AIKI Academy of Self Defense - Connecticut Martial Arts and Fitness

Aiki Academy will be hosting a Sambo seminar with Stephen Koepfer on Sat. 9/25/10 from 3pm to 5pm. Stephen is the President of the American Sambo Association. In 2008, Stephen was a US Team Coach for the 2008 FIAS World Sambo Championships. The cost is $45 per person. Please contact Dennis Hill at 203-484-2020 to register or for more information.

Congratulations to Drew Tischer and Zack McNulty who competed at Grapplers Quest Europa Battle of Champions in Hartford CT on July 24, 2010. Drew took home two gold medals and Zack took home a gold and silver medal in their respective divisions. We are very proud of these two young men and and their strong dedication to training.

Congratulations to the competitors who went to NAGA East Coast Championship at the Mass Mutual Center on May 29, 2010. We are very proud of everyone's efforts. Below are the results:

Several of our youth students had their heads shaved as part of an event on March 17, 2010 in North Haven to raise money for the awareness and treatment of childhood cancer. The Aiki students who participated were: Nicolas Crotta, Austin Gibilisco, Andy Kendrick, Zack McNulty, Matthew Sibley and Tyler Sibley. The event benefited St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Congratulations to all who competed at NAGA on Saturday 2/6/10 at the Twin River Casino in RI. We are so very proud of our team's hard work and the support of our coaches. Thank you to all the parents and friends who also attended to cheer on our team. Below is a listing of medals earned:

Master Dennis Hill is always looking to learn and improve. On December 22, 2009, he was awarded his BJJ Blue Belt by Professor Luigi Mondelli from Best Way Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and American Top Team CT. He trains under Professor Luigi Mondelli at his academy in Danbury and Luigi teaches at Aiki Academy. Grappling students find BJJ to be the perfect compliment to their Sambo Wrestling and Judo training at Aiki Academy. The addition of BJJ has brought Aiki Academy's MMA program full circle. Aiki Academy's affiliation with Best Way Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & American Top Team CT has provided even more training opportunities for recreational athletes all the way to athletes looking for a professional MMA career.

Congratulations to everyone who competed at NAGA on 11/14/09 in NJ at the North American Grappling Championship. We are very proud of everyone's efforts. The following people placed in their respective divisions:

Sid Kelly is now instructing adults in Judo on Saturdays from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. Sid is the highest ranking Dan in our area with an 8th Dan Judo rank and a 6th Dan Ju-Jitsu rank. He has studied, trained and taught Judo for 50 years. He is a two times world masters gold medalist (1999 - 2003) and a one time world masters bronze medalist (2002). Sid was a British international player from 1965 - 1967 and coached an under 21 European Champion Gold Medalist. Sid was the captain of the NHC team, winning the British area championships. He is a certified USJA coach, certified USJA Rank examiner and certified USJA Kata coach. He is the author of 4 books and has produced several videos related to Waki-Gatame and Judo Promotion.

A Judo class for children is also offered in the lower suite from 1:00 - 2:30 and is taught by Chief Instructor Dennis Hill.

Weekly BJJ classes with Luigi Mondelli from Best Way Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu /American Top Team are held every Saturday from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. at Aiki Academy. This class is open to new and current adult members at Aiki Academy. Come be a part of one of the most successful MMA teams in history!

Luigi is a master black belt and MMA Team Manager for American Top Team in CT. With over 15 years of practice, Luigi is a certified black belt with many titles and a lot of experience training amateur and professional fighters:

Please contact Chief Instructor Dennis Hill at 203-484-2020 if you are interested in attending. Class size is limited.

On October 4th, 2009 the American Sambo Association will host the Sixth Annual North American Freestyle Sambo Championships! This year’s event will take place at the Rahway Recreation Center in Rahway, New Jersey. The event will be jam packed with exciting Sambo and no-gi grappling. As usual, the Sambo Association will host our OPEN Freestyle Sambo Championships, which is open to all Sambo, Judo, BJJ, Wrestling, and Grappling athletes – regardless of political affiliation. They welcome Sambo players from the ASA, AASF, and USAW to participate. In addition, this year the Sambo Association will host no-kurtka (no-gi) submission or draw grappling 74kg 8 man challenge as well as a youth sambo tournament. This event grows each year and in accordance with ASA regulations, all medallists in the Sambo tournament will earn points towards our ASA National Freestyle Sambo Rankings and the ASA “Master Sportsman” award. Be sure to check the Sambo Association website for information about these rankings and awards: http://ussambo.com/rankings.html All tournament information can be found at the American Sambo Association website. Preregistrations need to be received by October 1, 2009 in order to receive the pre-registration discount! Please contact Stephen Koepfer for more information at 718-728-8054.

Former Golden Gloves Champ Ken Gonsalves is now teaching a Boxing class at Aiki Academy on Monday nights in the lower suite from 7-8 pm. and on Wednesdays in the lower suite from 7:10-8:10 pm. In addition, there is now Open Mat time for Sambo on Wed. evening from 7:10 - 8:30 pm.

Congratulations to all who competed in the NAGA Battle at the Beach 10 held in NJ on 8/1/09. We are very proud of everyone's efforts. Congratulations to Caterina Teodosio on her third place win!

Congratulations to all who competed in the NAGA Championships in RI. We are very proud of everyone's efforts. Below are the results:

Chief Instructor Dennis Hill enjoys promoting his students in the various arts that are taught at Aiki Academy. It is great news that in April 2009 he was promoted to 4th degree Black Belt in Combat Hapkido by Grandmaster John Pellegrini of the International Combat Hapkido Federation. Teaching, studying, and practicing martial arts are his profession and avocation.

Liugi Mondelli from Best Way Brazillian Jiu Jitsu/American Top Team visited our school on Thursday March 19, 2009 to train our adult MMA students as part of our affiliate program. We had a great session and it was a privilege having Luigi as a guest instructor.

Photos courtesy of Inger Schoelkopf

Congratulations to Mark Tomaszewsky for completing his certification in teaching Russian Kettlebells through the New England Kettlebell Association on January 15 & 16, 2009. Mark is a black belt instructor at Bushido Jujitsu Academy in CT.

Our youth competition team traveled to NJ on 11/9/08 for the North American Grappling Championship sponsored by NAGA. All of our competitors placed in the event! Congratulations to all!

Aiki Academy hosted it's first 2 day kettlebell certification course on Thursday September 26th and Friday September 27th, 2008. Congratulations to Andy Washeim, CPT from Redding, CT and Joseph Ferrari, CPT from Somers, NY who passed both the physical and written exam and are now certified in Kettlebells through our New England Kettlebell Association, LLC.

Aiki Academy is hosting two kettlebell workshops in October for personal trainers and business owners. Participants can choose one session either on Friday 10/3/08 from 11:00 - 12:30 pm or Saturday 10/11/08 from 2:00 - 3:30. We will review all the major kettlebell lifts and how to teach proper form and technique. Kettlebells are one of the fastest growing strength and conditioning tools available for anyone who wants to improve their overall body image or improve their strength and endurance. The non-refundable cost is $49 per person and is due upon registration. All participants must register before the workshop by calling Dennis Hill at 203-484-2020.

In July 2008, the World Jujutsu Federation officially promoted Dennis Hill, Chief Instructor at Aiki Academy of Self Defense, LLC to 6th degree Black Belt and bestowed him with the title of “Shihan” by the Federation (Shihan is a title that translates to Master Teacher).

Dennis has been a life time student of martial arts and it is truly his passion to teach and continue his martial arts studies. In his thirty-five (35) years in martial arts, he has spent much of his time studying many martial art disciplines including Japanese Jujutsu systems. If it were not for Japanese Jujutsu, many of the modern martial arts that we teach (i.e., Russian Sambo, Kodokan Judo and Combat Hapkido) would never have come into existence since they, along with many other martial arts, are strongly based in Japanese Jujutsu.

Dennis is honored with this recognition and looks forward to Aiki Academy's continued growth and ability to serve its students.

Aiki Academy is now affiliated with Best Way Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / American Top Team Connecticut which is located in Danbury. Dennis is being privately trained by Luigi Mondelli, Master Black Belt / MMA Team Manager. Luigi has a very impressive BJJ background as follows:

2008 Panamerican Champion
2007 Panamerican Champion
2006 Panamerican Champion
2004 Panamerican Champion
2002 World Champion
2004 North American Champion
2003 North American Champion
2001 2nd National / Brazil
1999 Rio de Janeiro State Champion

With over 15 years of practice, Luigi is a certified black belt with many titles and a lot of experience training amateur and professional fighters.

Aiki Academy will begin to introduce BJJ classes to the curriculum in the near future.

Pictured: Ryan Murphy, Nicolas Crotta, Mary-Kate Hall, Seve Burgos, Andy Kendrick.

Our Youth NAGA Team did exceptionally well at the regional NAGA New England tournament held in Massachusetts on Saturday 6/28/08. Below are the results for each child in their respective division. Congratulations to everyone who competed. We are very proud of you all. Thank you to all the parents and members who attended the event to support our school. Thank you to Paul Bergevin and Mike Hannon for helping to coach our team at the event.

Seve Burgos	Champion
Tyler Burzenski	Silver
Nicolas Crotta	Champion
Mary Kate Hall*	Bronze
Andy Kendrick	Champion
Ryan Murphy	Champion
Jessie Pelosi	Champion (2 divisions)
Nico Sommo	Silver

Congratulations to all who competed on 4/6/08 at the NAGA World Championship Tournament in NJ. We sent a small team of five, coached by Paul, and once again are amazed at our talented students. Our entire team received medals!!! The following people placed in the tournament in their respective divisions:

NAGA New England II will be held on 6/28/08 in RI. A team of fighters representing our school will be attending this tournament.

Congratulations to all who competed in the New England Grappling Championship sponsored by NAGA in RI on 3/8/08. We sent a small team of five, coached by Paul, and we are very proud of everyone's effort! The following people placed in the tournament in their respective divisions:


Jessie Pelosi (L) and Andy Kendrick (R) With Coach Paul	Dan Coe

All NAGA events are part of the nationwide ranking system entitled RANKED. Their goal is to determine who the best grapplers in the country are for various age, gender and skill levels. NAGA NEW ENGLAND was nationally Ranked.

Saturday April 26, 2008 Aiki Academy of Self Defense, LLC will be hosting its second MMA/BJJ seminar with Kenny Florian. More information coming soon. Kenny will be fighting another Bostonian, Joe Lauzon, on Spike TV on April 2nd during Ultimate Fight Night 13.

Please call 203-484-2020 to register. Please note: early registration suggested. This seminar was sold out last year and we had a waiting list.

A new feature within the Photo section of our website is a link under the Kenny Florian seminar which goes directly to photographer Inger Schoelkopf's website. Inger is one of our members and has been our unofficial photographer for over a year. Many of her pictures can be seen throughout our website.

Within Inger's site is a collection of over 200 photos she took the day of the seminar. Inger placed the photos in an album for viewing and is also offering the pictures for sale if an attendee of the seminar would like a picture of themself or Kenny. The purpose of this site is to offer high qualtiy photos of the event to participants at a very reasonable price. There is no obligation to purchase the photos. Aiki Academy and Inger thought this would be a value added serivce to our members in case they forgot their camera or wanted a picture as a reminder of the day.

Our second school tournament was held on Saturday June 16, 2007. The skill level of all the participants was amazing. A big congratulations to all who participated and a big congratulations to Tori Ramada who won the UWC belt. Honorable mention to CJ Korn who fought hard and displayed awesome technique. It was wonderful to see all the participants applying the skills they learned from their instruction and displaying great sportsmanship as well.

The Ultimate Warrior Challenge I for Juniors went very well. A big congratulations to all who participated and a big applause to Jayme Toro who won the UWC belt. Honorable mention to Andy Kendrick who fought his heart out throughout the event and especially in the championship bout. We will offer more weight classes and will have multiple belts to be won. The winner of this tournament will compete in a Super Warrior Challenge with Jayme Toro (date to be determined).

Aiki Academy has become a licensed retailer of the bodybugg™, an innovative calorie management system by Apex Fitness Group™. While traditional weight loss programs focus on tedious calorie counting, bodybugg™ accurately tracks calorie expenditure automatically, providing a real-time view of actual calorie consumption.

bodybugg™ is not another pedometer. It is the most accurate device on the market today for measuring calorie expenditure outside of a clinical setting. It consists of a small armband that uses multiple sensors to determine calorie burn at all times and in all activities, and works in conjunction with a web-based program. While other calorie estimation devices such as pedometers and heart rate monitors rely on a single sensor, bodybugg™ uses multiple sensors that can measure calorie expenditure whether the wearer is sitting, sleeping, jogging, walking, etc.

The user also has the option to track what he or she eats (calorie intake) by logging food through an intuitive 18,000-item menu, which includes many fast food and brand name grocery products. With this information, the user can determine his or her calorie needs, and can then make food and activity choices that create a calorie deficit for weight loss, or meet their calorie needs to maintain a healthy weight.

The bodybugg™ program also features a comprehensive menu-planning function. The system creates a suggested menu based on the users likes and dislikes. Customized workout regimens and supplement recommendations are also available on the bodybugg™ website.

“With bodybugg™,” says Neal Spruce, Apex founder and CEO, “people have the ability to view actual food intake (calories in) and energy output (calories out), putting them in complete control of their weight loss results.”

For further information, contact Dennis Hill at 484-2020, visit the Apex website at www.apexfitness.com, or visit the bodybugg™ website at www.bodybugg.com.