Tag: Kokikai Aikido

Interview with MIT Aikido Club Chief Instructor Matthew Bagedonow: Dick Stroud and MIT Aikido Club’s Beginnings

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Matthew Bagedonow met Dick Stroud in 1972, becoming a student of Mitsunari Kanai based at the New England Aikikai. Bagedonow tells how Stroud was part of the initial Aikido group that requested a Hombu Dojo representative in the Boston area, eventually leading to the creation of the New England Aikikai. In 1978, Stroud founded the … Continue reading Interview with MIT Aikido Club Chief Instructor Matthew Bagedonow: Dick Stroud and MIT Aikido Club’s Beginnings

Interview with Keystone Kokikai Founder Todd Kupper: An Intimate Look Into Shuji Maruyama, Part II

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Todd Kupper began aikido in the early 1990s, with Steven Seagal’s popularity reaching a high point in the United States. He did not find Seagal, but rather Shuji Maruyama, founder of Kokikai Aikido. From his teenage years until now, Kupper experienced many things under Maruyama, including a very close, almost father-son type of relationship. Today, … Continue reading Interview with Keystone Kokikai Founder Todd Kupper: An Intimate Look Into Shuji Maruyama, Part II

Interview with Keystone Kokikai Founder Todd Kupper: An Intimate Look Into Shuji Maruyama, Part I

~ Antonio Aloia ~ 1 Comment

Todd Kupper began aikido in the early 1990s, with Steven Seagal’s popularity reaching a high point in the United States. He did not find Seagal, but rather Shuji Maruyama, founder of Kokikai Aikido. From his teenage years until now, Kupper experienced many things under Maruyama, including a very close, almost father-son type of relationship. Today, … Continue reading Interview with Keystone Kokikai Founder Todd Kupper: An Intimate Look Into Shuji Maruyama, Part I

Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Andrew Wai: Feeling is Seeing

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Andrew Wai is not your average aikidoka, for he cannot see. But this has not stopped him from recently achieving his shodan! He first began aikido while he enrolled in Princeton University and continued on from there. Without his sight, he focuses on the feel of the technique and his ukemi. Today, Wai took some … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Andrew Wai: Feeling is Seeing

Interview with Chester County Kokikai Founder Jason Martin: The Silent Pioneer and Kokikai Aikido

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Growing up with a fascination for the martial arts, it was no wonder Jason Martin found himself in an aikido school under Philadelphia pioneer Shuji Maruyama. Since then, he has continued following the teachings of Maruyama, even opening his own school, Chester County Kokikai Dojo in 2010, spreading what he learned from the Silent Aikido … Continue reading Interview with Chester County Kokikai Founder Jason Martin: The Silent Pioneer and Kokikai Aikido