Due to health considerations, sensei Reg Allen has decided to ‘retire’ from Aikido practice. This is a personal appreciation of his 26 years in Aikido.
Reg began his study of Aikido as my student at the Burton Ki Society in 2000. He had found out about Aikido from a neighbour, who had practiced it before moving to Burton Upon Trent. He came to the Dojo to watch a lesson and thought “that looks easy, they are just falling over, I can do that”. Needless to say, he changed his mind when he started to train!
By 2006 he had achieved the rank of Shodan (1st Dan), awarded by shihan Philip Burgess. He went on to reach Nidan (2nd Dan), Sandan (3rd Dan) and , in 2017, Yondan (4th Dan). In parallel with his progress through the Aikido grades he also achieved the highest Ki Grade of Okuden.
This is made more remarkable when you realise that Reg was 50 years old when he started Aikido! In addition, he was diagnosed with diabetes, but true to form did not let that interfere with his practice.
As well as regular attendance at the Burton Ki Society dojo Reg also travelled to the Coventry Ki Society dojo for instruction with shihan Burgess, and to the national seminars held by the late Doshu Yoshigasaki. He was also able to attend some of the Doshu’s seminars in Croatia and Scotland and travelled to Sweden for seminars taken by shihan Burgess.
Reg started off as my student but became an instructor in his own right, earning a Coaching qualification from the British Aikido Board. In 2015 he was awarded the South Staffordshire Sports Scholarship Coach of the Year award and presented with a plaque at St. George’s Park, the English Football Association’s official national football centre.
I don’t know if he realised it, but I very much depended on his outgoing and friendly personality to welcome and encourage new students in the dojo. This helped to make up for my own more reserved approach. He also took on the burden of collecting fees and keeping records of gradings and memberships for the dojo. I could always rely on his attendance at my classes in Burton and his help through the years has been invaluable.
We shall all miss Reg when we are on the mat training, but at least I know I can always depend on him being willing to go for a ‘quick pint’ afterwards where we can put the world to rights.
Thank you, Reg.
Mike Hayes
The British Ki Society 