David Fielding received an MBE for
services to Aikido in the Queen's Birthday Honours on the
13th June, 2004.
He is the first non-Japanese player to become Men's
Individual Tomiki Aikido World Champion, a 5th Dan
British Aikido Association
, Manager of the BAA GB National Squad and ex-Guinness world
record holder. In a career spanning 25 years he competed in
9 World Championships winning a record 17 International
medals, 4 of which were Gold.
 David
first started Aikido in the early eighties in Sheffield with
Barry Vigrass and trained for five years at Leeds Central
before moving to London. He regularly trained at Sidcup,
Clapham and Yawara with the Elephant and Castle becoming his
main base. He joined the BAA National Squad at its inception
in 1988 and has not missed a session since. In 1993 together
with his partner Vanda Fairchild, founded Tanseikan, a
thriving club which runs Aikido classes in Southwark,
Lewisham and Bromley. David was awarded the Wilkinson Sword
in 1995 for his leadership of the BAB National Squad. In
1997 he became the first Aikidoka to receive 4th Dan's from
the BAA and JAA and in 2002 became the first Aikidoka to be
awarded a BAA 5th Dan on technical merit.
David also runs a thriving junior aikido class in
Rotherhithe, South London and said “I’m over the moon” and
“I can’t wait to show the kids the medal, they will be so
pleased”. “It is important to teach children from a young
age the value of self-discipline and regular physical
exercise".
As well as leading the BAA National Squad and running
Tanseikan with Vanda, David is also a Special Adviser for
the Association of Charity Chief Executives (ACEVO) and an
Independent Assessor for Ministerial appointments. Prior to
this he was Director for Corporate Services at the National
Lottery Community Fund and has worked in senior roles in
local government and the voluntary sector. David said “I
tend to keep the professional life separate from my sporting
life but have found aikido principles very handy for dealing
with demanding Politicians!"
As to next steps, David said" I'm looking forward to
spending another two months training in Japan". " Longer
term, I hope we can all continue to strengthen the BAA
National Squad and build upon all those great performances
we saw last in Leeds championships in 2003".
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David Fielding with his partner
Vanda Fairchild when
he received an MBE for services to Aikido in the Queen's Birthday
Honours 13th June, 2004
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