A Message from Yamada Sensei

I am very glad that we have the Internet as a new method to communicateamongst the members of the Eastern Region. First of all, I would like to introduce Laura Jacobs Pavlick, who will be assisting Susan Wolk. Simply put, there is a lot of work to do since the Federation continues to grow. This is also a new way of a sharing the responsibility of the administration with a new generation of Federation members.

In the past we have had a few problems publishing the newsletter. There was often not enough material to print for each edition. I would like to continue this online opportunity, so I would like to ask for your support andcooperation.

Next year will be New York Aikikai's 40th Anniversary Summer CampCelebration from July 31st - August 7th at Colgate University. Once again we are expecting an event as big as the one 10 years ago. I consider this a celebration not only for NYA but for the whole aikido community.

When we say 40 years, mathematically it is a very long time but to me it seems just like yesterday. During the 40 years, I spent the first 10 years justspreading aikido in the country and then establishing my own dojo andfocusing on building many instructors. In the years to come, I would like to focus on preparing and establishing a technical and administrative system in which I will give more responsibility of the Federation activity to the next generation.

I hope you enjoy this new system of newsletter.

Yoshimitsu Yamada