MM

Figures that a thread about Bill would bring me to post here. I can't encourage people enough to get out and train with Bill or go to one of his seminars.

Out of all the people in aikido today, I think Bill is one who has the chance to not only equal Ueshiba's skills, but surpass them.

He cares about his students. So much so, that he started them on a path to get Ueshiba's aiki even when some, either did not like it or could not understand it. But Bill was giving them a pot of gold, a Holy Grail, a singular diamond that is priceless and he was doing his utmost best to see that they got the very best training he could provide. The quality of Bill's teaching is that THE only reason his students won't surpass him is because the student, or students, won't put in the training time.

People flock to the Japanese shihan over and over again, but come away complaining about lack of effective communication for describing how to train aiki skills. Bill has great communication abilities and has the background of training in Japan. Want to walk away from a seminar with quality training and direct and concise details about where to go in your training? Go to one of Bill's seminars.

When people look back at these days and ask who were the aikido greats of our time, Bill's name will be at the top of the list. As you can read, I think very highly of Bill. He is the future of Morihei Ueshiba's aikido. Ignore that if you will, but as far as I'm concerned, most of the rest of the Japanese shihan are Kisshomaru/Tohei students who have a very different aikido than the founder. That isn't negative or bad, just a fact. If you want that kind of aikido, it's there. Nothing negative about training it. But if you want to try to replicate, equal, or surpass Morihei Ueshiba's aikido, I'd go train with Bill. Not only is he chasing it, but he's got all the right qualities to catch it, have it, surpass it, and effectively pass it on.

Mark