Aikido

I've been involved more or less in martial arts since I was a boy, seeking a style that worked for me. I did a few years in both judo and karate-do, and dabbled in aikido and tai chi chuan when I was in college. I have to admit that as a boy, I wasn't very good or did I really care to be. I enjoyed doing it, but I wasn't very serious.

Along about graduate school, I decided I really wanted to do aikido, and since I was going to be living in Japan for a while (teaching English), I figured it was a good time to start. So a friend of mine introduced me to the Fukui Aikikai in Fukui Prefecture, under the direction, at that time, of Michio Hayashi-sensei and Tetsuo Kasashima-sensei. That was a more than a few years ago. They were very kind to me and I left as a newly-minted shodan (first degree black belt). After a few months in Hawaii at Wago Enten Dojo, I moved to Massachusetts, where I've continued practicing at the MIT Aikido Club (my main dojo) and the Harvard Aikikai.

I am currently a sandan or third degree black belt.