Welcome to Adobe GoLive 4

I was looking for something, but didn't even know it's name. He, an unknown face to me and injured in training, was roommate to a friend, and made his passionate stories to my ears. So "it" was named: Aikido. One month later, October 83, I sat for the first time in Seiza in a beginners class in Luzern. How did I feel after that training? Well, that night I slept in my Gi. A restless wanderer had found his place.

My first teacher was Hans-Peter Tschol. He was a first Kyu at that time. Today he is still teaching Aikido. I respect him a lot and he is a good friend. We are both on our way to becoming Taiji Quan teachers as well.

The desire to teach Aikido was born after a couple of years of training. I guess it was around the time when I first met Frank Doran Sensei. From then it took another 10 years of holding onto my dream until I opened the doors of my Dojo on March 25, 2000 in Zurich. Today, only 9 months later, there are 2 teachers (Peter Beiersdörfer, 2nd Dan and me), 16 adults, and 36 children attending the different classes on 4 days of the week, more or less regularly .

My most Memorable Aikido Experience
During the months before I opened my Dojo (you must know that there were already at least 6 well established Aikido Dojos in Zurich) I heard a lot of rumors that many Dojo-chos did not like the idea of having to share the limited cake of students in town with another Dojo. A thought I understand in one way, and in the other way I think that each teacher is unique in his or her way and attracts a different group of students. So the community of Aikido may grow. Regardless of the rumors, I invited personally all the Aikidoka that I have trained and sweated with during the last years. So the day of the opening came closer and we tried to get prepared, but for how many? 10, 20, or 30 people? But on opening day the flow of visitors didn't seem to stop. It was so crowded. When we bowed in, there were 55 Aikidoka on the mat and 60 spectators supporting me warmly. Most of them came with a gift. I was overwhelmed by the Aiki-Spirit in the Dojo, filled with love, respect, friendship, and hard training created by the whole Aikido-Family. I thank all these people for that great experience. They made my belief in Aikido even stronger.

	Featured Dojo-cho, December 2000

Alfons Lötscher, 3rd Dan Dojo Zürich 6, Zurich, Switzerland Division 2
I was looking for something, but didn't even know it's name. He, an unknown face to me and injured in training, was roommate to a friend, and made his passionate stories to my ears. So "it" was named: Aikido. One month later, October 83, I sat for the first time in Seiza in a beginners class in Luzern. How did I feel after that training? Well, that night I slept in my Gi. A restless wanderer had found his place. My first teacher was Hans-Peter Tschol. He was a first Kyu at that time. Today he is still teaching Aikido. I respect him a lot and he is a good friend. We are both on our way to becoming Taiji Quan teachers as well. The desire to teach Aikido was born after a couple of years of training. I guess it was around the time when I first met Frank Doran Sensei. From then it took another 10 years of holding onto my dream until I opened the doors of my Dojo on March 25, 2000 in Zurich. Today, only 9 months later, there are 2 teachers (Peter Beiersdörfer, 2nd Dan and me), 16 adults, and 36 children attending the different classes on 4 days of the week, more or less regularly . My most Memorable Aikido Experience During the months before I opened my Dojo (you must know that there were already at least 6 well established Aikido Dojos in Zurich) I heard a lot of rumors that many Dojo-chos did not like the idea of having to share the limited cake of students in town with another Dojo. A thought I understand in one way, and in the other way I think that each teacher is unique in his or her way and attracts a different group of students. So the community of Aikido may grow. Regardless of the rumors, I invited personally all the Aikidoka that I have trained and sweated with during the last years. So the day of the opening came closer and we tried to get prepared, but for how many? 10, 20, or 30 people? But on opening day the flow of visitors didn't seem to stop. It was so crowded. When we bowed in, there were 55 Aikidoka on the mat and 60 spectators supporting me warmly. Most of them came with a gift. I was overwhelmed by the Aiki-Spirit in the Dojo, filled with love, respect, friendship, and hard training created by the whole Aikido-Family. I thank all these people for that great experience. They made my belief in Aikido even stronger.