Ishu Ishiyama Sensei is the Chief Instructor of Vancouver West Aikikai. Originally from Osaka, Japan, he has studied Aikido since 1968 with master teachers, including Bansen Tanaka (Osaka Aikikai), Kanai, Kawahara, Yamada, Tohei, and Chiba Shihans, and more recently Tada Shihan in Japan. He has been teaching Aikido in Canada since 1973. He is interested in fostering personal and spiritual development among his students and creating a mature dojo community while pursuing intense martial awareness and technical accuracy in training.
In 2023 Ishiyama Sensei celebrated 50 years of teaching Aikido in Canada.
Scott Macphail, 7 dan, Shihan
Victoria Aikikai
Scott Macphail Sensei has been practicing and teaching for over 45 years, starting with Gary Mols Sensei at the UVic Aikido Club, and continuing with Ishiyama Shihan, Kawahara Shihan, and now Osawa Shihan. In 1986, Macphail Sensei became Chief Instructor of Victoria Aikikai. He has attended summer camps and seminars taught by a variety of Shihan. For several months he lived and practiced In Japan. He was granted the title of Shihan by Hombu Dojo in 2023, and promoted to 7th dan in 2024.
Bob Moline, 6 dan, Shihan
Victoria Aikikai
Bob Moline Sensei joined Victoria Aikikai under Ishiyama Sensei in 1979. When Ishiyama Sensei moved to Vancouver he continued under his successor, Macphail Sensei. He moved to Dryden in 1990 and started Dryden Aikikai. On his return to Victoria in 2005 he rejoined Victoria Aikikai. In April of 2025 he was awarded the honourific of Shihan.
Hilary Dawson, 6 dan, Shidoin
UVic Aikido Club
Hilary Dawson Sensei started with Judo in university and switched to Aikido in 1977 in Halifax. After moving to Victoria, she continued her training under the guidance of Kawahara Shihan and was a direct student of Ishiyama Shihan for 7 years. She has taught children's, beginners' and women's programmes. Since 1987 she has been the Chief Instructor of the UVic Aikido Club.
Pat Olson, 6 dan, Shidoin
Okanagan Aikikai
Pat Olson Sensei started Aikido in Saskatoon with Makoto Ohtsu Sensei in 1981. She received her gokyu rank from Kawahara Sensei in 1982; he was then visiting every year to give seminars. Kawahara Sensei remained Olson sensei's teacher until his death in 2011, at which time Olson sensei's rank was yondan.
After moving to Kelowna, Olson Sensei trained with Jobe Groot Sensei, who had opened Okanagan Aikikai, and subsequently with Kawahara Shihan, and now Osawa Shihan.
In 2023 Olson Sensei was promoted to 6th dan, and she and her husband moved back to Saskatoon where she still practices Aikido at Saskatoon Aikikai.
Liz McKinlay, 6 dan, Shidoin
Vancouver West Aikikai
Liz McKinlay Sensei has trained with Ishiyama Sensei since 1979, and is Vancouver West Aikikai's Deputy Dojo-Cho. McKinlay Sensei instructs the popular Children’s Classes. She did 6 years of Judo before switching to Aikido. McKinlay Sensei worked for over 30 years in Human Resources using the Aikido principles of harmony and blending to handle the stresses of collective bargaining, grievances and workplace conflict.
Bruce Riddick, 6 dan, Shidoin
Vancouver West Aikikai
Bruce Riddick Sensei has been training for over 30 years. His principal instructors have been Macphail Sensei, Paris Sensei, Kawahara Shihan and Ishiyama Shihan. He regularly attends 8 to 12 intensive training workshops per year in Canada, the US and overseas with a wide range of well-known master instructors. He is primarily interested in helping others and emphasizes harmony while still paying attention to details.
John Petersen, 6 dan, Shidoin
Shawnigan Lake Aikikai
John Petersen Sensei has been practicing for over 30 years under Gary Mols Sensei, Ishiyama Shihan, Macphail Sensei and Moline Sensei. He attended many of Kawahara Shihan’s seminars over the years as well as seminars from international instructors.
Mike Chin, 5 dan, Shidoin
SanShuKan Aikikai Victoria
Mike Chin Sensei has been training for over 30 years in a variety of martial arts, but principally in Aikido. His primary instructors have been Macphail Sensei, Ishiyama Shihan, Kawahara Shihan and now Osawa Shihan. Chin Sensei believes through understanding Technique and exercise of the Body, martial arts training cultivates true humanity, recognizable by its strength and compassion – that is, by the disposition of its Heart.
Mike Smorhay, 5 dan, Shidoin
Simon Fraser Aikikai
Michael Smorhay Sensei has been practicing Aikido since 1982, first with Liz McKinlay Sensei in Terrace and then with Macphail Sensei, Larry Detweiler Sensei and Moline Sensei in Victoria. Always under the watchful eyes of Kawahara Shihan and Ishiyama Shihan, Smorhay Sensei first taught at the University of Victoria, and then in Vancouver upon opening the Simon Fraser University Aikido Club in 1996.
Kim Riddick, 5 dan, Shidoin
North Delta Aikikai
Kim Riddick Sensei has practiced Aikido for more than 30 years. His most influential teachers are Kawahara Shihan and Osawa Shihan. He practiced at Hombu Dojo for three years, attending classes by Doshu, Seki, Miyamoto, and Osawa Shihans. Riddick Sensei believes that Aikido enhances your quality of life by moving your body and working with a partner. Becoming proficient in Aikido, you improve your well-being and have a positive influence on others.
Zoran Krunic, 5 dan, Shidoin
Vancouver Aikikai
Zoran Krunic Sensei has been practicing Aikido for over 30 years. He studied under Fujimoto Shihan and, after moving to Canada, under Kawahara Shihan. In the course of his Aikido studies he attended many seminars by leading Aikido teachers, including Tada Sensei and Tamura Sensei. He is the Chief Instructor of Vancouver Aikikai.
Ramin Arvin, 5 dan, Shidoin
Vancouver West Aikikai
Ramin Arvin Sensei, 5th dan, started Aikido at the Central YMCA (Shugyo Dojo) in Toronto with Fran Turner Sensei. Later he became a live-in student (uchideshi) with Donavan Waite Sensei. Arvin Sensei co-founded Naka Ima Aikikai in Toronto. Currently he trains at Vancouver West Aikikai (VWA) under Ishiyama Shihan, and is the VWA-dispatched instructor for the New Westminster dojo (VWA’s branch dojo).
Arvin Sensei enjoys teaching and practicing in the BCAF community, pursuing similar goals in practice with same-minded people. For him, Aikido is about contact, continuous growth, and learning. In aikido, we fall down and get up again, make mistakes and adjust. The dojo is a laboratory space to explore how to use the body efficiently, with minimal effort, to establish awareness in the body and mind.
Photo: Russ Gorman (c) 2022
Grant Babin, 5 dan, Shidoin
Aikidaily International Academy
Grant Babin Sensei, 5th dan, began training in 1997 with Michael St. Germain Sensei and in 2003 with Tony Hind Shihan.
He began overseeing the direction of the Saltspring Aikido club in 2008.
Between 2010 and 2016 he lived in Tokyo for 4.5 years. He received daily instruction from teachers there including Hayato Osawa Shihan, the technical director of the Canadian Aikido Federation. He is a close student of Takeshi Kanazawa Shihan of Hombu dojo; and still travels to receive his instruction.
In 2016 he returned to Canada and opened Aikidaily in Squamish, BC. To this day he still travels to partake in classes.
Martin Moreau, 4 dan, Shidoin
Rock Water Aikikai
Martin Moreau Sensei began his training on September 19, 1994 at the Camosun Aikido Club, under George Khouri Sensei. Less than a year later, Moreau Sensei joined the Victoria Aikido Centre under Scott Macphail Sensei, where he trained and taught extensively for 25 years. He was fortunate to receive regular instruction from Kawahara Shihan, Ishiyama Shihan and many other very capable instructors.
Moreau Sensei also travelled throughout Canada and the USA to train at seminars with other Shihan such as Doshu, Yamada, Kanai, Sugano, Chiba, Saotome, Bookman, Berthiaume, Tamura, Waite and more. After Kawahara Shihan’s passing in 2011, Moreau Sensei started following the teachings of Canada’s new technical director, Osawa Shihan, 8th Dan, from Hombu Dojo, Japan, and became a close student of Steve Erickson Sensei.
Moreau Sensei is passionate about teaching Aikido to the next generation. To that end, he opened Rock Water Martial Arts and Fitness Ltd. in 2020. As a professional martial artist, running a full time martial arts facility, Moreau Sensei spends countless hours training, teaching and promoting Aikido in the hopes of spreading the benefits and joy of Aikido to as many people as possible.
Valentine Kabanets, 4 dan, Shidoin
Vancouver West Aikikai
Valentine Kabanets Sensei started practicing aikido at Vancouver West Aikikai in 2005 under Ishiyama Shihan's guidance. Kabanets Sensei is Deputy Chief Instructor for Vancouver West Aikikai, and Chief Instructor for Simon Fraser University Aikikai. When teaching aikido classes, Kabanets Sensei follows the technical direction of Osawa Sensei, with emphasis on maintaining an aligned relaxed body, connection with your partner, and precision of movement.
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"Aiki is not a technique to fight with or defeat the enemy. It is the way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family."
