Aikido has helped me stay centered, feel safe and stay calm. It has helped me to achieve
a higher sense of consciousness and awareness, which has created an inner peace. I thank
you very much for the privilege to be a part of such a great group and to be a student of
yours in this very beautiful and harmonious facility. The attitude of the participants and
the atmosphere in the dojo are encouraging and positive - JB
I want you to know that the dojo, you, and the dojo community are such a critical part of
my life. I am deeply grateful for your kindness and generosity. I try to pass it along as
best I can with junior students to repay what you and so many others have done for me. I sincerely hope that what I learn, I can take out of the dojo and make the world a better place in some small way - John Murdoch, Esq.
(My son) has really been enjoying his time there - this is the first place he really fits
in well. He was so happy and proud of himself after his test. He has been talking about
it to everyone and anyone who will listen! My husband and I are really grateful for
finding such a meaningful place for him. All of the instructors are wonderful, the
others students welcoming and the space itself so well cared for - Tiffany Batista
It's been a really amazing first year of college and I've been doing and seeing many incredible
things. I feel like a lot of how I carry myself and adapt to the changing world is due to
lessons learned from my time spent in the dojo, and I wanted to thank you again for helping
me along my life path - Aaron Thompson
I thought of you all the other day when I read the story in the paper of a boy who fell off
of a roof in Fair Haven. Although the circumstances were a little different when Stephen fell
off the roof-not quite so high-I just remember him saying he used his Aikido moves as he fell
and rolled onto his arm and then around to his back. I will be forever grateful for the
knowledge he learned from you - Kathy Hackler
Red Bank Aikido is a uniquely exceptional place. I enrolled for three months with the hope
that I would acquire an elementary understanding of Aikido before leaving the area due to
re-assignment by the Army. I'm 43 years old with no prior exposure to martial arts training
and a crazy busy work/travel schedule. I was worried that the rest of the class would
become impatient or frustrated with my inexperience and sporadic attendance. I was amazed
not only by the professionalism of the instructors, but by the genuine kindness and
patience of the class. The instructors are not only competent in Aikido, but they are
also excellent teachers as well. The other students are great. They are patient,
committed, and very accommodating. In the short time I was there, I attended when I
could, trained hard, and was able to pass my first kyu test; but more importantly, I
have made some good friends whom I will miss. --LTC Mike Zuvanich, U.S. Army
What I "feel" from you, and the instructors at our dojo is such a beautiful energy--firm
but not rigid, powerful but not overbearing, soft but not inept...you are to be commended
for that. One of my trainers, an aikido student, told me once that people and horses don't
remember what you did as much as they remember a "feel" about their interaction with you.
He is so right. So that is what I focus on now, in all that I do, and it is "aikido through
life" or "aikido as life." You have that feel. It is evident when I watch videos of
O'Sensei--has that small smile on his face always, both complete immersion in but
nonattachment to what is happening, reflecting his pure joy and union with all that is
...I can imagine that he is as joyful in "combat" as he is in eating or playing..it is
all the same, isn't it? What is, is, and it is not good or bad, just is. I feel that same
thing in your dojo, both in spirit and in the physical contact and I thank you for that
and commend you as an excellent witness to what is True- Cathy Diduck, MD
I look at the dojo and I see family, especially you, Lee and David; well and everyone else
at the dojo - Dat Jerry Nguyen
