Chief Instructor:
Hello, my name is Kim Riddick, and I’m the chief instructor (dojo-cho) of North Delta Aikikai. My rank is 5th degree blackbelt (godan) from the Canadian Aikido Federation (CAF). I’m currently a CAF shidoin for the province of British Columbia.
I started aikido with Scott MacPhail Sensei in Victoria at the age of 10 in the children’s class, then continued with Cecil Paris Sensei and Ishu Ishiyama Shihan in the Metro Vancouver area. In 2006, I moved to Tokyo, Japan to train at Hombu Dojo, the aikido world headquarters, for 3 years. My most influential teachers have been Yukio Kawahara Shihan, past CAF technical director, and Hayato Osawa Shihan, the current CAF technical director from Hombu Dojo.
Over the past 30 years, what I love the most about aikido is how dynamic practice can be with a training partner. How, you might ask? By being fully engaged as both nage (person doing the technique) and uke (person receiving the technique), both of us acknowledging the importance of each role, both of us mutually benefiting from each other’s training, and both of us respecting each other’s practice. The feeling I get from the connection and energy with my training partner is wonderful.
What I want to share with my students is my enthusiasm and understanding of aikido from my years of practice and reflection. What I would like to see is my students’ aikido growing into a dynamic practice. It’s the right time in my own journey to transmit the important aikido lessons I’ve learned and continue to learn from my past and present teachers. I hope a student’s first steps on the mats will lead to a rich and fulfilling martial art experience.
North Delta Aikikai - Aikido Club 