Chye is an aikido specialist who, having successfully completed the IMAS Instructors Award, decided to take the next step and enrolled upon our Graduate programme. Having the necessary background and experience Chye chose to take the research route (as opposed to the taught course method)which meant many, many months of hard work pouring over all the available literature and conducting in-depth interviews with various senior grade aikido sensei in Europe, Japan and elsewhere and then penning a lengthy research project (which eventually consisted of almost 40 000 words!) and submitting this for critical review and evaluation. Chye was then subjected to a viva voce (oral exam) during which he had to answer several questions regarding his work and defend the arguments put forward within it in an eloquent confident and competent manner. Chye managed to pass this exam, as well as satisfying all the other rigorous requirements, to achieve the qualification and now joins a handful of others in the right to proudly use the designatory Grad. IMAS after his name.