Owner/Chief Instructor, Paul Sensei
(Paul Neuman)
I was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. My Aikido training began in 1988 at Renfrew Dojo under Yukio Kawahara Sensei, Chief Instructor of the Canadian Aikido Federation, he was teaching the majority of the classes during the week. I moved to Tokyo in 1994 to continue training at the Aikikai Foundation-Aikido World Headquarters and have been very fortunate to train under some of the best teachers around. I met my wife doing Aikido, two of my three kids do Aikido, and I am the luckiest guy in the world to do what I love. In January of 2011, I was promoted to 5th Dan (5th-degree black belt) by Seijuro Masuda Sensei of the Aikido World Headquarters.
C.F.O., Instructor, Tamayo Sensei
(Tamayo Neuman)
I was born in Shinjuku and started Aikido 28 years ago at the Aikido World Headquarters. I hold the rank of 2nd Dan and learned about the Aikido mind of peace, beauty, and harmony, and the strength of respect from my father. He is a 7th Dan and has been training since I was very young and is still training. I have always been closely involved in Pacific Aikido but mainly behind the scenes. The last few years I have been more active on the mats helping Paul with the classes several times per week, I love it. I fell in love with my husband when I saw him doing Aikido so it was an easy transition to help him on the mats.
Instructor, Hiro Sensei
(Hiroyuki Tateno)
I began training Aikido in 1990 while living and working in Taiwan. My boss at the time told me to start and I am happy that he did. Thanks to him I discovered Aikido and have since devoted myself to training. In January of 2019, I was fortunate to be promoted to 6th Dan. I worked at a Japanese pharmaceutical company here and continue to train and occasionally teach classes at that company’s dojo. It is my pleasure to assist Paul Sensei with his Aikido classes. I hope we can all enjoy the world of “harmony” through Aikido.
Instructor, Kazu Sensei
(Kazuhiro Arita)
I have been practicing Aikido for 41 years and am ranked 7th Dan by the Aikikai Foundation. I was the Chief Instructor of the Hong Kong Aikido Association in 2003. I was a coach at the Gakushuin University Aikido Club in Japan from 2014 to 2016. I lived in Cambodia in 2017 and 2018 as a JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Senior Volunteer during which time I was the instructor for the Cambodia Aikido Association. I started at Pacific Aikido in July of 2019 and am happy to be a part of the Pacific Aikido team.
Training Assistant, Spike Sensei
(Rossano “Spike” Kapauan)
My interest in Aikido began when I was watching an NHK World show featuring the different martial arts of Japan. I was fascinated by the philosophy of Aikido being non-competitive and non-aggressive. I started Aikido in 1989 at the Manila Aikido Club (est. 1963) in the Philippines. When I started to work in Japan for NEC in 1998, I made sure that I would continue my training to which I still do now and earned my 5th Dan in 2016. It is an honor to be part of Paul Sensei’s Pacific Aikido team.
Senior students
We are very fortunate to have a number of long-term, skilled Aikido practitioners who assist with the younger kids classes with those hours counting towards testing. The experience also helps them with their own training and gives the younger students the opportunity the best possible instruction we can provide. Along with our team of regular instructors, our senior students are an integral the Pacific Aikido team.