Erik is the sensei of Chūshin Aikido in Merrimack, New Hampshire, which he started in 2017. Although originally intending the dojo to be a family dojo, before the COVID pandemic, he was teaching more than 30 kids up to five nights a week.
He began his aikido journey with the Manchester Budo Club in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2007 when he and his wife began training under Ben Duggar Sensei. After receiving his 1º Dan in 2016, Erik sought out Robert King (now 7º Dan and Shihan) and began training long distance under King Sensei. He has traveled throughout the United States training with many of our senior instructors. He competed in the 2018 USA Nationals (where he won the gold medal for Randori no Kata Embu as uke for Charlie Hudson) and 2019 WSAF Internationals.
He is currently a 3º Dan in the TAA, and he serves as Communications Director and Board Secretary. He also holds rank in Tomiki Sport Aikido Association – USA (Seiji Tanaka Shihan) and Kaze Ute Budokai (Nick Lowry Sensei). He also trains in Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu under Howard Popkin Sensei.
Article by Erik
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Protected: Youth Resources[Instructors]
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Two Principles (Among Many) to Reduce Aikido Related Injuries
Introduction It is no secret that Tomiki Aikido practitioners in the United States tend to experience significant injuries. It is rare to encounter a practitioner who has not had a serious injury, usually related to a competitive skill, at some point. Much of this is due to a lack of solid understanding of biomechanics within…
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Growing Up in the Dojo
My experience in Aikido began when I was twelve years old in my own basement…due to my dojo being located there! It was a small dojo of seven students, ran by my Sensei, Justin Chang. I was the dojo “baby”, based on my age as well as my belt status. With this title I had…
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Some Historical Background of the Inclusion of Shiai in Tomiki Aikido
A brief summary of the development of competition in Tomiki Aikido
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Interview with TAA Chairman Robert Dziubla
Tomiki News (TN): Tell us about yourself. Where is your family from? What interests do you have outside of aikido? Dziubla Shihan (RD): I was born and raised in Chicago in a blue-collar family. My father owned a live poultry store where I started working when I was 8 – that continued until I was 17 when…