DAN NEWTON (LAWYER)

I came to Soengkono Aikido as a middle-aged father of a 10-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. My daughter and I started together and now my son has joined us. From the beginning, Grand Master Soengkono, the instructors and the students made us feel very welcome. Grand Master Soengkono treats everyone with the greatest respect and is a “master” of making all feel at ease. I continue to be impressed each class with how well he relates to children and adolescents. Grand Master Soengkono teaches not just the “how to” of Aikido, but also the “why”. My children are learning to stop an attack against them in a way that neutralizes the attack while causing as little harm as possible to the attacker. As a parent, I value my children’s learning of this philosophy even more than their learning of the martial skills. We look forward to Grand Master Soengkono’ s continued instruction in this martial art and in his own unique “art of living.”