Aikido Newsletter June, 2004
Volume 3, Issue 6
DAVID FIELDING, MBE
David Fielding received an MBE for services to Aikido in
the Queen’s Birthday Honours today 13th June, 2004.
He is the first non-Japanese player to become Men’s
Individual World Champion, a 5th Dan, Manager of the GB National
Squad and ex-Guinness world record holder. In a career spanning
25 years he competed in 9 World Championships winning a record
17 International medals, 4 of which were Gold.
David first started Aikido in the early eighties in Sheffield
with Barry Vigrass and trained for five years at Leeds regularly
trained at Sidcup, Clapham and Yawara with the Elephant and
Castle becoming his main base. He joined the National Squad
at its inception in 1988 and has not missed a session since.
In 1993 together with his partner Vanda Fairchild, founded
Tanseikan, a thriving club which runs Aikido classes in Southwark,
Lewisham and Bromley. David was awarded the Wilkinson Sword
in 1995 for his leadership of the National Squad. In 1997
he became the first Aikidoka to receive 4th Dan's from the
BAA and JAA and in 2002 became the first Aikidoka to be awarded
a BAA 5th Dan on technical merit.
David also runs a thriving junior aikido class in Rotherhithe,
South London and said “I’m over the moon”
and “I can’t wait to show the kids the medal,
they will be so pleased”. “It is important to
teach children from a young age the value of self-discipline
and regular physical exercise".
As well as leading the National Squad and running Tanseikan
with Vanda, David is also a Special Adviser for the Association
of Charity Chief Executives (ACEVO) and an Independent Assessor
for Ministerial appointments. Prior to this he was Director
for Corporate Services at the National Lottery Community Fund
and has worked in senior roles in local government and the
voluntary sector. David said “I tend to keep the professional
life separate from my sporting life but have found aikido
principles very handy for dealing with demanding Politicians!"
As to next steps, David said" I'm looking forward to
spending another two months training in Japan and then teaching
at the Leeds Summer School". " Longer term, I hope
we can all continue to strengthen the National Squad and build
upon all those great performances we saw last year in Leeds".
Talent
Students often ask "Do I have talent?" This isn’t
an uncommon question, though to answer it is very difficult.
What is talent? A natural ability, special aptitude, distinctive
skill or gift, undoubtedly there is such a thing as "natural
ability" in all sorts of areas of life. Sometimes natural
talent, because of dispositional factors such as shyness or
lack of confidence, tentativeness, fear of ridicule, is not
as evident, as in others who are more confident and outgoing.
Natural talent can often be overlooked because of environment
or not meeting the right person or being in the right place
at the right time. Natural talent is often disguised and in
some cases is never brought out or recognised. Some people
are multi-talented with endless talents, others have fewer
of these gifts but shine much stronger, therefore, more noticeable
talents often rely on their appreciation by a like-minded
person. These are all common definitions yet what they fail
to take into account is that anyone judging this “Talent”
will have a subjective viewpoint. What may seem to be raw
talent to one person, to someone else may seem completely
the opposite. They also fail to accept that talent can be
acquired and has to be worked at. The expression 1% Inspiration,
99% Perspiration is an accurate assessment of any situation
where someone seems to have an extraordinary talent.
Aikido teaches a very salutary lesson, in that it seems to
be an activity that doesn’t require a god given gift
in order to be a worthwhile and "revealing" pursuit.
The word revealing is used because it seems to unearth "talents"
in people that they maybe didn’t even know they had.
Observing a fellow Dan grade (not an instructor) help teach
some Kyu grades in class, one is struck by an emerging "talent"
in communication, patience and sympathy in dealing with the
students. Also we learn the talent of co-operation, persistence
in studying a difficult art, the improvement of our physical
skills and stamina. We learn to listen and watch, to notice
detail and transfer these observations into practice. If most
of us were to list the things we are now "better"
at doing I think we would be pleasantly surprised at how our
"talents" had increased!
The study and practice of Aikido in its raw roots is a "Martial"
form, but in its subtleties it is far reaching and in essence
is little more than teaching us to improve and understand
ourselves. By doing this we gain the added ability to help
others find their talents too.
From the outside these talents may not be recognised for
what they are as they aren’t showy or loud, but if you
ask yourself the question "Am I talented?" I think
you know the answer has to be a resounding "Yes".
Sadly very talented people are sometimes restricted by the
inextricable intricacies of life and not allowed to reach
their full potential through circumstances beyond their control.
Daily life itself can interfere with this process. We all
may want to practise more, but families, work and other commitments
are also very important, so we must prioritise and choose.
In this case, a quote from actor and film star Robert De
Niro is fitting and appropriate…
“THE TALENT IS IN THE CHOICES”
So even though we cannot physically practise we can still
give Aikido great amounts of private thought during our daily
routine and it will help us to better understand and cope
with the occasional drudgeries bestowed on us from time to
time. So keep smiling and exploit your talents!
KIKUSUI KAI (NEW ZEALAND)
with John & Pepi Waite
With Adrian Walters and Mirella Genziani fresh back in England
from their respective trips to New Zealand we bring you the
latest updates on life the other side of the world. First
we must congratulate John & Pepi on their recent marriage,
so now it’s all official!
Report from the land of the Long White Cloud
Over the Easter holiday Pepi and I went down to Dunedin,
which is situated at the lower end of the South Island of
New Zealand. We arrived on Monday the 5th of April and it
was so cold I suggested to Pepi that we return to Miarangi
Bay. This cold snap lasted for two days but on Wednesday the
weather made a remarkable recovery and things started to improve.
The main purpose of our visit was to catch up with Gregg Smith,
renew my friendship with an old Judo contact of mine, named
Brian Cloynes, who I had not seen for 30 plus years and at
the same time have a look around another part of New Zealand.
We knew that Gregg would be away on an in-service course for
the first couple of days of our visit, but he had kindly made
arrangements for a friend who ran a car hire firm to meet
us at the airport, take us to the house and leave us the hire
car. We used this to do a little bit of sightseeing on our
own which was fun because we had no idea where to go or what
to look for. The one thing we did find was that the South
Island although a little chilly, was very beautiful. The scenery
was breathtaking. Driving the roads was a pleasure with even
less traffic than in Auckland.
Gregg arrived back on the Thursday so we contacted my Judo
friend and he arranged to pick us up and take us to his dojo.
Brian used to train at the Regency Dojo in North London when
Yamada Sensei was teaching there. He has lived in Dunedin
since the mid 60’s. When he first arrived it turned
out that he was the highest graded Judo player on the island
and soon established his own club and things have grown from
that.
I was invited to take a couple of sessions at the dojo,
which I was happy to do. On the first session I taught some
Aikido related Judo techniques and on the next session taught
the Kodokan Goshin-jitsu. Both sessions went over very well.
So much so that I was made an honorary member of the club.
So I guess that means I will have to travel down there at
least once a year. But it will have to be in the summer.
Gregg’s house is situated just outside Dunedin but
still only five minutes drive from the centre of town. The
view across the valley from his back window was magnificent.
When we looked straight ahead we had a view over the city
to the mountains beyond and on the left we had a view of the
sea. He and Janet had made a very wise choice. He informed
us that he has been given his first posting for teaching practise
which will be in a town called Napier which is on the North
Island so hopefully we will see something of him while he
is there. Napier is a beautiful little town with a number
of vineyards surrounding it so the weather should be pleasant.
We returned home on the 22nd of May and when you think that
on leaving Dunedin it was 12 degrees, wearing five layers
of clothing and on arriving at Auckland airport it was 20
degrees, we were stripping off like crazy (Without the music).
It was nice to get back to wearing shorts and tee shirts again,
I can tell you!
We start teaching again on Monday evening. it will be nice
to see the students all wearing their new Gi’s and coloured
belts. Well that’s all from us for now.
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