Donovan Waite

Donovan Waite started Judo in Birmingham, England, when he was 7 years old. A year later, he took his first Aikido class at Ralph Reynolds' dojo. However, he continued taking Judo twice a week until he was 15. Just before his 14th birthday, he received his Shodan Aikikai by Chiba Sensei. In England, he also met Tamura Sensei and started taking regular classes with him in France. He also took classes with Saito Sensei.

Saito Sensei opened his eyes with weapon training and the way it affects body movement. He also received much of his weapons training from Chiba Sensei. When he wanted to practise aikido in a more professional, full-time manner, he decided to contact Yamada Sensei in New York on Tamura Sensei's recommendation.

In 1984, aged 24, he moved to New York and was more than 10 years of Uchi Deshi (resident student) at the New York Aikikai, where he took intensive classes with Yamada Sensei and later Sugano Sensei throughout this period.

Shihan Donovan Waite was a teacher at the New York Aikikai, head teacher of Aikido of Center City in Philadelphia. In 2009, sensei Donovan Waite came to the Netherlands and visited our Ando dojo in Boxtel, watch the interview below. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2021 from cardiac arrest and his Aikido will be spread by students who trained with him such as Edo and Anne sensei.