Spring 2024
Greetings from the board of Shintaido of America! It’s time to renew your membership.
This past year has seen many changes for our organization. The most important were the loss of our beloved co-founder, Ito-sensei on 30 December 2023, and the sad passing of our Treasurer Brad Larson in November 2023.
As we move forward in a world filled with an urgent need for peace, we rededicate ourselves to our practice of Shintaido.
The annual membership subscription of $60 has not changed for several years, and it now offers more benefits than ever.
Electronic payment can easily be made at http://shintaido.org/docs/membership.htm
Alternately, a check for $60 payable to SOA can be mailed to:
Shintaido of America
426 Day Street
SF, CA 94131
We strive to support our community of practitioners by providing members with:
- Full access to the Shintaido of America Website. Check it out! New things are happening all the time! We now feature a media page that includes all our newsletter, YouTube and Podcast links.
- Body Dialogue is now completely digital and appears in real-time as postings on the website.
- The Shintaido of America YouTube Channel presents new videos every few weeks.
- Access to episodes of the Shintaido of America podcast. We are now in the third season of the Shintaido Podcast! The podcast is available on all the usual platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and many others. On the podcast, producer and host General Instructor David Franklin hosts interviews on Shintaido-related topics with various people around the globe.
General Instructor and SOA Board President Connie Borden hosts a monthly podcast discussion group on the last Tuesday of each month. Please contact Connie Borden at president@shintaido.org if you’d like to join in! - Liability Insurance for instructors and students – so you and your students are covered no matter where you practice. This is available to members at no cost!
- Several senior instructors – from the UK and the US – hold regular classes on Zoom which members can attend. A full listing of these is available on the SOA website.
Access to the most up-to-date changes to the curriculum, which continues to develop, especially the Kenjutsu curriculum. - Support to our instructors and the National Technical Committee.
- Communication with International Shintaido Technical and Exam Committee (ITEC)
- Leadership by SOA and ESC as the organizing and sponsoring organizations for international activities.
- SOA examinations and SOA Diplomas.
- Access to grants for travel and education scholarships for Shintaido events worldwide. British Shintaido is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and hosting an international gasshuku in August in England. Grants are available from SOA to help with the cost of attendance at this significant event. Please contact Connie for details.
For ALL of the benefits listed above, your annual membership works out to only $5 a month, or 16 cents a day!
We sincerely hope you will consider renewing your membership, and join us as SOA moves into the future!
Connie Borden, Chair SOA Board of Directors
Robert Gaston, Chair SOA NTC
Sandra Bengtsson, Treasurer pro tem
Nancy Billias, Membership
David Franklin, Podcast
Michael Thompson, co-founder
Links
Proceed with the electronic payment of the membership here
http://shintaido.org/docs/membership.htm
The Shintaido of America Website
http://www.shintaido.org/
The Body Dialogue
http://www.shintaido.org/body-dialogue/
The Shintaido of America YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMF5wKhxvnO4_tj2bsZ8OvA/videos
The Shintaido of America podcast
https://linktr.ee/shintaidoofamerica
Liability Insurance for instructors and students
http://www.shintaido.org/membership/member-resources/
