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Move over Steven Seagal,
Z Chickz have their own Aikidoka! We're proud to have Jon
join us, and while he's not into toe-nail polish, he's a lot
of fun and just as Z crazy as the rest of us!
Jon is a native of
Chicago, and has a Bachelor of Arts in both psychology and
Japanese. He has had a keen interest in Japan since he was
10 years old and began studying Aikido (a martial art that
goes far deeper and becomes a model for life—the elusive
ki). Jon began studying Japanese at 17 and subsequently
spent two years living in Japan.
A love of martial
arts (including Kendo) is not Jon's only love of things Japanese.
Every car he has ever owned is Japanese too: Toyota Celica
GT-S, Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4, Acura Integra, and now his chrome
silver performance model 350Z.
Here are some of Jon's
thoughts and outlook in his own words.
Another big thing
with me is learning. I have to learn new things constantly.
My brain is like a parasite that needs feeding. When I buy
a car, I learn everything there is to know about it,
up and down, backwards and forwards. When I buy a power tool,
I'm the same way. I think learning is a key thing in
life and I strive to learn as much as I can about almost anything.
I
love to help people and everyone seems to come to me to talk
about their problems. That's mostly why I went for psychology
in college. People seem to gravitate toward me and seem comfortable
with me. I volunteer at a local women's shelter and I find
that a very rewarding experience, though hard on the emotions
at times.
Jon
works for a company that designs and manufactures commercial
security systems, mostly door and intercom control for jails
and prisons. He's the technical support guy and basically
"in charge" of a wireless duress system, a new product
that he hopes will sell to other markets beyond corrections.
Jon does all the stuff that no one else knows how to do. He
started out as an architecture major in college, and worked
with CAD for many years, so he's an AutoCAD expert (the only
one at the company, so that's also his department).
So
that's our Jon, resident Z Guy. Oh yeah, he's single too—what
a catch! He does say he needs dancing lessons, so sing out
if you want to be Ginger Rogers to Jon's Fred Astaire!
If
you're interested in learning more about Aikido, Jon says
that this is a pretty good place to start: http://www.aikido-world.com/
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