Mary heiny biography

When Mary Heiny was born in 1798, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Jacob Lear II, was 11795 and her mother, Lydia Ulrich, was 42. She married Jacob Hildebrand about 1818, in Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. She lived in Jackson Township, Wayne, Indiana, United States in 1850. She died on 25 September 1849, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 51, and was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States.

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Dear Friends of Mary Heiny Sensei,

Mary Heiny Sensei needs a hip replacement and we are writing to ask for your help. Heiny Sensei's intense training in Japan as a young woman and all the years of dedicated teaching have taken a toll on her body. Those of you who have had the opportunity to see her in the last few years are undoubtedly aware that she has been struggling with the pain of a failing left hip. Cortisone, alternative therapies and sheer willpower have kept her on her feet until now but the situation has reached a critical point. If she does not have her hip replaced she will lose her livelihood and we will lose access to one of Aikido's most passionate teachers.

Heiny Sensei's situation is difficult at best. She, as you may know, has led a non-traditional life (see attached bio for more details). Her career as an independent teacher of Aikido has never earned her more than a modest living and she is not eligible for the highly subsidized employment-based health insurance that gives many of us peace of mind. Although she has recently obtained minimal health insurance through the State of Washington, it is not all clear if that policy will cover a hip replacement, or how soon; the policy has a nine month waiting period for pre-existing conditions and hip replacements are not automatically covered. Heiny Sensei is currently struggling with a large and indifferent bureaucracy trying to obtain answers.

Since obtaining the hip replacement in Seattle is far from guaranteed, Heiny Sensei is pursuing a second option as well; having the surgery in Thailand. Although that may be surprising to some of you, it turns out that Thailand has become a prime destination for people in Mary's situation. An entire health tourism industry exists and state-of-the art facilities with highly trained staff are available. Moreo

To my Aikido family and friends,

Who knew that one day we would wake up in a Kafka novel. The world seems chaotic, unpredictable, dangerous, frightening, and bizarre. More than ever we who practice Aikido must use the art for its purpose of developing people of uplifted character who can remain centered, calm and compassionate while dealing with widely varying and unpredictable circumstances. Now most of us cannot even practice together physically and are adapting to the ways modern technology allows us to stay connected and growing. For me Zoom has been amazing. From just seeing the faces of friends as we talk together to taking classes from other Aikido teachers to developing some new classes to offer students it has been daunting and yet empowering. I hope it and other technologies are helping you all also stay connected and learning.

Please stay healthy and strong. I look forward to when we can be together again on the mat.

Mary

News

Heiny Sensei is offering new sessions of her class on Shinkokyu.  Please click here for more information. 

For fifty years, Mary Heiny Sensei has followed a path of physical and spiritual inspiration as a student and teacher of Aikido. She started this journey in 1965 after watching O'Sensei teach a class at Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan. The effect of this first encounter has inspired her through long hours of training and study.

"As I watched, a part of me could not believe what I was seeing and sought a rational explanation while another part of me understood immediately that this man had attained a profound understanding of nature and possessed amazing power."

After studying at Hombu Dojo from 1968 to 1973 with O'Sensei's direct students and with Hikitsuchi Sensei, 10th dan, in Shingu, Heiny Sensei returned to the United States and began teaching at the University of California in Santa Cruz. In 1976, she went to Seattle and opened Seattle School of Aikido. After nine years, she turned that dojo over to her students and left to begin another journey.

"I worked to develop an atmosphere in which students would, with me, approach Aikido as a living process to be engaged in rather than merely a series of rigidly unvarying forms to memorize. I emphasized that the techniques of Aikido are intended as tools for us to use in examining the nature of power, to engage in uncompromising self-scrutiny, and to realize our potential as powerful, compassionate, creative, self-aware human beings. I also emphasized that good technique is necessary to accomplish this. Diligent physical training must be combined with a thoughtful examination so that lessons of one's life inform one's training."

Sensei was invited to the Ottawa Aikikai in Canada in 1987 where she worked for three years developing the club into a full time dojo. When the school had grown to her satisfaction, she handed it over and embarked on another period of personal training and increased activity in teaching seminars and workshops in Canada, the US, and Europe. In 2001, Heiny Sen