Synopsis
Firsthand accounts of the life, practice, and teachings of pioneering Aikido master Robert Nadeau, direct disciple of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba
• Explores Nadeau’s personal journey and pioneering role in the spread of Aikido, including firsthand accounts and historical photographs published for the first time
• Explains Nadeau’s unique teaching, his core concepts, and basic practices centered on energy refinement, direct experience and inner transformation
• Presents inspiring personal stories about Nadeau contributed by students, including Dan Millman, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Peter Ralston, and Renée Gregorio
A widely influential figure in the development of Aikido in America, Robert Nadeau is known as one of the few American direct disciples of Aikido’s founder Morihei Ueshiba Osensei. Now an 8th dan Aikido master teacher, Nadeau has taught generations of students, and several have become prominent teachers in their own right. However, he has never written about his life or philosophy, always reserving his most pointed lessons for those who practice with him in person.
This book tells the story of Robert Nadeau’s life journey and his distinctive approach to teaching Aikido as a way to access the inner energetic aspects of the art, a transformational approach with universal applications in daily life, even for non-Aikidoists. The authors explore Nadeau’s early interest in martial arts and all things spiritual as a teenager in California in the 1950s, his seminal training under Morihei Ueshiba at Aikido Hombu Dojo in Tokyo in the 1960s, and the following six decades of training, experimenting, refining, and teaching as he worked to introduce Aikido to the wider world, even beyond the traditional dojo. They lay out Nadeau’s core concepts, describe his simple-but-effective practices for personal development, and convey his time-tested approach to the inner training at the heart of Aikido in a very accessible way. They also include first-person accounts from Nadeau’s students, including Dan Millman, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Peter Ralston, and Renée Gregorio, who recall their personal experiences of training with him, retell conversations with him, and describe insights and lessons learned, sharing how he affected their lives, sometimes quite profoundly.
Bringing the story of Robert Nadeau’s life into focus, this book presents, for the first time, the profound lessons and deep impact of a pioneering teacher who’s been central to the spread of Aikido in the West.
About the Author
Teja Bell, 6th Dan
Teja began practicing Aikido in 1971 and has been studying with Robert Nadeau Sensei since 1979. He has also practiced with many of Osensei’s first-generation teachers, including Francis Takahashi, Morihiro Saito, Akira Tohei, Kazuo Chiba, Hiroshi Ikeda, Terry Dobson, Mitsugi Saotome, and Mitsunari Kanai Sensei. Teja’s relationship with Frank McGouirk Sensei of Aikido Ai spans over thirty-five years, integrating Aikido, Zen, Chinese internal arts, and healing arts. An ordained Rinzai-lineage Zen master/priest and lineage dharma teacher, Teja Bell Fudo Myoo Roshi is the 84th ancestor of this Zen tradition.
Laurin Herr, 6th Dan
Laurin began his Aikido training in 1971 as a student at Cornell University. Inspired by his first experience on the mat, he studied Japanese intensively, moved to Tokyo, and entered Aikido Hombu Dojo as an unranked white belt, earning his shodan there in 1976. He subsequently spent formative years affiliated with the Kumano Juku Dojo in Japan, training under Michio Hikitsuchi, Motomichi Anno, Motokazu Yanase, and Yasushi Tojima. Returning from Japan, he continued his practice with Terry Dobson and Ken Nisson at the Bond Street Dojo. After living in New York City, then Tokyo, then New York again, Laurin settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. He met Robert Nadeau in 1999 and has been training with him ever since. Herr was a senior instructor at City Aikido of San Francisco and is currently a senior instructor at Aikido of Mountain View. Off the mat, he is president of Pacific Interface Inc., an international consulting company based in Oakland, California.
Richard Moon, 6th Dan
Richard began his study of martial arts in 1969, training in Shotokan karate, Kenpo, and kung fu under various teachers. In 1971, he began his practice of Aikido under Robert Nadeau Sensei, a relationship that continues to this day. Richard was also a personal student of Bira Almeida, Mestre Acordeon of Brazilian Capoeira, practiced Cheng Hsin with world champion Peter Ralston, and trained in qigong with B.K. Frantzis. Richard was the founder and chief instructor at Aikido of Marin. He was also a cofounder and senior instructor at City Aikido of San Francisco for many years.
Bob Noha, 6th Dan
Bob began practicing Aikido in 1966 in Mountain View and shortly thereafter began training with Robert Nadeau Sensei, which started a lifelong friendship. Bob opened the first Aikido school in the Washington, D.C. area in 1970 and taught arrest/restraint tactics to U.S. Military Police at Andrews Air Force Base in 1974. Then, in 1975, he established the first Aikido school in Buffalo, New York. He founded Aikido of Petaluma in 1983 and continues to serve as its chief instructor. Bob traveled to Japan to further deepen his Aikido training in 1998, 1999, and 2006. In addition, he is also a devoted student and teacher of t’ai chi and has a background in several other martial arts.
Susan Spence, 3rd Dan
Susan has studied with Robert Nadeau since 1984 and has been an instructor at his schools in Mountain View and San Francisco. She currently works as a physical therapist and biofeedback specialist treating children and adults.
Elaine Yoder, 6th Dan
Elaine began her Aikido training with Robert Nadeau Sensei in 1977. She has continued training and teaching in the Bay Area ever since. She is currently president of the California Aikido Association (CAA). The focus of her Aikido teaching, as well as her profession as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, is to use movement to help humans live full and healthy lives.
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