Ed Shockley

I trained for several months at a 6:45am class with a Penn student who had been studying Aikido since he was six years old. He was a very good martial artist and a military child so he had never tested past fifth kyu. In each of the countries that he visited he simply trained at whatever dojo was convenient and absorbed knowledge. There was something extremely instructive in his unique journey and I absorbed that lesson along with his marvelous demonstrations of technique. I have saved my battered white belt so that I can put it on again when appropriate as a symbol of my willingness to practice "mushin." As many people have said, "It is about Aikido, not rank." Enjoy the practice.