I understand you have been to over a hundred courses over the years. Could you tell me how many and which ones were special.

Sensei Derrick,

At the last count, 193 since joining the White Rose (plus a few that I haven't recorded). This sounds like I'm collecting 'trophies', but I only started recording these courses because I started taking photographs and began to loose track of which one took place where and when. A lot of them were special, particularly the early ones under instructors such as Sensei Tamura and Yamada. They were also good social events, as they often took place over two days and quite a lot of people usually used to make an effort to travel in those days.

Is it true you used to chauffer Sensei Riley and accompanied him on many courses as his uke? Have you any funny stories of your travels?

Sensei Derrick,

It is true that we've been to most of the courses mentioned above together, and although I've obviously taken ukemi for Sensei Riley over the years I didn't particularly travel as his uke. The truth is that I used to smoke until a year ago and no one else would let me into their car, so I had to drive myself. Sensei Riley was kind enough to ignore my weaknesses and travel with me. We've only stopped doing this recently since I've decided that I can't keep up with Sensei Heseltine's partying until 4a.m. There are plenty of funny stories, but Sensei Riley can tell them much better than I can: particularly in a pub. We travelled to a course under Sensei Cottier in Aberystwyth a couple of years ago and took five hours to get there. Ask Sensei Riley about driving through dark, empty, wooded hills; when the last car you saw had passed you half an hour ago, and you both start humming the tune 'Duelling Banjos' from the film Deliverance. You can also ask Sensei Heseltine how amused he was when my car was stopped by the police when they saw Sensei Riley's shaved head and tattoos, explaining that they were looking for 'dodgy characters'.

Have you many books and videos on Aikido? Which are your favourites?

Sensei Derrick,

Until a couple of years ago I think that I had bought just about all the books and videos on Aikido that had been produced. Nowadays there are so many being produced by so many different organisations that I'm having difficulty keeping up (although I'm having a good try). My favourites are still the original set of books by Morihiro Saito Sensei, which I still refer to; and one of my favourite videos is by Christian Tissier Sensei, for his very precise and dynamic technique. (Apparently there's also a very good DVD out by the White Rose!).