Robert Nadeau (born March 10, 1937) is an American aikido teacher holding the rank of 8th dan and master teacher(Shihan) in the Aikikai. He is well known as a pioneer in the energy and awareness aspects of aikido,George Leonard, The Ultimate Athlete. Revising Sports, Physical Education and the Body, The Viking Press 1975.Richard Strozzi Heckler, The Anatomy of Change. East/West Approaches to Body/Mind Therapy, Shambhala Publications 1985.Aikido in America pg 57 having dedicated his life's work to understanding and translating these principles handed down by Ueshiba into fields beyond aikido, including psychotherapy, personal development.

Aikido training Before travelling to Japan, Nadeau studied aikido under Robert Tann, a Marine Corps veteran and South San Francisco police officer who taught aikido there from 1960 to 1972.

In 1962, Nadeau left police work and travelled to Japan to train at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. There he studied with aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and other instructors, including Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Seigo Yamaguchi, Sadateru Arikawa, Kisaburo Osawa, Koichi Tohei and Hiroshi Tada.

Nadeau recalled training alongside Yoshimitsu Yamada, Seiichi Sugano, Mitsugi Saotome, Kazuo Chiba and Nobuyoshi Tamura. He said he was particularly close to Yamada, Mitsunari Kanai and Sugano, as well as Yutaka Kurita and Eddie Hagihara.

Beyond regular classes, Nadeau developed a personal relationship with Ueshiba after asking him a philosophical question. According to Nadeau, Ueshiba subsequently invited him to private conversations, including during trips to Iwama, about the philosophical and spiritual foundations of aikido. While in Japan, Nadeau also published an English-language aikido newsletter for foreign practitioners.

After training in Japan from 1962 to 1964, Nadeau received a certificate authorising him to teach aikido, signed by Morihei and Kisshomaru Ueshiba. He then returned to Northern California and began teaching.

Teaching career After training in Japan Nadeua was granted a teaching certificate signed by Morihei Ueshiba and Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Upon his return to California he opened a series of martial art schools sharing space with first Professor Sig Kuferat and later Richard Bunch through whom he has had on-going contact with several notable Ju-Jitsu schools and which eventually led to the formation of the California Aikido Association. He is one of three division heads of the California Aikido Association and is also the founder and head instructor of City Aikido of San Francisco, Aikido of San Jose, and Aikido of Mountain View, CA. Nadeau has taught workshops in the United States, Switzerland, Israel and New Zealand.

Teaching philosophy Fundamental among these teachings was the concept of "two forces" that combine to produce a new identity and "levels" which progress from limited to enhanced capabilities and awareness. Nadeau refers to the process of moving from one level to the next as an Alchemical transformation. According to Nadeau, this progression occurs in the "functioning realm", i.e. in a manner that improves functioning in everyday life.

He was reportedly told that if he could understand the secret of Aikido, Nadeau could accomplish all the very same incredible techniques that O Sensei performed himself in just three months.

Morihei Ueshiba spoke of Izanagi (male) and Izanami (female), the two great forces that, in Shinto mythology, created the islands of Japan. Or again, he spoke of Fire - Water - Steam as another example of two forces combining to yield a third transformed entity. These alchemical concepts have infused Nadeau's teaching since his return from his studies with Ueshiba in Japan in 1964. As a reminder of these direct transmissions, Ueshiba presented Nadeau with several scrolls, one of which has been translated as "Do the aikido that cannot be seen with the human eye."

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External links California Aikido Association Moon Sensei – educational video channel about Robert Nadeau's teachings