Andrew Leitch
CEO and Chief Instructor
With a background in Judo, Brazilian Jujutsu, and traditional Chinese martial arts, in 2008 Andrew began practicing Aikido in Canada. Lead by his passion for the art, he moved to Japan in 2013 at which time he began attending classes at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. Since then, he has been regularly attending the classes of Doshu, the grandson of the founder of Aikido. He currently holds a 3rd Dan certification from the Aikikai World Headquarte
In 2014 he began teaching Aikido at international schools in Tokyo part-time and then full-time from 2016. He was the technical director for an Aikido dojo operating in international schools, redesigning their program to a “learning through fun” model. With extensive swimming and first aid instructor training through the Red Cross, his method of teaching seeks to maximize both fun and skill development in a coordinated manner, with strong focus on safety. Planning and classroom organization are the pillars of his teaching method and allows the students’ enjoyment and technical progression to be enhanced. In order to have a fun class, the teachers too must be having fun, and Andrew’s light hearted and friendly approach to learning allows adults and children of all levels of skill and commitment to enjoy his classes.
Laura Ishihara
Instructor
Laura Ishihara (2nd Dan) started practicing Aikido at Hombu Dojo, the Aikikai World Headquarters in 2009. Following an injury in K-1 boxing, Laura became interested in the philosophy and application of internal martial arts and traveled to China to study Xin Yi Ba (Shaolin Kung Fu) and Tai-chi. However, the path of Japanese martial art (budō) was strongly calling and she decided to pursue training in Aikido at Hombu Dojo. Living in San Fransisco for graduate school (M.A. Counseling Psychology), she then trained at the 11th Street Dojo under James Friedman Sensei (6th Dan), where she got the chance to be an uchideshi (live-in disciple). Back now in Japan, she works with a great team of passionate instructors at Zenten Aikido and trains regularly at Hombu Dojo and other dojos in Tokyo.
Karina Kaczmarczyk
Instructor
Karina started her aikido adventure at the end of 2017. There she met her first sensei, who ran a small, hand-built dojo at the foot of the mountains. She came to Japan for the first time in May 2018, where she was Uchi Deshi at Iwama Dojo with her Sensei. After moving to Japan in 2019, she also started training at Hombu Dojo and other dojos in Tokyo. Currently her main sensei is Shigemi Inagaki Sensei (8th Dan) who teaches at the Ibaraki Branch Dojo in Iwama.
Matthew Wiegand
Instructor
Matthew began working with young people as counselor at YMCA Camp Wapsie, in rural Iowa, in 1996 and has continued to work with young people in outdoor education and schools since. He began studying Aikido in 1998 at the University of California at Santa Cruz. While at UCSC he traveled to Aikido Hombu Dojo in Tokyo for fieldwork in Cultural Anthropology writing his Honors Thesis about Aikido in Japan. From 2001 to 2014 he continued to practice Aikido traveling to seminars around the USA, while mainly practicing at the University of Iowa Aikikai.
In the summer of 2014 he returned to Japan on an Aikido pilgrimage that brought him again to Aikido Hombu Dojo as well as the Kumano-Juku dojo in Shingu, Wakayama. At that time he knew he wanted to spend his life in Japan and returned to Iowa with a mission to learn Japanese. He transferred to Meiji University, where he studied the history Japanese Martial arts with Susumu Nagao.He has taught Aikido at the University of Aikido, and Scattergood Friends School in the USA and as a guest instructor for children’s Aikido at Fairfield Aikido in Iowa and Chuo-ku Aikido in Tokyo. He is very happy to be a part of the Zenten Aikido Team. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Waseda University in Applied Linguistics and Computer Assisted Language Learning.
Noriko kume
Office Associate
After working for a law firm in Tokyo for more than 10 years, Noriko worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Noriko is currently responsible for the administration of Zenten Aikido.
Valentin Apostolov
Instructor
Valentin has been training in Aikido since the age of 9 in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. He has participated in various seminars throughout Europe and has specific knowledge in buki waza following the lines of Morihiro Saito Sensei and Kazuo Chiba Sensei and their disciples. Wanting to further develop his martial skills, Valentin came to Japan as an international student. He is now training regularly at the Aikido World Headquarters and deepening his knowledge about Japanese culture and language. Valentin recently got promoted as a 4th Dan.
Tadgh Coughlan
Volunteer Instructor
Tadgh, our youngest instructor, began his Aikido training in his hometown of Cork, Ireland when he was 17. He then moved to Japan to train in Aikido at the AIkikai Hombu Dojo .
He received both his first and second Dan gradings from the world headquarters where he trains regularly, twice a day 6 days a week! Tadgh has been involved with teaching children Aikido in Tokyo’s international school circuit for two years with various schools. His enthusiastic and warm-hearted approach encourages students to do their best every time he steps on the mats.
Catalina Von Crayen
Volunteer Instructor
Catalina (short Lina) von Crayen holds an MA on the topic of “Body and Language” from the University of Lausanne and later published several articles within a postgraduate project on the same topic. During her undergraduate studies, she started to study dance and authentic movement in order to inform her studies from a more physical perspective. She was advised by her dance instructor to learn Aikido in order to improve her posture and started practicing at the Aikido Schule Bern under Renata Jocic Sensei (6th Dan) and Dragisa Jocic Sensei (7th Dan) in Switzerland. For 3years, Catalina also practiced Shisui Ryu Karate under Marco Marffy Sensei (6th Dan) in Switzerland. She took her Shodan examination in Aikido in summer 2018. She is a certified Swiss Youth & Sports instructor. Currently, she is a language teacher at the Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama. She still sometimes works freelance as a journalist.