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I was introduced to Aikido in 1994 through a collection of t-shirts.

I was taking a creating writing class at the University of Texas at San Antonio while working toward my bachelors in Civil Engineering. The class taught by a fun lady by the name of Judy Gardner.

I noticed that one of the people in the class came in everyday with a different t-shirt with something about Aikido. Finally, one day toward the end of the semester I asked the guy, Kevin Templer, what Aikido was. He explained what it was and that he taught at at Aikido of San Antonio. He invited to come and watch a class. I came watched and joined. For the first 2-3 years, I practiced six days a week.

In 1996, I graduated with my civil engineering degree. At the time I was dating a wonderful woman and through her contacts, I was able to go to Japan for a month. Not only was I able to practice Aikido in Japan, but I fell in love with an entire country. I will always be grateful to Akino for that and many other things.

In 2001, I got fed up with the United States and moved back to Palau, the island that I was born on. While I was there, I had the good fortune to meet Mutsuko Minegishi of Guam Aikikai. She is another wonderful lady who was nicer to me than I had any right to expect. She encouraged me to teach Aikido in Palau and was very supportive. I now have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who opens and runs a school of any sort.

It turned out that I ended up at the University of Redlands in 2002 for graduate school in GIS. While I was there, I got to meet and practice with Chetan Prakash of Redlands Aikikai. Again, I was incredibly lucky to meet him and to be welcomed into his school. He was kind enough to sponsor me for my shodan test with Ikeda Sensei of Boulder Aikikai.

In 2003, I came back to my home dojo in San Antonio trying to work back up to 3-4 days in the dojo a week with a work schedule that is busier than it needs to be.

Aikido of San Antonio
www.aikidosa.org

Aikido of Redlands
www.aikidosb.org

Micronesia Aikikai
www.aikidomicronesia.com

Jun Akiyama's Aikiweb
www.aikiweb.com