New Courses Instructor

Hi all
I was rather surprised and happy to receive the invitation to replace Brian on the training panel who has stepped down from the role due to personal circumstances.

One of the objectives of the training panel is to encourage more of us to turn up to our courses. In this respect I think I can help because I have a wide range of Aikido experience under several different organisations and teachers, so I’m sure I can bring some of the interesting things that I have experienced over the years to our courses. That is one of the reasons why I accepted the role on the training panel my other reasons are:- the challenge of doing something new and having the opportunity to improve my teaching skills.

A little bit about me, I started my Aikido journey in 1993 under Fred Mills Sensei at the Reading club and was promoted to 3rd in 2016. Presently I’m training around 3 to 4 times per week at 3 different dojo’s in the Reading Area, (the KSK club under Craig Hargreaves, Reading Zenshin under John Garmston (Iwama) and Wokingham Aikido under Ivor Cinderby (Aikikai)). Then when I visit my partner, who lives abroad, I also tag along with her at the two dojos where she trains. I also try to go to as many external organisation seminars as I can fit in during the year (some of my favourites are Jan Nevelius/Miranda Saarentus/Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros & Yoshi Shibata). In general I’m heading toward the internal and softer side of Aikido and am aiming for the precision of the iwama style, the flow of aikikai style and softness of Endo’s style. Currently in my personal development I’m looking at improving my Taisabaki footwork and experimenting with Kokyo breath work.

In a semi official capacity for the organisation I also manage the Kai Shin Kai Archive YouTube channel. The channel is primarily aimed at preserving old footage and for sharing gradings. If anybody has any old video’s of club training sessions/seminars or are happy for me to share their gradings on the channel, just get in contact.

Hope to see you on the mat.

Cheers
Jason