Curriculum vitae · K. Richard Jacobsen
Never the straight path. Always my own.
Embodiment trainer, Qi Gong teacher, aikidoka and former chef. More than 35 years of working with people, in kitchens from Switzerland to Tanzania and on the mat in the Netherlands, Japan and the Czech Republic. This is the route that led me to this work.
Profile
First the kitchen, then the mat.
I trained as a chef and spent more than 25 years working internationally in hospitality. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, England, France, Tanzania, the Czech Republic and Ethiopia.
A kitchen on a busy night is one of the most honest places to learn how people work together under pressure. Nobody has time for a good story, you only see what someone does. That is where my way of seeing took shape, long before I had a name for it.
Alongside the kitchen there was always a second track: Reiki in the late nineties, the Enneagram in 2003, Qi Gong, shiatsu, healing foods, and Aikido from 2003 onwards. In 2017 I earned my first dan and my Qi Gong teaching diploma, and in 2018 I lived as uchi deshi in Patrick Cassidy's dojo in Montreux. Between 2017 and 2022 I immersed myself in shamanic and ritual work in the Czech Republic.
In 2019 I made the switch for good. Since then I have facilitated retreats, workshops, training and coaching, and I only cook when it is part of the programme: soul food, seasonal and made with care.
Expertise
What I'm good at.
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Embodiment and somatic facilitation
Body-oriented work with teams and individuals: fascia, breath, nervous system, movement.
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Team dynamics and collaboration under pressure
Making visible how a team functions and where it gets stuck or picks up speed, on the mat and in the meeting room.
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Aikido and movement practice
Timing, body language and redirecting force. 1st Dan, international dojo experience in the Japanese tradition.
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Qi Gong and energy work
Regulation, breath and focus. International Qi Gong teacher (Dao Heart), Reiki I and II.
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Ritual and retreat facilitation
Designing and guiding rituals, retreats and workshops in the Netherlands and across Europe.
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Soul food and mindful cooking
Seasonal, local food prepared with care, as part of healing and leadership journeys.
Education and training
A route in years.
No university degree. Decades of practice instead, in disciplines with their own internationally recognised training paths.
Ongoing Aikido and Qi Gong
Training with various international teachers. Member of the Beweeg Alliance.
Play Fight and somatic movement training
Playful contact and resistance as a way into bodywork. The foundation of Medicine Body.
Uchi deshi, Aikido Montreux
Live-in student at the dojo of sensei Patrick Cassidy (7th Dan). Training every day, cleaning every day.
1st Dan Aikido
Shodan under sensei Wilco Vriesman, recognised by the Aikikai in Tokyo. The certificate hangs in the dojo.
Dao Heart International Qi Gong Teacher Training
Diploma. Preceded by Chi Neng Qi Gong level 1 (2005) at the Chi Neng Institute.
Shamanic wisdom and ritual work
A multi-year programme with Petr Kohl, Czech Republic. Rituals as a way for a group to close something or to begin something.
Shiatsu and Healing Foods, Qing Bai Academy
Massage and nutrition based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, Amersfoort.
Emotional intelligence
Self-study based on the work of Dr Roy Martina.
Enneagram retreat
With Willem Jan van de Wetering. The beginning of what later became The Embodiment of the Enneagram.
Reiki I and II
The first track alongside the kitchen.
Career
Where I've worked.
Two careers that became one in 2019.
Hospitality, 1985 to 2019. Operational and management roles in restaurants, hotels and special venues in eight countries. High pressure, teamwork and constant coordination in real time. Specialised in seasonal, local and mindfully prepared food, which I later came to call soul food.
Training, coaching and facilitation, 2019 to present. Embodiment seminars, retreats and workshops in the Netherlands and Europe. Flow Motion and constellations for teams and leaders, Medicine Body, Qi Gong sessions and sound sessions. Soul food rituals as part of group processes and leadership journeys. Author of three books.
Certificate
First dan, recognised in Tokyo.
I earned my shodan under sensei Wilco Vriesman. The certificate was issued by the Aikikai Foundation in Tokyo and signed by doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, grandson of the founder of Aikido.
How I work
Bringing it all together: one way of working.
The work happens in the practice of interaction: directly, with whatever is happening in the moment itself.
Whether I'm guiding a movement session, cooking for a retreat or leading a ritual, it is always about presence, contact and listening well. Aikido brings strength and flow, Qi Gong brings softness, the Enneagram insight and food care. Together they form one living system for how people develop.
I'm looking for collaborations and projects that take the body seriously, that treat food as something sacred and that believe in the power of a good ritual.
Contact
Start with a conversation.
A free half-hour conversation is enough to hear what is going on in your team or with you. I'll tell you honestly whether I think I can help and which format would fit. Sometimes the answer is that someone else is a better fit.
Book an introduction