Quote:
Ron Tisdale wrote:
I doubt that Pierce Sensei remembers me, but I had the distinct pleasure of taking a class from him at a seminar, and taking some warm up (!!!) ukemi from him at a Friendship seminar.
As my first real experience with Ki Aikido, Pierce Sensei impressed me greatly. I cannot say enough good things about him, and would greatly recommend anyone from any style in the area to attend your seminar.
Best,
Ron
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Ron,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with Pierce sensei. I think Pierce sensei will recognize you when he meets you. With your first hand experience, I think you know how easy it's for him to lead and move the uke with Ki.
As you may already know, Pierce sensei started Aikido in 1960 and until in 1974 he founded the N.J. Ki Society, he had trained in Aikikai for 14 years and got all his ranks from 6th kyu to 3rd dan. When I told him that I read in this forum that a lot of Aikidokas are seeking to "bring Aiki back to Aikido" by going to some other martial arts to study the Internal Power/Ki, he said the Internal Power/Ki training had always been a critical part of Aikido curricula during his time in Aikikai, it's sad to see that critical part had been banned or lost in today's mainstream Aikido trainings. He hoped to have an opportunity to walk through the Aikido of the last a couple of decades with the current Aikido students, so the current students get a chance to see how their teachers or even their teachers' teachers were trained in Aikido, that should serve a big help for the current students to pass the art to the next generation.
So in this seminar, Pierce sensei will share with us what he has witnessed of how and why the art of Aikido has changed in the last 50 years. While watching the "from wrestling to dancing" evolution of the art of Aikido, it's also a good opportunity for us current Aikidoka to think of what we missed and how our own Aikido would/should change throughout our Aikido journey.
This seminar is open to all martial artists. The purpose of this seminar is not for profit but for a service to the Aikido community in Philadelphia area.
Are you with Utada sensei at the Henry Street? Pierce sensei and Utada sensei are friends, he demonstated at Utada sensei's 25 years anniversary seminar in 1999. If you were there, you should have met my sempais Bill Orwat and Bengt Lindblad. Hope to have a chance to train with you sometime in the future.
Enjoy Aikido!
Ting