Instructors

Michael Tsuchida Sensei (2nd Dan)

Brian S. Boon Sensei (2nd Dan)

Tsuchida Sensei spent over a decade on active duty with the US Army, initially working on test design and testing of ordnance systems, and later instrumentation and information systems at medical research laboratories and medical centers. In the private sector, he has worked on system analysis, design and engineering of digital devices and information networks in numerous industries around the country. Currently, he works as the administrative officer for a small medical training company in Gig Harbor that teaches advanced field medical procedures.

Tsuchida Sensei began studying Yoshinkan Aikido as a child at the Honbu Dojo (world headquarters) in Tokyo, Japan. This study continued and intensified through his junior high and high school years, which included becoming a “live-in” student at the Honbu Dojo during his high school summers. In 1971 prior to leaving Japan for college in the US, he was awarded his 2nd Dan. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was fortunate to be able to continue practicing and teaching as the primary instructor at the university’s Yoshinkan Aikido Club.

After graduating from college, Tsuchida Sensei’s career in both the US Army and the private sector limited, but did not preclude, some opportunities to continue his training at various locations around the country. He was able to return to regular practice and teaching in 2011 after finding fellow Yoshinkan Aikido practitioners in Gig Harbor.

Boon Sensei is a licensed California attorney who currently practices intellectual property law. He spent the earlier part of his career managing contracts for engineering, construction, and oil & gas projects.

Boon Sensei's interest in martial arts started at an early age, and he dabbled in several martial arts as a child. His first serious study of martial arts began in college, when he studied Tang Soo Do, a traditional Korean martial art very similar to Tae Kwon Do. He obtained a black belt and instructor's certificate in that art.

Boon Sensei has studied Yoshinkan Aikido for 13 years under instructors in four countries. In 2010, he met Mustard Shihan, and began traveling to Canada twice a month to train under him. In 2012, he moved to the UK and spent two years studying under one of Mustard Sensei's most talented protégés, Neil Saunders Sensei, in Bexley, United Kingdom. Boon Sensei received his 2nd Dan prior to leaving the UK and returning to Gig Harbor, WA in September, 2014.