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Rotorua Aikido Club, Rotorua, New Zealand Division 3 |
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| I started Aikido in October 1976 in a Dojo in Onehunga in Auckland, New Zealand. When I turned up to my first class, I saw there were no women training, so I decided to join forthwith. I cajoled another woman to come with me, (she no longers trains, sadly) and we trained with a Shodan, a policeman named Hugh Millar. We trained in the Aikikai style. In 1978 when I was a 3rd kyu, a man came from England, and joined our club. He was a Nidan, and over time, became our Sensei, as Hugh went on to other things. Ron Russell changed the way we did Aikido, though still following the Aikikai style of his Sensei in England, Hayden Foster, 6th Dan. Mr Foster eventually changed his style, but I continued to follow Ron's original style because I found it to be logical and sequential, making teaching beginners easier. The aikido I teach is traditional, and the organisation of the techniques make it simple for new students to understand. There are 8 forms to Shodan, and a further 8 forms to Nidan. The forms comprise the way the nage is attacked, and each form has the nine techniques as their basis - shihonage, kotegaeshi, iriminage, kaitennage, tenchanage, ikyo, nikyo, sankyo and yonkyo. Gokkyo can be added but is considered high grade form. The beauty of this style is that people could develop techniques to their level of competence, before they were expected to progress to more technically difficult ones. Ron Russell became my friend, and was significant in my aikido life. It was a very sad day for me when he passed away. Another Sensei whom I admire enormously and became my mentor, was Jack Nairn, a man who started Aikido at 52 and became a shodan at 58 years, went on to become yondan, and is highly respected in the Aikido world in New Zealand. He is now 82 and still teaches Aikido in our club when we invite him yearly. He has great aikido wisdom, and I like to think he has helped me to get to the level I am at now. Our Dojo in Rotorua New Zealand was formed in September 1986. Paul, my husband, and I came to Rotorua in 1984, and as there was no Aikido club in Rotorua, we set one up with three borrowed mats in a carpeted room on the top floor of a fitness centre. It was difficult as we had to compete with a jazz dancer for the space, and she was always late leaving. We looked about for a more user-friendly place, and found a spot in the local primary school hall, using the mats of the local Jujutsu club. We began to save with the goal of owning our own Dojo. The club is totally not for profit, I take no tutor fees, and all the student fees and whatever grants we get, go back into the running and finances of the club. Consequently, in 1999 the Rotorua Aikido Club Incorporated acquired its own building, which it owns outright, with no mortgage. The club held an opening ceremony and invited the Mayor of Rotorua, the Member of Parliament for Rotorua, and people who had helped us to get to ownership of our wonderful place of training. We have developed a japanese garden out the back, and when the roller door is up, the view for training is magnificent. It is a little haven in the middle of the industrial sector of Rotorua. We currently have approximately 35 adult students and 20 children who train regularly. Classes per week:
All the Shodans and Nidans help with the various classes; there is a constitution which the club follows which reflects the not for profit ideals of the club. I am the Senior Sensei, and I ensure the training standards are maintained, the number of days required for gradings are adhered to, the gradings are well supervised, and ensure all the shodan and above graded members are given opportunity to expand their knowledge and advance in their aikido to the best of their ability. I have trained one student to sandan, 3 to nidan and 10 to shodan. I feel very proud to have encouraged so many students to begin the journey. I'd also like to add that my son Damon has trained in Aikido to shodan level, and my other son Nicholas is currently Ikkyu. It is great to have our family all involved in aikido. My most Memorable Aikido Experience This has been the most taxing question because over the years I have had a lot of experiences which have forged the person I am in Aikido. There is the time when Ron Russell arrived in our Dojo in Onehunge in Auckland and I was stunned at his fitness and the sheer beauty of his aikido; when we bought our Aikido club at 96 Riri Street and how proud I was of the club members and their commitment to Aikido, and me; when Jack Nairn came and taught us at a gasshuku in our new dojo and his words were so enlightening; and the gasshukus I've been invited to that humble me so much. But I guess if I look at the recent most memorable experience I have had it would have to be a small piece that one of our two 5th kyu women wrote in our newsletter about what Aikido means to her, and her experiences of her grading. She epitomised the feelings that all aikidoka feel when they prepare for and undertake a grading, no matter what level it is. It was a wonderful piece, and clearly reflected her feelings as she began to take the next part of her journey. For me the narration defined the feelings the students have for the Rotorua Aikido Club, and the special place it has for me. |
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