Garry Blaine Sensei started serious martial art practice at the age of 11. Martial arts were a great source of exercise that kept his attention. With them, he focused on physical and mental conditioning, forms, strength in movement.

Working as head of security for major hotels in Victoria for 11 years, Blaine Sensei had a long history of practical application of his well learned techniques. Never content with the kick & punch method so widely taught by his teachers, a more “push & pull” relationship of off balancing his attacker developed. This most often became the preferred manner of client extraction- “a smarter way”, as much mental as physical.

In 1994 Blaine Sensei moved on to open his own health & fitness clubs. These became the environments for his lifelong studies of the relationship between the mental and physical aspects of the human body. Training thousands of clients from many backgrounds as well as body types, the human body and the way it moved became a focal point of his work. Applying new thinking, sports related training techniques along with century old Japanese and Korean ideals, ” a smarter way” was becoming a reality.

It was in the summer of 1995 when Aikido was introduced to Blaine Sensei that the puzzle began to fit together- “a smarter way” of using an attacker’s mental incorrectness and oncoming physical force to divert, diffuse and eliminate the threat. This martial art was perfect for less aggressive, less muscular, men and women and people of all ages. The next 13 years of Blaine Sensei’s life were immersed into the art of Aikido. Practicing almost daily, Blaine Sensei trained under Sensei Daniel Kempling, Shidoin in the U.S.A.F. Western Region, in the arts of Aikido and Iaido. Weapons practice, a strong element in the Western Region, became a daily training method.

Teaching side by side with Kempling Sensei, Blaine Sensei was encouraged to open his own school in November of 2007. Welcoming students from beginner to advanced, Blaine Sensei continues a fresh, thought provoking martial art for the young & old with a heavy influence of classic Bokken, Jyo & Tanto.

Shidoin: Senior teacher certificate
Iaido: Japanese sword drawing
Bokken: wooden sword
Jyo: 4’ wooden staff
Tanto: wooden knife