Albuquerque Aikido Kokikai

Our Instructors

William Bartholomew is a third degree Black Belt and a certified instructor of Kokikai-ryu Aikido. He has instructed adults for ten of the fifteen years he has trained in the art.

Bartholomew-sensei was uchideshi, or direct student, to the southwest regional coordinators/senior instructors of the Kokikai International Association in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cathy Cullicott is a third degree Black Belt and a certified instructor of Kokikai-ryu Aikido. She has instructed adults for fifteen of the eighteen years she has trained in the art.

Cullicott-sensei has been teaching since 1992. In Seattle, she trained with the Northwest Regional Coordinator. She ran her own dojo, Kokikai Aikido of Durango, for 8 years before moving to Albuquerque.

Contacting us:

Please feel free to contact us through e-mail [kokibill@yahoo.com] or by phone: (505)400-8357

We would like to establish a growing Aikido community at Albuquerque Aikido Kokikai. You can help us by coming often, working hard, and enjoying the practice.

Bill Bartholomew Sensei:

"I got hooked early on. After about two or three months my instructor threw me so lightly, and yet so powerfully that I vowed to learn how to do that. Many years later I think that I can throw like he did on that technique back then. Trouble is he is even better now.

There are no stopping points in progress, only pause points.

At fall camp, 2003, I did kokyu-dosa with my instructor, Dave Nachman-Sensei. He easily held me back when it was my turn to push. He asked, 'how many years Bill-san?' I responded, 'Fourteen years sensei.' He replied, 'still feels the same.' We both laughed.

Shortly there after Maruyama-Sensei came over. He did the same to my instructor. Afterward he asked, 'Dave-san, how many years?' My instructor replied, '28 Sensei.' Maruyama-Sensei said, 'still the same.'

I realized that I can't stop, because my instructors won't stop and Maruyama-Sensei won't stop.

This is my Giri, obligation, to my instructors. There is always something to get better at, look at differently, or new to try."

Brad Billings, 2nd kyu:

"What gift has Aikido given me? Balance. Didn't fully realize that I didn't have it. Still don't just yet. But, Aikido, sensei, cohorts and friends/families of the dojo help me find that elusive, but ever with us, balance.

Always felt humankind to be a family and Aikido has helped me understand that it really is a family. The microcosm of the mat and the dojo is the same as the macrocosm of the world. All one, all family.

I have grown to want the joy of my time in the dojo with my mat friends and with myself. I seek now, and allow more, doors to open on this joy in my life outside the dojo. I have begun to feel that the world, all of it, is my and everyone's dojo.

Aikido - DO - is, to me, as it's translation implies, a way, a path. It has become my path, my way and with luck, will be ever onward. A life's journey. As is said, all paths begin the same. They begin. I am glad I began, and every day glad to begin again."

Tim Miranda, 2nd kyu:

"Awareness. Before I started training, I wouldn't be able to easily find people in a crowd if I was supposed to meet them. I would be surprised if approached by someone when my mind was wandering off.

When I started training, I became more aware of my surroundings, on and off the mat. I've also realized this new-found awareness doesn't just come from technique. It's a combination of learning how to relax, how to center, and being conscious of where everyone is on the mat, not just where my training partner is.

I still have a long way to go, but aikido has put me on the path to more awareness."