He plans to study computer engineering. He said Ki-Aikido has taught him about the benefits of nonviolence and to be calm in an otherwise stressful situation. His parents, Howard and Susan Takamori, helped him get acquainted with Ki-Aikido when he was 9 years old. He set a goal to reach the Shodan status before he went off to college, taking the test when he was 17. Curtis said a student needs to be at least 16 years old in order to take the test to be promoted to a first degree black belt.
Instructors determine if students are ready to take the tests.
While Takamori was not the youngest student to win promotion, Curtis said Gibson is the oldest Ki-Aikido student in the state to be promoted to first degree black belt status. Possibly Gibson could be the oldest in the world to win a promotion, but the dojo is still checking. Gibson has been practicing Ki-Aikido for about six years since he came to Maui after meeting his American wife, Zoee Crowley in Sydney, Australia. When they finally settled on the island, he missed the aerobics class he had taken for decades in Australia. Gibson said he found out he could handle the rolling around and other physical aspects of Ki-Aikido.