I began my martial arts training in 2000, at seven years of age. I started in Aikido, which has remained my main focus, and I have since cross-trained in Taijiquan, Goju-ryu Karate, Judo, and Daito-ryu Aikijujitsu.

When I started teaching a class of middle schoolers, I called my first teacher and asked him for any words of advice or wisdom that he might share with me. He offered these two words, "Teach love." He didn't elaborate, and wished me luck. My interpretation has a couple of different parts:
1) Share my love for what I do, because if I don't love it, why should they want to learn from me, and how can they love it?
2) The martial arts is not about causing harm; they are about self-mastery. Practitioners of the highest level in any martial art should be able to defend themselves from attacks without harming their assailants because not only are they skilled enough to defend themselves effectively, but also aware enough to control their impulse to retaliate. As stated above, only hurt people hurt people. No one in a good place emotionally is going to attack someone else, so why would we want to cause more harm? If we are aiming to create the harmony that this world desperately needs, we have to start with our own reactions to perceived threats. We need to respond with love.

These would be private sessions, either in home or in a park somewhere. An ideal amount of space would be around 25 sq. ft (5'x5' ish, not 2'x12.5').