Last Saturday was a very special day for me at our dojo AikiMuenster. I had the privilege to share my 5th Dan celebration with our students and with my aikido partner David Ross. David was the one who introduced me to Yamada Sensei in 2011 and I am very grateful to him for opening the door.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my aikido teachers and friends who have supported and guided me over the last 28 years on my aikido journey. Yamada Sensei (8th Dan Shihan) and his senior students and instructors: Waite Sensei, Bollero Sensei Steve Sensei (NYA). I would also like to thank Scheuren and Tissier Senseis for their teaching and ongoing support.
Then Chiba Sensei (8th Dan Shihan) and his senior students and instructors: Cassells sensei, Mooney sensei and Valibouze Sensei for the earlier 10 years until I reached Shodan. Thank you for supporting me on my search to find the right path. Special thanks to Peytier Sensei who invited me twice to Lisbon to teach at his dojo.
Last, but not least, I am grateful to my first aikido teachers, Inselmann Sensei (Tübingen), who introduced me to Saito Sensei (9th Dan Shihan) in 1997 when I was just a beginner and Kretschmer Sensei (Berlin) who has the most beautiful dojo over the roofs of Berlin.
I’m very grateful to all of them for sharing their insights and guidance and helping me to grow into my own aikido. Chiba Sensei surely had the most influence on my aikido and weapon movements, but Yamada Sensei was also very supportive to me. He appreciated my aikido background with Chiba Sensei, but also allowing me to grow and introducing me to his understanding of the art. He supported my promotions and awarded me Fukushidoin and later Shidoin in 2019 together with my Yondan promotion.
In 2022, he asked me to teach a class at his most favorite summer camp in Bernau at the Chiemsee lake, Germany which I appreciated very much. I continue to teach this class after he passed away in January 15, 2023. I miss his clear and strong guidance and his generous support!
Thank you to all my aikido friends around the world with whom I have had the privilege to practice and to learn, and to all my aikido students for your trust and for the possibility to grow as a teacher!
Gabi
5th Dan Shidoin
Founder and Senior Instructor of of AikiMuenster