Category: Interviews

COVID-19 and the Aikido Community: The Aiki Extensions Initiative

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On April 16th, Aiki Extensions hosted what would become the first of many conferences, bringing together aikido practitioners from all around the world. In an effort for solidarity, event organizers Robert Kent, Jamie Zimron, and Quentin Cooke invited speakers from Israel, Turkey, Greece, Poland, and other locations to convey the effects of the recent COVID-19 … Continue reading COVID-19 and the Aikido Community: The Aiki Extensions Initiative

Interview with George Clark: Aikido in Florida

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A martial artist for sixty-one years, Florida aikidoka George Clark Sensei took the time to talk to Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow about his journey through many different aspects of the martial arts and the growth of aikido in Florida. The interview was conducted in the summer of 2018 for research of my … Continue reading Interview with George Clark: Aikido in Florida

Interview with USJA President John Paccione: Current State of American Judo

~ Antonio Aloia ~ 1 Comment

John Paccione Sensei, current president of the United States Judo Association, began his judo training, along with jujitsu and karate training, in 1979 in Staten Island, New York. Around 2003, Paccione Sensei relocated to Cape Coral, Florida, opening a school there. A nationally recognized coach that produces high-level competitors, Paccione Sensei took some time in … Continue reading Interview with USJA President John Paccione: Current State of American Judo

Interview with Aikido Shihan George Kennedy: Rodney Grantham and Southeastern Aikido

~ Antonio Aloia ~ 7 Comments

This is a transcript of an interview with the United States Aikido Federation’s Chairman of the Board of Directors George Kennedy Shihan in the summer of 2017 for research of my upcoming American aikido history book. In it, we discuss his first aikido instructor, Rodney Grantham, as well as Yoshimitsu Yamada and his role in … Continue reading Interview with Aikido Shihan George Kennedy: Rodney Grantham and Southeastern Aikido

Interview with CEO of USA Judo Keith Bryant

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In this interview, Keith Bryant, CEO of USA Judo since 2016, discussed judo and America’s largest judo organizations’ responses to the decline in popularity of the martial arts. Such topics include membership numbers, creating a new American judo development model, standardizing teaching methods in the Coaching Task Force. Interview conducted in April 2019. MAYTT: Before … Continue reading Interview with CEO of USA Judo Keith Bryant

Interview with Kenpo Karate Instructor and Author Irvin Gill Part II

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This is the second part of a two-part interview with Irvin Gill. Read the first part here.  Irvin Gill Sensei began training in the Tracy System of American Kenpo in 1990 and has been teaching since 1994. After almost thirty years of training in American Kenpo, he recently published his book, American Kenpo Karate: The … Continue reading Interview with Kenpo Karate Instructor and Author Irvin Gill Part II

Interview with Kenpo Karate Instructor and Author Irvin Gill Part I

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Irvin Gill Sensei began training in the Tracy System of American Kenpo in 1990 and has been teaching since 1994. After almost thirty years of training in American Kenpo, he recently published his book, American Kenpo Karate: The Key Principles and Rules of American Kenpo Karate. With Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Gill … Continue reading Interview with Kenpo Karate Instructor and Author Irvin Gill Part I

Interview with American Jujitsu Pioneer George Kirby

~ Antonio Aloia ~ 2 Comments

This is the transcript of an interview with American jujitsu pioneer George Kirby Sensei in the summer of 2017 for the research of my upcoming American aikido history book. In it, we discussed the American public view of the martial arts during the 1960s and 70s, his personal journey through jujitsu, and his organizational endeavors. … Continue reading Interview with American Jujitsu Pioneer George Kirby