Kokoro Dojo Instructor
Larry Bardach Sensei 5/30/1953 – Present
4th Dan Aikikai. Training since1975, Larry Bardach has studied under many renowned teachers. His training was solidified from 1981 – 1982 when as a student living under the tutelage of Morihiro Saito Sensei in Iwama Japan he received the ranks of shodan and nidan. Under Saito Sensei he received extensive training in Aiki-Ken and Aiki-Jo. Over the years he returned to Iwama to train under Saito Sensei. Bardach Sensei also trained under Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei in New York City for five years, and thereafter with several highly-ranked instructors in the California San Francisco Bay area. He was promoted to sandan and yondan under Pat Hendricks Sensei, 6th. Dan Aikikai. He has also been receiving training and guidance from Louis Jumonville Sensei, 5th. Dan Aikikai. He follows a yogic spiritual practice and has traveled to India to study meditation. He is a pediatric occupational therapist by profession. Bardach Sensei seeks to train and teach earnestly with a sense of vitality, enthusiasm, joy and warmth.
Teacher's Lineage
O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba 12/14/1883 – 4/26/1969
Morihei Ueshiba intensely studied various sword fighting and jujutsu styles. He became famous as a highly skilled martial artist and renown for his strength. He was also a deeply religious person and studied esoteric Buddhism and Japan’s ancient spiritual path of Shinto. In 1919 he started developing The Way of Harmonizing Ki after he had turned toward the spiritual teaching of the Omoto religion. In 1942, in the middle of World War II, O’Sensei named his new martial art AIKIDO. He moved to the country town of Iwama where he continued to practice, teach, and refine Aikido until he passed away in 1969.
Morihiro Saito Shihan 3/31/1928 – 5/13/2002
9th Dan Aikikai. An Iwama native, Morihiro Saito started training in Aikido in 1946 and became, not only a student, but a close confidant of O-Sensei for 23 years. After the founder’s passing, Morihiro Saito Shihan was put in charge of the Iwama Dojo and became the guardian of the Aiki-Shrine.
Today, he is known for his books, his clear and structured way of teaching, and the organization of the huge number of techniques and preservation of O-Sensei’s empty hands and weapon’s techniques that comprise IWAMA-RYU AIKIDO.
Pat Hendricks Sensei 9/25/1956 – Present
6th Dan Aikikai. In 1975 Pat Hendricks started her Aikido career in Monterey, California. Since 1977 she has traveled frequently to Japan to study as a live-in student under Saito Sensei in Iwama. Her own dojo, Aikido of San Leandro attracts students from all over the world, including Japan. Hendricks Sensei holds the highest degree in Aiki-Ken and Aiki-Jo Certification and is certified to test in the United States. Hendricks Sensei is one of Morihiro Saito Shihan’s top representatives in the world and assisted him in numerous demonstrations and translations around the world and in Japan.
Louis Jumonville Sensei 3/24/1959 – Present
Louis Jumonville Sensei 5th Dan Aikikai, Dojo Cho, and Chief Instructor of Hikari Dojo has been training in the martial arts for over 30 years. He has trained extensively in Japan, at the founder’s original dojo under Morihiro Saito Shihan, guardian of the Aiki-Shrine. In 1991, at the founder’s dojo in Iwama, Morihiro Saito presented Jumonville Sensei with the 3rd and 4th level Aiki-Ken and Aiki-Jo Transmission Scrolls authorizing him to teach the Aiki-staff and Aiki-sword.
