I studied karate when I was younger, and I wrestled in high school. I liked doing that, but the funny thing about my first experience with Aikido was that I was doing very cool things but without the screaming and yelling from wrestling.  Here were these dangerous and exciting techniques that reinforced (instead of contradicting) the idea of harmony.  It was very shocking to me that this would be both possible and effective.  I met Pat Hendricks Sensei when she translated for Morihito Saito Shihan at my first Aikido seminar.  Later, between my junior and senior years in college, I became her uchi deshi.  By that time I was pretty much hooked.  I’ve been doing it ever since.  I was later hired as an intramural instructor at the University of Virginia and took over teaching for a brief time at Aikido of Charlottesville.  For the last 3 years I have been an assistant instructor at Aikido of Arlington and maintained a wonderful relationship with them.

The idea behind Aikido of Fairfax originally started around a table of the most excellent dim-sum in Oakland, Chinatown.  I was finishing up another term as uchi deshi with Pat Hendricks Sensei and about to return to Virginia, when the idea of my own dojo was brought up.  It wasn’t, I should stress, that I thought I could run a dojo.  It was just I wanted a place to continue the training and philosophy that I was developing as uchi deshi.  And now, although very small as far as membership, Aikido of Fairfax has a dedication and shared purpose that makes me immensely proud.

My most Memorable Aikido Experience
If there is one memory that comes to my mind as I write this, it is a late spring day in Charlottesville, Virginia.  For those who have never experienced spring time in the Shenandoah, it is the best of nature’s gardens.  Well at least for the 4 weeks before the pounding Southern Humidity comes in and hits you in the face with a wet pillow.  But I digress.   I remember quite well being a 5^th kyu attending my first seminar in 1992.  The instructor was Morihito Saito Shihan, and it galls me to think about how little I appreciated his teachings back then.  He wasn’t flashy or very dramatic the way I thought Aikido should look.  I just remember him staring off at some dancing butterflies in a late spring day in the hills around Charlottesville.  I wish I could have listened better or learned more.  I try to hold this memory as a lesson.  I’ve had the honor to train with, in my opinion, some of the best instructors in the world today and I’m eternally grateful for my journey in Aikido.