Jim has been training in the martial arts for over 34 years. Born in Los Angeles in 1953 into a military family Jim’s first exposure to martial arts was in Okinawa where he witnessed Judo at the Air Base gymnasium and Sumo on TV. In 1973 his family settled in California and Jim began his martial arts studies under the late Sifu Bill Steele, a direct student of the famous San Francisco Hung Gar kung fu Master Y.C. Wong. After about 5 years of study Jim relocated to the California Central Valley, which led to finding Sensei Dang Thong Tri the art of Aikido. He began his study under Tri Sensei traveling one hour to Sacramento to pursue his new found passion for this wonderful martial art.

 

After ten years of study Jim opened his own school to further his exploration of the deeper meaning of Aikido. With the passing of Tri Sensei in 1995 he trained under various teachers until he met Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan. Ikeda Sensei opened the door to an even deeper exploration of Aikido’s core principles and allowed Jim access to who would become his biggest influence in Aikido, Mitsugi Saotome Shihan.

 

Soon after opening the school Jim found that there was a void in his training. Although in Aikido there is some training in Japanese sword there were elements that were missing in his training that he longed to explore. In his search for these elements as they pertained to the sword he discovered Toshishiro Obata Sensei and his art of Shinkendo. So in 1992 he began his training under Obata Sensei and has since been exploring the connections between Aikido and Japanese swordsmanship.