SOA Certified Instructor Bio’s
Following are Certified Instructors of shintaido, currently teaching – listed alphabetically.
To find current classes, please check the Where to Practice page.
Shin Aoki
Shin grew up in a Shintaido family in Yokohama, Japan. He practiced Judo before taking up open-hand core Shintaido and bojutsu in Tokyo. Shin moved to San Francisco in 1988 and continued Shintaido study under H.F. Ito, Michael Thompson, and Jim Sterling. Since 1997 he has taught karate and kenjutsu at an outdoor dojo at Lake Temescal in Oakland. He is a chiropractor in his daily life. He remains curious about the healing potential of Shintaido and its impact on health and well-being.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum general instructor (4-dan equivalent), karate 5-dan, bojutsu 4-dan, and kenjutsu 4-dan.
Contact: Please contact Derk (assistant student) at derkrichardson@att.net
Connie Borden
Connie is an RN / nurse practitioner with over 27 years of experience in hospice and palliative care. Her work bridges martial arts, healthy movement, and compassionate care. She fosters a safe, reflective space where movement and mindfulness support healing. Connie is married with two adult children. She began studying shintaido in 1984, was a lifelong student of Master H.F. Ito (co-founder of Shintaido of America), and is current president of SOA. Before studying shintaido she earned a black belt in taekwondo.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum doshu (5-dan equivalent), karate 1-dan, bojutsu 3-dan, and kenjutsu 4-dan.
Contact: Connie at bordensheets@aol.com
Robert Gaston
Robert began teaching shintaido 40 years ago while in the U.S. Navy and since then has led weekly classes in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began studying shintaido in 1982 and was a lifelong student of Master H.F. Ito (co-founder of Shintaido of America). He is chair of SOA’s National Technical Committee and serves on the International Technical Committee. Rob is a retired special ed teacher and a milieu therapist of 25 years, focusing on students with learning impairments and classroom behavior issues.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum senior instructor (3-dan equivalent), kenjutsu 4-dan, bojutsu 4-dan, karate 1-dan.
Contact: Robert at robertgaston0@gmail.com
Lee Ordeman
Lee has taught shintaido for more than 30 years and has led weekly classes in Tokyo, Washington DC, Syracuse, and Baltimore. He studied with masters Michael Thompson, H.F. Ito, Mitsuru Okada, and shintaido founder Hiroyuki Aoki. Periodically Lee guest-instructs at El Haddawi movement theater company in Germany, collaborating with founder Sufi Sheik Ingo Taleb Rashid. Lee trained with Tokyo-based choreographer Kei Takei and performed internationally with her dance company, Moving Earth. He is a freelance writer, holds an MFA in acting, and acts professionally.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum senior instructor (3-dan equivalent), kenjutsu 3-dan, bojutsu 1-dan.
Contact: Lee O. at leeordeman@gmail.com
Jennifer Peringer
Jennifer has always loved to move and make music. She studied dance as a child, Taikwondo as a teenager, and discovered Shintaido on a beautiful beach in Wales as a young adult. She has been studying and teaching shintaido ever since in both Europe and the United States. Meanwhile her diverse musical adventures have led to her current career as a pianist. Her life has been greatly enriched by shintaido’s aesthetic beauty, athletic rigor, cultural authenticity, spiritual depth, and focus on community.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum senior instructor (3-dan equivalent), bojutsu 4-dan, karate 2-dan.
Contact: Jennifer at 415-606-8710 / peringerjennifer@gmail.com
Lee Seaman
Lee began her practice of Shintaido in 1976 in Tokyo. She studied with founder Master Hiroyuki Aoki and Master Masashi Minagawa until returning to the U.S., where she continued a remote practice with Master H.F. Ito and the San Francisco Bay group while co-leading classes in Eastern Oregon and later in Bellingham, Washington. She has served on the Shintaido of America Board of Directors, is a member of SOA’s National Technical Committee, and helps out with Japanese-English translation and interpreting. She currently teaches Shintaido as moving meditation in Bellingham, where she runs a medical writing business focused on Japanese clients.
Qualifications: Shintaido core curriculum senior instructor (3-dan equivalent), bojutsu 2-dan.
Contact: Lee Seaman at lseaman@seamanmedical.com
If you have any questions about information on this page, please contact SOA at: info@shintaido.org.
Join our Mailing List.