday, December 30, at 12:30 pm.

Please plan to come help out, and bring any cleaners or equipment you think may help. The more people participate, the less time it will take to get the Dojo into proper condition to meet the New Year.

Winter Weather Reminder

With the first taste of winter due to hit on November 30, it's time to remind everyone of North Texas Aikido's policy on winter weather.

Any time there is a Winter Weather Advisory or Warning, classes at North Texas Aikido will not be held.

Attempts will be made to keep the phone forwarded directly to Sensei, should you have a question about the status of a class.

Don't risk your car or your life trying to make your way to the dojo, only to find yourself alone.