GREGORY PUN
Aikido Instructor, 5 th dan
Aishinjuku (Vancouver, Canada) and Edmonton Aikido (Edmonton, Canada)
Phone:
1-778-231-0364
Email:
Dojo Address:
Dojo Address: 200 – 42 West 8 th Avenue (Tonari Gumi Building), Vancouver BritishColumbia, Canada
Professional Summary
I divide my time between Vancouver and Edmonton. In Vancouver, I head the Aishinjuku dojo (see below); in Edmonton, I train at Edmonton Aikido (headed by Bruce Allen sensei, 5 th dan).
My approach to training and to teaching is to work on skills development, such as good kihon dosa (basic movements) and good ukemi (breakfalls). I connect basic techniques (kihon waza) to the underlying basic movements (kihon dosa), and connect advanced techniques, such as self-defence (jissen sokuo waza) and freestyle (jiyu waza) to the underlying kihon waza and kihon dosa. All aspects of kihon dosa, kihon waza, jiyu
waza, and jissen sokuo waza are grounded in good basic principles, such as relaxation, timing, distance, balance, economy of movement, good posture, unity of motion, concentration of energy, and mental focus. When teaching, I seek to merge intellectual understanding with physical performance, to allow students to practice mindfully.
Experience
2012 - till now
2003-2012
1984-1998
My main focus in training is traditional Yoshinkan syllabus, but I have some experience with weapons-based training (bokken, tanto, jo) from both Yoshinkan background and Kushida background. I also do some self-defence type training, based on the Yoshinkan Instructor Licence test syllabus. I have taught adults and children (ages 3-15), in large class settings and 1-1 training situations. I have assessed students for their advancement up to 2 dan and I have assisted senior peers in preparation for their tests (3, 4, 5 dan).
In 2003-04, I lived in Tokyo and trained regularly at the Yoshinkan Hombu Dojo under Kiyoichi Inoue kancho, Tsutomu Chida dojocho, Takehiko Sonoda sensei, Susumu Chino sensei, Takayuki Oyamada sensei, Kenji Itoh sensei, Shinichi Murata sensei, Saburo Takashima sensei, and Masahiko Noriki sensei. I obtained my shodan and 1 st instructor licence during that year. After returning to Vancouver in 2004, I obtained my 2dan and 3 dan. In 2010 I obtained my 4 dan in Tokyo from Ikuo Watanabe sensei (Yoshinkan). In June 2023, I obtained my 5 dan in Edmonton from Robert Mustard sensei (under his new Shobukan organization).During my training, I have attended numerous seminars and trained at numerous dojos as a guest in Canada, USA, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Japan. I have visited Japan on 9 occasions since 2003. I have trained at seminars with Kiyoichi Inoue sensei, Amos Parker sensei, Tsutomu Chida sensei, Ikuo Watanabe sensei, Takehiko Sonoda sensei, Hiromichi Nagano sensei, Yasuhisa Shioda sensei, Alister Thomson sensei, RobertMustard sensei, Joe Thambu sensei, Kevin Blok sensei, Fred Haynes sensei, Ashley Hennessey sensei, and Seishi Terada sensei.I opened my own dojo, called Aishinjuku in 2014. For 3 years (2012-14), I practiced Tamiya-ryu Iaijutsu in Vancouver and obtained 3 dan in that budo.
I started training in 1984 under Takeshi Kimeda sensei at the University of Toronto, where Fred Haynes sensei was the assistant instructor. By 1986 I had obtained by 4 th kyu. I had a lengthy break in my training (1986-1998) while I attended law school andbegan my career in Vancouver and other Canadian cities. I returned to aikido in 1998 in Vancouver under Keith Taylor.
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