British Aikido Board National Nepotism Seminar
By Henry Ellisthe british aikido board
disastrous national nepotism seminar 2004 – 99 students
by henry ellis co-author of positive aikido.
( bab founder member - now resigned )
for many years the british aikido board ( bab ) have shown no interest what-so-ever
in the true history of british aikido, to be fair to the bab, they have in the
recent past shown a great deal of interest and support for the false history
of british aikido for which they have now publicly apologised, the apology to
henry ellis by the chairman mr vincent sumpter pictured left, can be viewed
on this site. www.geocities.com/britishaikido.
kenshiro abbe sensei
when kenshiro abbe sensei first stepped on british soil in 1955 he brought
with him the knowledge of many budo arts, aikido being one of them. abbe sensei
also brought his aikido based philosophy of kyu-shin-do. this was the inception
of british aikido. yet no where in the bab literature will you find any reference
to kenshiro abbe sensei by name or the origins of aikido within the uk. in the
year 2000 the bab were happy to help promote mr pooles proven fraudulent claims
to 47 yrs of aikido, i am plesaed to add that the bab have now taken this claim
by mr poole from the bab associations information website. i personally received
my invitation from the bab to attend mr poole’s event, that was the start
of the long running british aikido board controversy which was resolved at the
mediation meeting 6th july 2005 with sport england/bab/ellis. yet sadly, the
bab have never ever recognised or promoted the true history of british aikido
or its founder kenshiro abbe sensei. the reason for this article is that following
the success of the great kenshiro abbe sensei celebrations 14th may 2005 i am
informed that the bab plan a similar event next year which would be an insult
to the memory of abbe sensei and to the handful of abbe sensei direct students.
it should be pointed out that the spate of attacks on the credibilty of british
aikido history - kenshiro abbe sensei and henry ellis have all come from within
the bab, some are executive members along with prominent members of the british
aikido board associations. these are the very people that the bab members would
expect to promote and protect their proud lineage. below are a few examples.
one: ms shirley timms the british aikido boards secretary, totally ignored
the facts-photos-evidence against mr jack poole's false history which
were personally handed to her by henry ellis, prior to mr poole being presented
with his coveted bronze samurai statue in oct 2000.
two: mr toni davies the previous bab chairman, deliberately lied at a general
meeting to protect mr poole's false history. read the sport england
meeting minutes.
three: mr vincent sumpter the bab chairman once supported the claims of mr
poole by stating " we have no formal records to prove or disprove either
claim " duh < there were four of abbe sense's direct students
within the bab at that time.>
four: mr john burn.* bab executive *- *bab communications officer* - very serious
libel attack on the name of henry ellis. renews his attack 10th june 2005 stating
" this only serves to amuse me ".
five: jim johnston. the then *bab press officer*. promoting the fraudulent
claims of mr poole whilst fully knowing the truth.
six: mr dominick foster.* bab executive * - attends the kenshiro abbe celebrations
and states to a vip guest "what is this celebration all about "
he then states that next year is the true celebration of british aikido by the
bab.
seven: mr jack poole.* bab senior principal coach *. the jack poole biography..(
a catalogue of lies. ).
eight: the kenshinkai.* prominent bab association*. gave 100% support for the
jp bio..their open letter taken from the nacd is an absolute classic and can
be read on this website.
nine: mr gwynne jones.* prominent bab member *. dis-credits 6 of the first
8 of the early dan grades in martialarts illustrated article " bends
the branch..issue june 05. visit the national aikido database forum for more
information.
british aikido board statement damned forever
ten: this is without doubt the most disgraceful of them all.. * the bab chairman
*toni davis stated in the year 2000
“we the british aikido board are not the custodians of british aikido
history and
therefore have no interest in the same“
eleven: sadly, with the arrival of the new bab chairman mr vincent sumpter
nothing changed, he made the statement below despite the factual information
available to him and his executive, we must not forget that mr sumpter had the
only four surviving students of abbe sensei for aikido within the bab.
twelve: on the 17th april 2002 the *bab chairman * mr vincent sumpter wrote
to henry ellis with reference to the history of british aikido. he then made
the following crass statement in his support for the bab stance on mr jack poole.
“the period in question predates the creation of the bab by a significant
amount of time and therefore we have no formal records to prove or disprove
either claim.”
thirteen: the kenshiro abbe 50th celebration seminar
may 14th crystal palace london
720 participants –guests – spectators
at the sport england / bab / ellis mediation meeting 6th july 2004 where the
bab were reprimanded by sport england and instructed to give henry ellis a full
public apology.
at the end of the meeting ( the minutes for this meeting can be viewed on this
site .( www.geocities.com/britishaikido ), henry ellis appraised ms sadie mason
of sport england of the proposed plans for the kenshiro abbe event, ms mason
suggested that we should involve the bab in our plans as part of the reconciliation
of british aikido, henry ellis agreed.
henry ellis offered ms mason's suggestion to the abbe event committee,
the suggestion was unanimously accepted 100%. the bab executive were then approached
and invited to send a representative ( any one of its 15,000 members ) of the
bab to attend our meetings and report back on our progress, this offer was rejected
out of hand.
mr vincent sumpter
“no matter your pretence, you are what you are and nothing more!“
kenshiro abbe sensei
not deterred, we then invited the bab chairman mr vincent sumpter to attend
the kenshiro abbe 50th celebration as a vip guest, to pay the respects of the
bab membership of which he represents . there were many bab members attending,
proving that this event was not about personal differences – styles or
what organisation you belong to, i was pleased to see students from mr poole’s
organisation who were also made very welcome. this event was about one thing
and one thing only “ kenshiro abbe sensie “ with demonstrations
of the early aikido and its proud standards, with sensei eastman showing various
techniques to show the influences that the different early teachers brought
to the uk in those early days.
students trained with other students of various styles and associations with
a friendliness not often seen in modern aikido circles. this event went a long
way to promote all that is good in aikido. i believe that the spirit of abbe
sensei would be very proud of this special day to his memory.
another crass statement from mr vincent sumpter 27th march 2004 made before
the sport england mediation meeting 6th july 2005. in an unwarranted attack
on the genuine aikidoka who supported the british aikido controversy debate
in its defence of the true history of british aikido and the aikido history
of abbe sensei and his disciples.
mr sumpter bleats.
“the boards conscience is clear. like all the practitioners of aikido
who contribute to this “controversy “ mr humm appears to have forgotten
the meaning of the word “aikido “ – harmony of sprit to find
a way “ the “controversy “ website feeds hatred, ill –
feeling, bitterness and discord. for my part, as an aikidoka who is passionate
about the art and the etiquette that goes with it, i will therefore not add
to the feeding frenzy this website generates. i can’t stop what is going
on but i can turn the other cheek.“
with reference to the above statement by mr sumpter i should remind the reader
to visit on this website www.geocities.com/britishaikido to read both the sport
england minutes and mr sumpters apology to mr ellis which can only be considered
an apology to all those that supported the “controversy “ in the
name of kenshiro abbe sensei including the named mr david humm.
in response to our invitation to attend as a vip guest to the abbe event mr
sumpter replied stating that he graciously accepted our invitation. just before
the event he changed his mind without explanation, suggesting that we allow
mr ralph reynolds to represent the bab.
mr reynolds had a far more important role to play as one of the main teachers
at this event where he was delighted to take part as an original student of
kenshiro abbe sensei.
this was such an important event with many good students who were members of
the bab, yet, the british aikido board were not represented at this event to
pay tribute to such a great master and the founding father of british aikido.
if mr sumpter had attended he would have seen a martial arts spectacular never
before seen in the united kingdom, where students from many organisations met
and renewed old friendships, there were many more that made new friendships.
in almost 50 years of aikido i have never before experienced the special atmosphere
that electrified the great hall at crystal palace from the moment the taiko
drummers started to play on this day of celebration in the name of abbe sensei.
i never ever thought in my life time that i would ever see an event to eclipse
the great event at the royal albert hall in 1963 with abbe sensei. i knew on
saturday the 14th of may that i was now witnessing the greatest aikido event
in my 48 years of aikido. i am not an emotional man but i will admit that as
i looked over the balcony of the concourse onto the tatami area with the sound
of the taiko drummers and the hundreds of students and guests gathering below
i was unable to stop the trickle of a few emotional tears as i realised i was
witnessing something very special.
mr sumpter, you too missed something very special, whilst you sat 40 miles
away at home ignoring the tribute to the father of british aikido, others travelled
from all parts of the uk – usa – france – holland –
germany – czechoslovakia. etc.
whilst you sat at home it was a wonderful moment when sensei bill woods who
was the personal aide to kenshiro abbe sensei and without doubt the most influential
force in the history british martial arts, made a supreme effort despite his
serious illness to pay his respects to the memory of abbe sensei.
also whilst you sat at home, sensei bill stopps the personal aide to matsutharu
otani sensei who despite his age and ill health also attended and thanked me
wholeheartedly for inviting him as a special guest, and for the wonderful day
he had experienced.
whilst you sat at home just 40 miles away, sensei robin otani and his two sons,
the descendents of matsutharu otani sensei travelled all the way from devon
to attend.
sensei joe curran travelled all the way from newcastle and sensei mike nery
travelled from bristol. sensei dave rogers travelled 7000 miles from new mexico
usa as did sensei al montemar and mr chad hatcher who flew over from texas usa
to pay their respects. whilst you sat at home there were many others that travelled
long journeys to attend.
unlike you mr sumpter these people wanted to attend.
you missed some of the finest displays of the budo arts that any martial artist
is ever likely to witness at any one event, a truly lasting experience for all
those that made the effort to attend.
i was always under the impression that it was the sworn duty of any chairman
to always do what was best for his organisation and its members.
as the previous bab chairman toni davies will always be rembered for nothing
more than his lies and unswerving support for mr poole.
the present chairman mr sumpter will always be remembered as the bab chairman
who snubbed the kenshiro abbe memorial to pay tribute to our founding father
on behalf of his membership.
try try try again
after the disastrous “british aikido board nepotism seminar 2004“
with only 99 students attending out of a membership of approx 15000, the bab
have decided not to hold it's 2005 national seminar .
they are of course fully aware of the fantastic success of the kenshiro abbe
celebrations. with 720 participants – honoured guests – spectators.
the bab having failed miserably in its four year support for mr jack poole
to change the history of british aikido. they now appear to have a renewed interest
in the true history of british aikido and its founder kenshiro abbe.
no matter whatever the british aikido board do, that damning statement below
will hang over their shameless heads for ever and a day.
british aikido board statement damned forever
the bab chairman toni davis stated in the year 2000
“we the british aikido board are not the custodians of british aikido
history and
therefore have no interest in the same.“
"no matter your pretence - you are what you are - and nothing more.“
kenshiro abbe
http://www.ellisaikido.org - -http://www.geocities.com/britishaikido
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