Our members

Meet everyone at the club!

Some of our members tell us about themselves and their history with aikido.

Nang

My name is Nang Wilmot. I am married to Chris who is a teacher (Sensei) at the Puriton Aikido club. Together, we have two daughters.

I am from Thailand, and when I was very young my father would take me to watch Muay Thai (Thai boxing), usually perched on his shoulders. When I was older I started training in Muay Thai and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Although Muay Thai is a fighting system and can sometimes seem very brutal, it has at its core a great respect. A respect for one's parents, one's teachers, even for one's competitors. So for Thai people it is not a strange notion to have this paradox of fighting combined with great respect.

Aikido is a very effective self defence, and it too has at its core, love and respect for all living things. O'Sensei, the founder of Aikido, and many of his students have practised this art as a way of life. Because of my background I can really understand this.

At the end of 2007 Chris opened a new club. Originally the sessions were at Stawel's village hall. This is where I first started practising. Usually it was just the two of us with (Sensei) Richard Hindle joining us when his work allowed.

In March 2008 the club moved to Puriton Village Hall. I never missed a practice until April 2009, when I started working each Sunday at Wells Cathedral School. This meant that I could only practise in the school holidays.

The club has now started sessions on Wednesday evenings at Highbridge. This gave me a chance to regularly practise again, however I have now emigrated to Thailand with Sensei and my daughter, Nicki. One day I may be back to practice with the club's members again.

Gareth

Hello, my name is Gareth, and I have been a member of Puriton Aikido Club since 2009. My main martial arts career is Karate which I started in 1989 and following a medium break, have continued to study. I took up Aikido for 3 reasons initially:-

1. It was an art the founder of my original club studied & find bits in Aikido we use.

2. How good does Steven Segal make it look... ? ? ?

3. I loved the difference from all the other martial arts, which Aikido has to offer.

I could go on and fill this page with the positives of Aikido but I wont, I love it, and sure you will too.

The fact you are reading this and our website is a start, now I just urge you to make that final HUGE step and walk into our Dojo, where you will be greeted by a very friendly bunch who all walked into the dojo once a tad nervous.

Neil

Having initially been interested in tai chi for many years, Neil was introduced to aikido by a friend, in late February 2010. Instantly hooked on his first involvement with ki energies and the mind, Neil saw that what he loved from tai chi, was also apparent within aikido.

After a few weeks of returning to practice, he began to see a good deal more, and knew that aikido would be more beneficial to him than anything else he'd researched.

Nicole

Before I moved to England I used to do Muay Thai (Thai boxing). When I moved to England I was missing the exercise. I practised Judo for a month but because I was small I found myself loosing all the time :) .

Once I started to practice Aikido I soon realized that I didn't need to use strength and experience a lot of pain to achieve good result of fitness. “Aikido stimulates my mind as well as my body”

I also like the discipline and etiquette and the respect we have for each other and although I now live in Thailand once my dad starts up a Dojo here I will continue to practice.

Clive

Folks at Puriton Aikido have stopped taking bets to whether Clive is not returning for practice again - although he may be away for some time, Clive reassures us every time that he enjoys himself and fits in well, when he comes into the dojo after some weeks.

Good stuff!