Sensei Ron Russell

Ron Russell started his training in the martial arts in 1963 at the Abbe School for Judo in England under the instruction of Kenshiro Abbe. He received his 1^st Dan in Judo in 1966. During his Judo career Ron represented England in competition.

Kenshiro Abbe also taught Kendo, Karate, and Aikido and in 1968 Ron gave up contest Judo to study Aikido. It was a study to which he would dedicate the remainder of his life.

Ron trained at "The Hut" dojo in London, the main branch of the Institute of Aikido in Great Britain, predominantly under Sensei Hayden Foster. He also had the opportunity to train with Japanese teachers in Europe such as Sensei Tamura, Sensei Nakazona, Sensei Noro, and Sensei Chiba.

Ron received his 1^st Dan in Aikido in 1971. He was subsequently promoted to 2^nd Dan in 1975, 3^rd Dan in 1979, 4^th Dan in 1986 and 5^th Dan in 1992.

Ron immigrated to New Zealand in 1978 and began teaching at a club in Onehunga which eventually became the Institute of Aikido (affiliated to the British Institute of Aikido). During the 1980's Ron had several clubs in New Zealand that followed his style of Aikido which he began to call Kyu Shin Do. The name of the style harked back to his first teacher in the martial arts; Kenshiro Abbe called his style of Budo Kyu Shin Do. There are many aikidoka in New Zealand who have the Kyu Shin Do style of Aikido to a greater or lesser degree due to Ron's huge influence on Aikido here.

In early 1991 Ron returned to England to live, and trained with his old club in London where he held the senior post of Assistant Technical Director in the Institute of Aikido. It was during this period he was promoted to 5^th Dan.

In August 1993 Ron returned to New Zealand, having missed the pleasant climate and relaxed lifestyle. He soon started teaching regularly at a number of different clubs around Auckland as well as at Kyu Shin Do (North Shore), and leading seminars and weekend training sessions in Hamilton, Rotorua, Christchurch, and Whitianga.

Ron died suddenly of a heart attack on Friday the 25^th of March 1994.

A personal perspective of Sensei Ron Russell by Ray Eder 5^th Dan Aikido

The style of Aikido known as Kyu Shin Do was introduced to New Zealand in 1978 by Ron Russell sensei, when he immigrated here from England. Ron learned his Aikido at the Hut Dojo in London. His main teacher there was Mr. Foster who is currently ranked 7^th Dan.

The organisation in England was known as the Institute of Aikido. When Ron started teaching in New Zealand he would be asked what style of Aikido he did. He would say 'Institute of Aikido'. However, New Zealanders wanted to hear a Japanese name. Because of Ron’s impact on the local scene, this became a bit of an issue for him. He was probably the most accomplished Aikidoka in the country back then and many people were interested in learning the style of Aikido he was demonstrating and teaching. Ron started his martial arts training in Judo in the 1960s with the legendary Kenshiro Abbe. Ron was graded to Shodan in Judo. Abbe sensei, called his style of Judo, Kyu Shin Do, so in his typically pragmatic way Ron co-opted the name. From then on when people asked him what his style of Aikido was he would say 'Kyu Shin Do' (translated as 'The way of longing for knowledge of the fundamental nature of things'), and people would be happy with that.

I met Ron the first night I went to an Aikido class. At that time he had several clubs running in Auckland and just happened to be visiting the Shore club that night. I was watching the class to see what Aikido was about and he came over to chat. Straight away I knew that I wanted to learn Aikido with this group. The atmosphere was quite different from the Karate classes I was used to, but I sensed from Ron that he had something to offer that was worth training for. A few years later when I was a brown belt training 3 nights a week with Ron I can remember thinking to myself 'if I can learn 20% or what this man knows about Aikido I'll be happy'. I had the impression that you could never reach the end of his knowledge. He lived and breathed Aikido. He was especially good at handling the physical challenges we would throw at him. His usual response to someone's 'oh but sensei, what if I do this?' would be 'well, come on then'. And you would know that no matter how good or how committed your attack was it was doomed to failure. I can remember several occasions when I had been thrown by Ron, and being in the air long enough to think 'I've been in the air a while now, I wonder where the ground is'. However he always looked after me. I was his principle uke for about 3 or 4 years and never got hurt. Often during demonstrations I could hear oohs and ahs from the people watching, but it looked worse than it actually was. I always felt safe because he had such great centre and control no matter how fast things were happening. Ron always operated on an intuitive level and this made Aikido demonstrations rather 'exciting' for uke. He would never plan or rehearse classes or demonstrations. We would all just turn up, he would look round to see who was there and start straight in. There was often a clue that the next throw was going to be a humdinger when he would ask me just as I was about to attack 'You all right?' meaning 'are you able to take the next lot of ukemi?'

Ron learned his Aikido at The Hut dojo in London where Aikido in Great Britain started, and there that he returned in the late nineteen eighties. Back in England he was graded up to 5th Dan. Mr. Foster gave him a teaching slot at The Hut and made him the technical 2nd in command at the Institute of Aikido, with the view that Ron would take over from Mr. Foster in the future. This was the regard with which Ron was held at the Institute of Aikido in England. However it was not to be. Ron returned to New Zealand in August 1993 as he missed the New Zealand way of life and was soon teaching regularly at Riai Aikido, the Lynch Dojo, and Kyu Shin Do Aikido (North Shore).

He died suddenly of a heart attack on the 25th March 1994. He was 62 years old.

Ron will always be remembered by those who studied Aikido under him. His Aikido still lives through the pupils he taught. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to learn from him.