The Japanese staff stick training classes began on Wednesday and will have two more sessions before wrapping up on Saturday.

Tonight's lessons are being offered from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., while Saturday's runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sessions are being offered at the organization's Dojo, located on 415 Baxter Street.

The cost was $60 per person for seven hours of lessons, however interested individuals also have the option of paying per hour, which is $10.

The Aikido Yukon Association holds classes Monday through Saturday, offering training in three different skill sets: hand-to-hand, the sword and the jo. This, however, was the first time the organization put on a package instructional clinic.

The organization's main instructor is Gael Marchand.

The jo is a straight stick and is about four and a half feet tall.

Students first learn how to manipulate it, using their hands and transferring it from one hand to the other, said Aikido Yukon Association president, Mary Gamberg.

She said there is also a number of techniques used to teach basic movements, including how to strike, how to defend with it and how to thrust.

Participants eventually work with a partner to help them learn the craft, which Gamberg compared to a "choreographed dance."

Gamberg said the jo is not hard to pick up, adding it's her favourite class taught at the Aikido Yukon Association.

"It's the kind of thing where I feel if I was walking along in the woods and I had a problem I could take a big stick and I could use it, where I don't often walk around with a sword and I am not likely to find one in the woods," she said laughing. "So it makes me feel like I could just take anything and be pretty effective with it."

More information about the Aikido Yukon Association can be found at www.aikidoyukon.net or by calling the club at 334-9844.