Instructor

For the Kids
Color the Aikido Belts, and Draw the Japanese characters for Aikido!

Joel Riggs sensei with Robert Nadeau shihan, 2006

Hi, I am Joel Riggs. I began training aikido in 1993 with Robert Nadeau Shihan (7th dan) at City Aikido of San Francisco. I tested for my shodan in 2001, and my nidan in 2008.

From 2004 to 2008 I was an assistant instructor and director of the children's program at Aikido of Marin in Fairfax, CA.

I love aikido because it speaks to me on so many levels:

as a practical martial art, capable of helping me avoid or survive a wide range of dangerous situations
as a practice of relationship, which helps me in my marriage, in business, in my community, and in my friendships
as a way of making a living, for I love to share this art with others
as a window into more of what life has to offer, because O Sensei imbued aikido with the tools to transform war into peace, conflict into harmony, and small ego-centered lives into lives that open and allow more of the universe's energies to enter in and find room to flourish.

I have appreciated all my training partners through the years, and look forward to training with those I haven't even met yet.

Students of O Sensei that I have trained with:

Robert Nadeau Shihan - 1993 to present
Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan - seminars
Mitsugi Saotome Shihan - seminars
Frank Doran Shihan - seminars
Bill Witt Shihan - seminars
Henry Kono Sensei - seminars
Mary Heiny Sensei - seminars
Gaku Homma Sensei - dojo visit

My senseis:

Robert Nadeau Shihan
Nick Scoggin
Richard Moon
Elaine Yoder
Ross Madden
Michael Braden

Dojos I have trained in:

Aikido Decatur, Decatur, GA - January 2009 to present, dojo cho
City Aikido, San Francisco - 1993 to present
Aikido of Marin - 2002-2008, assistant instructor 2004-2008
Aikido of Berkeley
Bay Marin Aikido (San Rafael, CA)
Aikido West (Redwood City, CA)
Aikido of Santa Cruz
Aikido of Tamalpais
Aikido of Fresno
Tenchi Aikido (Sebastopol, CA)
Centerfield Aikido (Sebastopol, CA)
Ukiah Aikido (CA)
San Francisco Aikikai
Skidrow Dojo/Suginami Aikikai (San Francisco)
Aikido In (San Francisco)
Aikido of Noe Valley (San Francisco)
Heart of the Mission (San Francisco)
Emerald City Aikido (Seattle)
Aikido of Santa Barbara
Boulder Aikikai (CO)
Aikido Tenshin Dojo (Los Angeles)
Lokahi Ki Aikido (Honolulu)
Nippon Kan Aikido Dojo (Denver)
Aikido Center of Atlanta