Welcome to my personal page. I will tell you about what I do in Aikido and what I have done. You can click on some of the pictures to view a larger version of that picture. Then click your browser's "Back" button to get back to this page.
I started training in Aikido on June 27, 1995, when I was 12 years old. My first class at USA Martial Arts was in the evening, starting about 7:20. My father read about Aikido and was looking for a dojo near where we lived, in Perrysburg. He found USA Martial Arts through the Internet from a person who had been training there and still does.
I trained in both the children's and adult's classes for about four months.
For my first test, I had to decide whether I would test as a child or an adult.
I decided to test as an adult and in about a month I stopped going to the kid's
program and worked out with adults. Training was difficult because I was younger
than everyone. I still am, but I am stronger and used to training. Plus, I have
a black belt and don't work out very much anymore.
I kept training and getting higher belts. Getting my first new belt was an
exciting experience because I thought I was getting nowhere in Aikido and finally
had earned a colored belt (a yellow belt). Each new color of a belt seemed
exciting because it standed out more. However, the best part was passing each
test and getting somewhere. After about one year, I was finally developing an
effective learning method for Aikido. I was getting the techniques down and
understood more about it.
I eventually got my brown belt and became a senior belt. It was very cool to
earn the brown belt because I thought I was really getting somewhere. I felt
more confident that I had passed the test, too. I kept training hard. My father
and I would have a private lesson before each test. Eventually, we were ready
to test for our black stripe. People have said that the black stripe test is
harder than the black belt test because it was our sensei's (Sensei Donnelly)
last chance to test us. The truth is that they work you harder with the black
stripe test and you have more pressure with the shodan test. I felt great after
passing the black stripe test.
Eventually, I began to get ready to test for the first degree black belt. I
tested after a long but excellent seminar conducted by Sensei Sato, dojo-cho
of Ten Shin Kan Dojo in Chicago. Sensei Toyoda was expected to be present at
the Dan tests but could not make it. I tested with four other people. So there
were five total tests: four for Shodan, one for Nidan. The tests were very
good and everyone passed.
Right now I am helping to teach the children's class at USA Martial Arts on
Tuesday nights. I still work out on other days whenever I can.
