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Old 02-09-2012, 06:50 AM   #97
Alex Megann
Dojo: Southampton Aikikai
Location: Southampton
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 401
United Kingdom
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Re: Question for Robert Cowham

Quote:
Joe Curran wrote: View Post
Dear Robert,
My recollection of Paul Smith Sensei is based on the time he was a member of the A.G.B. He then as far as I am aware studied with Sekiya Sensei. Since then I have lost touch with him. He was always a good person to train with.He was an ex dancer and had as one would expect good overall posture . He might well remember me fro way back. Cheers, Joe.
To add to that, if I remember correctly, Paul started off as quite a young man as almost an uchideshi to Chiba Sensei, but after a few years quit aikido for a while. He then reappeared some time later, to everyone's surprise, at one of Kanetsuka Sensei's classes in Oxford, and thereafter was a very regular member of the BAF for quite a few years, during which time I attended many weekend courses that Paul hosted with KS at his dojo at the London Contemporary Dance School in Euston. Paul somehow managed to get the LCDS to sponsor a trip to Japan to study for several months with Yamaguchi Sensei and Inaba Sensei. He was already a favoured partner of Kanetsuka Sensei's in the Kashima Shinryu kihondachi partner work (which he originally learned from Sekiya Sensei), and after Paul returned from Japan I got the impression that Kanetsuka Sensei was keen to absorb what he had learned from Inaba Sensei.

To echo Joe's comments, Paul has a natural grace and elegance in his aikido, and I remember someone saying about him that "that guy definitely doesn't sit behind a desk all day"...

Alex
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