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San Francisco Aikikai
INSTRUCTORS
San Francisco Aikikai members benefit from the instruction of multiple talented instructors who each bring their own personal take, style and experience to the mix. This helps widen greatly the praticants views and diversify their skills.
Lauren Mallas
6th Dan Shidoin, Chief Instructor
Founding member of San Francisco Aikikai which started in 1992 under the instruction of Joel Posluns and under the auspices of both Mitsunari Kanai and Yoshimitsu Yamada.
Lauren has also practiced at Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, where she resided while attending Tokyo University. She has a particular interest in Aikido weaponry, which she has studied with Steven Kaufmann, Mitsunari Kanai and Claude Berthiaume.
Joseph Verville
6th Dan Shidoin, Dojo Cho
Verville Sensei began his aikido training at San Francisco Aikikai in 1993 under the then Chief Instructor Joel Posluns, 7th dan, Shihan, and obtained black belt in January 1999 from Y. Yamada, Shihan. He became the Chief Instructor of San Francisco Aikikai in June 2003.
As a commitment to continuing his aikido development, he regularly attends seminars with Yamada sensei, members of the USAF technical committee, other USAF shidoin instructors, as well as other non-USAF Shihan instructors.
Alesia Kunz
6th Dan Shidoin
When she first saw people rolling in a dojo in New Mexico, she said, "I want my body to do that." In 1979 she moved to New York, climbed the narrow stairs of New York Aikikai and signed up. After earning shodan from Y. Yamada Sensei, 8th Dan Shihan she moved to California and taught at San Francisco State and the Women's Aikido School of San Francisco. She has been teaching and practicing at San Francisco Aikikai since it opened. "Practicing Aikido is joyous," she says. "I love it."
Fred Foote
6th Dan Shidoin, Instructor, Dojo General Manager
Member of San Francisco Aikikai since 1992, trained under the instruction of Joel Posluns and the auspices of both Yoshimitsu Yamada and Mitsunari Kanai.
Fred has found his 29 years of Aikido training is a major asset in maintaining good health, balance, and body flexibility. A primary interest in his teaching is how counterintuitive movements can become intuitive and natural with ongoing Aikido practice.
Steve Sandage
4th Dan Fuku-Shidoin
Steve began training at San Francisco Aikikai in 1997 under the instruction of Joel Posluns, 6th dan, Shihan. He received his Shodan from Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan in 2005, and began teaching regularly in 2010.
His teaching emphasizes principles of Aikido that exist independently of technique, but which should infuse the techniques, such as connection, timing, blending, and sensitivity.