But Takamori and Gibson were on the two ends of the age scale. Christopher Curtis, chief instructor of the Hawaii Ki Federation who is also a teacher for Maui Ki-Aikido, said Takamori and Gibson are refreshing as students. He's fresh and innocent. That quality is priceless in a training atmosphere. He said it is hard to explain Ki-Aikido in a few words.
Understanding is grasped by learning the art at the dojo, or training hall.
For someone with as much life experience as Gibson, there was a need to change a mind-set and adapt through meditation and concentration. As you know when you get older, you get stuck in your ways. Gibson said it was a change from past lifestyles. As a director of an advertising agency in Australia for many years, he learned how to be a problem solver and work under extreme deadlines. A recent Maui High School graduate, he leaves for the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., on Saturday.