Nebi Vural, was born in Çıldır village, Kars, Turkey on September 29, 1951. He grew up with a military discipline as his father was an army officer. Nebi Vural, who met martial arts at 15, practiced karate for 7 years. In 1972, he moved to France to continue his higher education with a scholarship. He studied mathematics and physics and economics at the university.
When he met Nobuyoshi Tamura in 1973, his Aikido journey began. He was impressed by the doctrine of Tamura sensei and decided to become his student. This was the first step of the 40-year apprenticeship. He became one of the closest students to Tamura sensei with his diligence, respect, and disciplined nature. He was always next to his teacher, carrying his bag and putting the weapons to the kamiza [1]. In addition, he traveled many times to Japan, where he had the opportunity to practice with different schools and masters.
After completing his higher education, he moved to the city of Blois, France, where he began his career as a manager in an American company. In 1980, he opened his own dojo in Blois. On the weekday he gave classes in his dojo and at the weekend he gave seminars in various cities of France. He was drawing attention with his plain and effective technique, especially with his tanto work. Thanks to his high quality and disciplined work, his name soon spread beyond France and he started receiving seminar invitations. He trained army and law enforcement officers in many countries. He was in charge of technical responsibility for many years in the French Federation (FFAB) founded by Tamura sensei. In 1999, he founded the Eurasia Aikido Organization and gathered many dojos from Europe and Asia under this umbrella.
In 2008, Aikido and Budo Federation was founded under the Nebi Vural’s technical consultancy (Today it is the largest organization in Turkey with 8,000 members.) [3]. By Nebi Vural’s invitation, his master Nobuyoshi Tamura gave a seminar in Turkey in 2009. On the recommendation of Tamura sensei, he launched the International Aikido Festival, a project aimed at gathering all the world aikido practitioners. Unfortunately, Tamura Sensei did not have enough time to see the Festival held in 2011. However, his desire has been fulfilled, and over 300 Aikido practitioner from over 20 countries meet in the same mat every year under the technical consultancy of Nebi Vural [4]. The festival, which has become a tradition, continues to be held in Ankara every year.
After the Tamura sensei passed away in 2010, Nebi Vural decided to continue his path freely. In spite of all the efforts of the aikido groups in France and Japan, he proceeded on the path he believed, without paying any attention to pressures, without paying attention to the degree and title offered to him [5]. On his budo journey, he continued to travel the world to share the teachings and experiences he had inherited from his master, Tamura. Nebi Vural, who has the most intense seminar calendar in the world, has not broken this tempo for years (he gives seminars in a different country in all weeks except 3-4 weeks in the year). Thanks to the great responsibility he carried, the Eurasian Aikido Organization has become a huge organization operating in 4 continents and over 30 countries with 25000 active members.
He is currently traveling the world and sharing his experiences by organizing seminars, instructor classes, and summer camps. Nebi Vural explains that his most important task is to train high-quality aikido instructors.
[1] Eric Grousilliat, 2014, Budoshugyosha http://www.budoshugyosha.com/?p=3144
[2] http://www.era-aikido.com
[3] Aikido ve Budo Federasyonu, http://abf.org.tr/aikido-ve-budo-federasyonu/tarih%C3%A7e/
[4] International Aikido Festival, http://www.aikidofestival.com/about/
[5] Leo Tamaki, 2012, Budo no Nayami, http://www.leotamaki.com/article-nebi-vural-l-homme-libre-106228046.html