My Journey in Mindfulness.

I WAS BORN IN MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin to an Irish Mom and an American Dad. After nine years of living in the US, we moved to Ireland where I lived until 2003 when I returned to America with my wife and two children.

Throughout my life, I've been fascinated with the martial arts and trained with some of the world’s most renowned masters of Japanese Karate and Jiujitsu. Yoshihiko Iwasaki, Masafumi Shiomitsu and Tatsuo Suzuki were huge influences in my life. In particular, Master Shiomitsu who inspired me to follow my path with courage and determination. These men told me that if I wanted to master martial arts, I must practice the form of Zen meditation called “Shikentaza” or “focused sitting” which I practiced daily during my teens, through college, and throughout my business career.

I was a quiet, somewhat shy, un-athletic teenager. But I pushed myself to compete in Karate tournaments despite my fear and anxiety. Karate tournaments in those days were not the controlled game they are today. You stood an excellent chance of breaking an arm or even losing your teeth. The training at the Dojo leading up to a tournament was even worse. The fighting was bare-knuckle, bloody and brutal. It was my meditation practice that helped me survive and to develop the right mindset to become Irish National Karate Champion and European Champion on several occasions.

As a young man, I was hungry to learn everything I could about meditation. At first I studied Zen with martial-arts master Tatsuo Suzuki who was a Zen student of Gempo Yamamoto and Soyen Nakagawa, two of Japan’s most renowned Zen masters. I continued Zen practice with other martial-arts masters such as Yoshihiko Iwasaki and the legendary Masafumi Shiomitsu. I had the honor of training with Alain Liebman Roshi of Taisen Deshimaru’s Soto Zen lineage and Bhakti Yoga with Prithu Das of the Vedantic tradition. I also studied Tibetan Buddhism and received initiation from Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, abbot of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. When moved back to the USA in 2003, I was very fortunate to have received personal instruction and guidance from Claude Anshin Thomas, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman of the Zen Peacemaker Order.

I have completed over 19,000 hours of mindfulness practice and teaching since 1978.

Qualifications and Achievements

• Meditation and mindfulness practice since 1978
• BA Visual Communication, Design and Marketing
• BA Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine
• Over 30 years of business consulting
• Certified Wado-Ryu Karate Instructor since 1982
• Irish National Karate Champion in 1982, ’84, ’85, ’92
• European Wado-Ryu Karate Champion 2000, 2002
• Sotai–Japanese therapeutic stretching
• Personal Coaching

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Contact —
Ph: 083 8072908
Email: tyrone@parduemindfulness.com