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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

MATS Demos in Aurora
by Barbara Young
Summer 1997

On May 17, students from MATS demonstrated aikido, judo and jujitsu at Aurora's first annual Martial Arts Extravaganza, part of a four-day citywide sports festival. The audience in Phillips Park seemed to be made up of other martial artists and their families, but the weather cooperated and the demo was well received.

As promised, a changing room was provided. It was a disused storage room in the basement of the bird house, in the zoo adjoining the demonstration area. No provisions were made for a division by sexes, and the room hadn't been cleaned in decades. Hoots, caws, and shrieks from overhead added to the unique ambiance. To avoid inadvertently sweeping out a room so carefully preserved, we put our hakama on outside.

We began our demonstration with Aaron Starr, Peter Zalinski, Ed Locke, and I demonstrating aikido, with Susan Lazar providing commentary. The mat was much harder than the cushy one we're used to in the dojo, but it was a good introduction to the rubber tatami we'll have in our new home. The stage may not have been spring-loaded, but it was definitely suspended -- about four feet in the air on the side of a semi-trailer. Luckily, no one fell off the front of the stage.

Following aikido, Aaron stayed on to demonstrate jujitsu with Alex Jovanovich, at the same time as Al and Bill Rogalla showed judo.

As we repaired to the bird house basement again, all the MATS participants agreed it was a successful demonstration, one we'd like to participate in again next year.

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