2026 Midwest Aikido Bridge Seminar
Please join us for the 2026 Midwest Aikido Bridge Seminar, March 20-22, marking the 14th year of this event. We welcome everyone, from all affiliations and lineages. The seminar will be held at the Milwaukee Shobukan, 9333 N 49th St, Brown Deer, WI 53223. For those who cannot make it to Milwaukee, we will also be live streaming the seminar.
Our Main Instructors are Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan, Meido Moore Shihan, and Lisa Tomoleoni Shihan, accompanied by Matt Lowry Sensei, Dwight Sora Sensei, and Christi Wise Sensei. There will be 12 classes over the 3 days.
In addition to in-person attendance options the seminar will also be available virtually. Participate with your dojo mates from your dojo, or train on your own from any location.
The training schedule is (all Central Times):
Friday March 20— 5:00-8:00 pm
Saturday March 21— 9:30 am-12:30 pm & 2:30-5:30 pm
Sunday March 22— 10:00 am-1:00 pm*There will be a Dinner Party at the dojo Saturday after training (such fun!!!), please register to attend.
*Also, we will hold Dan testing for Aikido Shimbokukai members Saturday at 8:30 am. Please contact us regarding this.
Registration fees are:
Early Bird (until January 31, 2026) $160 All Days (after January 31, 2026) $185
Saturday and Sunday $150
Saturday Only $125
Friday OR Sunday $75
Virtual $50Saturday Party $25Please use the PayPal link below to register. Walk-in registrations at the dojo also accepted. For those with financial constraints, a limited number of scholarships are available. If you are in that position, please contact us regarding this.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions at Shimbokukai.Events@gmail.com.
We look forward to seeing you on the mat!
Registration Open Now
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Registration Open Now 〰️
Instructors
Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan, 8 Dan, Boulder Aikikai
Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan began Aikido at Kokugakuin University Aikido Club, of which Mitsugi Saotome Shihan was the chief instructor. After graduation he trained regularly at Aikido World Headquarters and in Saotome Shihan’s Reimeijuku Dojo in Tokyo. He established Boulder Aikikai in 1980 for the study of the Japanese martial art of Aikido.The dojo is affiliated with the Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, through the Aikido Shimbokukai. Ikeda Shihan is well-known for his effective technique, and travels extensively around the world teaching. He is a member of the Grading Committee and Vice-President of Aikido Shimbokukai, and is a member of the Shihankai.
Meido Moore Shihan, 7 Dan, Korinji Budo Dojo
Meido Moore Shihan holds the rank of 7th dan, issued by the Aikido World Headquarters. He began Aikido practice in 1986 at Rutgers University, founding the Aikido club that still exists there. In 1990 he became uchideshi under the late Fumio Toyoda Shihan. Moore Shihan went on to serve as Director of Toyoda Sensei's organizations, Aikido Association of America and Aikido Association International, and dojo-cho of Ryoshinkan, the AAI headquarters. Following Toyoda Shihan's death in 2001 he founded Shinjinkai in Chicago. His teachers during this period included T.K. Chiba Shihan and Tetsuzan Kuroda Sensei. Since 2013 he has served as the abbot of Korinji, a Buddhist monastery he founded in Wisconsin, which also houses Korinji Budo Dojo. He has received inka shomei, recognition as a Rinzai Zen master, and is additionally ordained in several other Japanese Buddhist traditions. He continues to travel worldwide to teach. He is on the Board of Directors and Grading Committee of Aikido Shimbokukai and a member of the Shihankan.
Lisa Tomoleoni Shihan, 6 Dan, Abiding Spirit Aikikai
Lisa Tomoleoni Shihan holds the rank of Roku Dan (6th dan), received from Moriteru Ueshiba, Aikido Doshu. She spent over 14 years in Japan training at the Aikido World Headquarters and teaching Aikido professionally at a dojo in Tokyo. Tomoleoni Shihan is Director of Aikido Shimbokukai, an organization Officially Recognized by the Aikikai Foundation and Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and is the Chief Instructor of Abiding Spirit Aikikai. She is the head of the Grading Committee and Shihankai of Aikido Shimbokukai. She also holds yudansha ranking in Judo and Iaido and is a coauthor of the book "Along the Way", a collection of writings about training.
Matt Lowry Sensei, 4 Dan, Great Lakes Aikido, Aikido Shimbokukai
Matt Lowry Sensei has studied the martial arts consistently for over 35 years, beginning his studies in 1990 with karate, tae kwon do, and kung fu before turning his practice to Aikido in 1995. During his years of Aikido training, he has studied under Meido Moore Shihan and other instructors in the American Aikido Association, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba, Birankai, and Shimbokukai. He finds the emphasis on tai sabaki (basic body movement), maai (positioning), musubi (blending), and zanshin (balance/awareness) to be fundamental to the study of any martial art. Lowry Sensei currently holds the rank of yondan in Aikido and has been certified as a teacher (Shidoin) and is an instructor at Great Lakes Aikido.
Dwight Sora Sensei, 4 Dan, Chicago Aikikai, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba
Dwight Sora Sensei has been studying Aikido for 33 years. He began in 1993 while on an exchange program from University of Chicago to Waseda University in Tokyo, training with Waseda University Aikido Club under Hiroshi Tada Shihan. Returning home, he trained with the late Don Levine Sensei at the University of Chicago Aikido Club until graduating with a B.A. In East Asian Languages & Civilizations in 1995. Since then he has trained at the Chicago Aikikai, which has been his Aikido home ever since, excluding two short breaks, one to manage an Aikido Club at the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC). He credits his approach to Aikido to Marsha Turner Sensei (Chief Instructor, Chicago Aikikai), Joe Takehara Sensei (founding member, Illinois Aikido Club/Chicago Aikikai), and the late Kevin Choate Sensei (Chief Instructor, Chicago Aikikai, 1981-2011). Outside of Aikido, Dwight works as a freelance Japanese translator and actor, and has applied his Aikido training as an actor-combatant, fight choreographer and cultural consultant for theater/film.
Christi Wise Sensei, 3 Dan, Evanston Aikido Center, United States Aikido Federation
Christi Wise began her Aikido training in Chicago under Akira Tohei Sensei, 8th Dan and received the rank of Sandan in 2024 from the United States Aikido Federation (USAF). She is an instructor at the Evanston Aikido Center founded by her husband Art Wise Sensei, 7th Dan, which has been operating for nearly 20 years. She is dedicated to staying curious about the how the principles of Aikido manifest on and off the mat and making Aikido practice sustainable on the Northshore of Chicago.