I studied Aikido with Jim, Wade Ishimoto, Jason, and many other great people. Aikido isn’t a way to, in the current internet vernacular, OMGWTFBBQ other people. It’s really a way to understand yourself, the world around you, and how to be strong without the need to hurt others. It’s a very mental, and I suppose spiritual, martial art. It teaches you how to move, how to fall, and how to get back up again. Through that, you can learn how to stop things before they start, and how to move things appropriately when they’ve already begun. After studying Aikido, of the same philosophy Jim teaches, I haven’t had to defend myself but once. On that one occasion, I was not touched, but I also realized it was because of those I kept company with that I had chosen the wrong path for myself. If you study long enough, you’ll understand and you’ll be very happy you did. Aikido isn’t just a martial art, it’s a way to live.

Jon Schultz