Tony and Mary Anne took a short break from our "harsh" North Carolina
winter to venture off to visit John and Pepi Waite at their new home in
sunny New Zealand. The Waite's new home is in a suburb of Auckland and is
just minutes from the beach (which we immediately took advantage of). As
difficult as it was to drag ourselves out of the surf and off the beach,
we couldn't wait to work out at their dojo. They instruct aikido classes
at two dojos that they share mat time with a judo program. The Waite's
aikido program in New Zealand is relatively new, so the students were
mostly 4th and 5th Kyu grades. They trained hard and the Waite's
enthusiasm and love for the art was evident in every students. They all
showed a great desire to learn the art and their basic movements were
strong and grounded in solid aikido principles.
It was pleasure to have been able to spend
time with John and Pepi Waite again. Their love of life, enthusiasm for
the art of aikido and generousity and hospitality for all whom they come
in contact with is infectious. Every time we have been fortunate enough to
be in their presence we have come away with something profitable to be
applied both on and off the mat.
We would like to express our
appreciation to all of the students we trained with, Steve, Ray, Marcello,
Kerry, Alex, Jo, Nadya and Lenny and thank them for making us feel so
welcome.
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