I first met and befriended Daren Sims, 5th Dan Aikido and 1st Dan Combat Ju Jutsu in 2010, when I was organising a multi-style martial arts festival. It was to raise funds for 2 charities that had helped my and my family through some particularly difficult times. I selected 12 different martial art schools who had about 15 minutes each to demonstrate their system. Daren was the contact point and organiser of the Aikido section. During the build up to the event, I visited most of the participating schools to have see how their preparations were going. Daren’s Aikido team where so well organised, dynamic and impressive; that I put them on first. I wanted to start on a high note and get the audience excited from the beginning. He was also very supportive of the whole event from start to finish.
Here is the demo from that day, with Daren in the middle a lot of the time throwing people all over the place: Continue reading “Interview With Daren Sims, 5th Dan Aikido” »