About The Instructor
SENSEI KURT DUNNING, 2ND DAN, USFCA FENCING MONiTEUR
Chief Instructor Kurt Dunning (2nd Dan, Tozai Aikido Association) has been diligently studying the martial art of Aikido for 30 years. He began under the expert guidance of Dr. Gregory Hofler Sensei (5th Dan, Chairman Tozai Aikido Assoc., & founder of Christian Aikido Method), a reverend in Zen Buddhism and acupuncture doctor who had background in Yoshinkan Aikido, Karate, and Wing Chun Do, and who was teaching USAF Aikido under world-renown Kazuo Chiba Sensei of San Diego Aikikai. He wisely taught Kurt to focus on how to apply the philosophy of Aikido in everyday life.
After seeing the benefits training in Aikido imparted to his own existence, Sensei Kurt decided early on to aspire to a level where he could impart to others the teachings of Aikido. He went on to teach kids & adults for the next 10 years as one of the head instructors of Itamar Aikido of Las Vegas (formerly Las Vegas Aikikai dojo in Las Vegas, Nevada), under Sensei Hofler and Sensei David Suarez. Through his Aikido Self Defense program based at The Foundation for Ballet and Fencing (Salle de Nord) in Las Vegas, NV, Kurt has given lectures, demonstrations, and training seminars in Aikido to police and security personnel including United States Air Force Security Forces, corrections officers, established recorded self-defense training modules for Department of the Interior employees, senior officers and members of the United States Fencing Association (Nevada Division), and hundreds of private groups and individuals concerned with safety and self-defense.
Sensei Kurt is also a fencing instructor and trained under the expert guidance of Maestro Mel North of Salle de Nord in Las Vegas, Nevada for many years.
Dunning-san is an advocate of natural living and a student of herbology and nutrition, who simultaneously assists patient's find their diagnosis via the ultrasound modality via Echocardiography. He formerly was a member of the Water Garden Sprout Cooperative Farm, where he became familiar with the healing powers of wheatgrass and natural foods as taught by Dr. Ann Wigamore, Prof. Arnold Ehret, Dr. Georges Ohsawa, and Dr. John R. Christopher. His experience and knowledge of holistic health and living are integrated facets of his training system. For hobbies Kurt plays guitar & piano, paints miniature figurines, and is a floral arranger.
Chief Instructor Kurt had relocated to Washington and opened a new school of Aikido with locations in the Seattle metro area in the early 2000's. It was then he met Sensei Barrish Koichi, Chief Priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, who was destined to become his teacher of Aikido and Shinto in the Spirit that the founder Ueshiba Morihei "Kaiso" O-Sensei envisioned. He moved to assist in teaching with Dr. Hofler at Itamar Aikido Headquarters in Hollywood CA. until Dr. Hofler’s retirement from the Aikido world. Now in the rural King County/Enumclaw area since 2017, he has founded a new Aikido Self-Defense group (Tozai-Inochi AIKIDO) with a focus on cultivating and defending body, mind, and spirit in both the armed and unarmed modalities.
A formal member of Tsubaki Shrine and a student of Barrish Sensei’s Aikido, Kurt is a member of Shin-Ryu-Aiki. His hope is to bring safety and understanding in these troubled times to all people, while dispelling malice and suffering. Having embarked on his own ongoing comparative study of religions at the age of ten, Kurt does not condemn any religion that is based on love and respect of living beings. He instead emphasizes personal growth in Aikido, while personally following the way of Shinto. He encourages his students to explore the truths inherent in all faiths and develop their individual spirituality.
Now in the Enumclaw rural King County of Washington, Sensei Kurt "Kato" Dunning offers classes in Aikido and fencing at The Danish Hall 1708 Porter Street, Enumclaw, WA 98022
Please call 509-901-4514 or write aikidokurt2012@gmail.com for times and to arrange a visit to Tozai-Aikido Plateau Fencing today!
After seeing the benefits training in Aikido imparted to his own existence, Sensei Kurt decided early on to aspire to a level where he could impart to others the teachings of Aikido. He went on to teach kids & adults for the next 10 years as one of the head instructors of Itamar Aikido of Las Vegas (formerly Las Vegas Aikikai dojo in Las Vegas, Nevada), under Sensei Hofler and Sensei David Suarez. Through his Aikido Self Defense program based at The Foundation for Ballet and Fencing (Salle de Nord) in Las Vegas, NV, Kurt has given lectures, demonstrations, and training seminars in Aikido to police and security personnel including United States Air Force Security Forces, corrections officers, established recorded self-defense training modules for Department of the Interior employees, senior officers and members of the United States Fencing Association (Nevada Division), and hundreds of private groups and individuals concerned with safety and self-defense.
Sensei Kurt is also a fencing instructor and trained under the expert guidance of Maestro Mel North of Salle de Nord in Las Vegas, Nevada for many years.
Dunning-san is an advocate of natural living and a student of herbology and nutrition, who simultaneously assists patient's find their diagnosis via the ultrasound modality via Echocardiography. He formerly was a member of the Water Garden Sprout Cooperative Farm, where he became familiar with the healing powers of wheatgrass and natural foods as taught by Dr. Ann Wigamore, Prof. Arnold Ehret, Dr. Georges Ohsawa, and Dr. John R. Christopher. His experience and knowledge of holistic health and living are integrated facets of his training system. For hobbies Kurt plays guitar & piano, paints miniature figurines, and is a floral arranger.
Chief Instructor Kurt had relocated to Washington and opened a new school of Aikido with locations in the Seattle metro area in the early 2000's. It was then he met Sensei Barrish Koichi, Chief Priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, who was destined to become his teacher of Aikido and Shinto in the Spirit that the founder Ueshiba Morihei "Kaiso" O-Sensei envisioned. He moved to assist in teaching with Dr. Hofler at Itamar Aikido Headquarters in Hollywood CA. until Dr. Hofler’s retirement from the Aikido world. Now in the rural King County/Enumclaw area since 2017, he has founded a new Aikido Self-Defense group (Tozai-Inochi AIKIDO) with a focus on cultivating and defending body, mind, and spirit in both the armed and unarmed modalities.
A formal member of Tsubaki Shrine and a student of Barrish Sensei’s Aikido, Kurt is a member of Shin-Ryu-Aiki. His hope is to bring safety and understanding in these troubled times to all people, while dispelling malice and suffering. Having embarked on his own ongoing comparative study of religions at the age of ten, Kurt does not condemn any religion that is based on love and respect of living beings. He instead emphasizes personal growth in Aikido, while personally following the way of Shinto. He encourages his students to explore the truths inherent in all faiths and develop their individual spirituality.
Now in the Enumclaw rural King County of Washington, Sensei Kurt "Kato" Dunning offers classes in Aikido and fencing at The Danish Hall 1708 Porter Street, Enumclaw, WA 98022
Please call 509-901-4514 or write aikidokurt2012@gmail.com for times and to arrange a visit to Tozai-Aikido Plateau Fencing today!