Aikido at age 17 was a new challenge but also the opportunity to gain access to a world vastly different from the Kaipara Harbour District where he grew up. 

Over the years other martial arts have been of interest, but Cheng Hsin, Brazilian Jiujitsu and Takamura Ha Shindō Yōshin Ryū Jūjutsu have all been a significant part of Alan’s journey.

Outside his training in New Zealand, Alan lived in Iwama and trained for four years under Morihiro Saito, also Cheng Hsin at Peter Ralston’s Texas ranch for seven months and also a few months in Thailand practicing Muay Thai. 

Experiences like those over the years, numerous seminars around New Zealand as both a teacher and guest, shaped Alan’s role as a teacher resulting in the opening of his Auckland dojo in 1994. 

Alan’s wife who does Aikido also has been practicing for sixteen years.