Instructors

Head Club Instructor

Sensei Richard Watts: 2nd Dan Black Belt instructor with over ten years Shudokan Aikido experience. He has been an instructor at the club since the beginning of 2004. Sensei Richard has also trained in Iwama style Aikido and Kyokushinkai Karate.

An exert from 'What Aikido means to me' by Sensei Richard Watts

"Aikido has taught me patience, respect and understanding for other people. I work as a Publishing Manager and a lot of my work is about managing other people including dealing with awkward situations and I have found that you get a lot further with people if you try and understand their view point – I guess you could say 'blend with the situation'. It's a bit like doing a verbal Kokyu Nage (a timing technique in Aikido).

Aikido is an amazing and unique Martial Art which I am proud to have as part of my life. It's full of very precise movements and frustrating techniques yet it is also a Martial Art that I have found that you can make your own in your own unique way."

Read Sensei Rich's personal Blog »»

Assistant instructor

Sensei Kevin Whitney: 1st Dan Black Belt instructor. Sensei Kev has eight years Shudokan Aikido experience.

An exert from 'One man's quest for kamae' by Sensei Kev

I feel honoured and humbled to be a member of our club, Oxford Shudokan Aikido. Honoured because I have been here from the early days and partaken in the club's development. Sensei Richard has taken the club from strength to strength; it has been a pleasure to assist him wherever possible. We have a great core membership of decent people. We are inclusive and warm, newcomers are always made to feel welcome.

Assistant instructor

Sensei Daniel Fowler: 1st Dan Black Belt instructor. Sensei Dan has been training in Aikido since 2006.

An exert from 'Aikido, discuss' by Sensei Dan

I began training a bit before my eighteenth birthday, I had already attended one class and my brother had been training for about five months. In the first few months I found the training fascinating and more than a little bit confusing, I also remember getting frustrated at being told to slow everything down all the time. In my beginners mind I thought doing everything slowly was stupid because you wouldn’t do things slowly in “real life” would you, thanks to the patience of Richard, JT and the other students I eventually learnt that doing things correctly was much more important than blustering through as fast as you could… In a way I don’t consider shodan to be that big of a milestone as it just takes you from the top of one pile to the bottom of another but this is certainly a pile I am proud to be at the bottom of.

All club instructors are qualified teachers with BAB Coaching Level 1.

Information on our national coach »»

Find out what our Aikido lesson are like »»