先生 (Sensei)

Meet the Instructors!

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Jerry Gunville 6th Dan

Jerry Gunville Sensei started his martial arts training in 1973 at the Washington Karate Association (WKA) operated by Julius Thiry Hanshi. Akio Minakami Sensei was the head instructor assisted by Shintaro Takahashi Sensei. Takhashi Sensei had the impressive sword skill of cutting a watermelon in two off the stomach of his brother.

In 1977, Gunville Sensei moved to California. He lived there for six years, but only spent one year actively training at Fumio Demura Sensei's Dojo. After completing his masters in Social Work in 1983, he returned to Seattle and the WKA. Shortly after, Akio Minakami Sensei opened his own dojo in Lake City, United Karate-do Organization (UKO). He followed Minakami Sensei and continued his training uninterrupted since that time. In, 1987 Gunville Sensei received his Shodan (1st Dan) certificate. He received his current rank of 6th Dan in 2010.

In 1998, Gunville Sensei began training in Iaido, Japanese sword. In 2002, he traveled to Japan for a promotion with the All Japan Kendo Federation and recieved his Shodan certificate. He continued sword training at Kono Sensei's Musokai dojo, but scheduling conflicts and then the global shutdown interfered with regular attendance. He has maintained his own practice as best as he could and hopes to resume formal instruction in Iaido in the future.

He has received the great privilege to have met many accomplished practitioners through seminars and training. This includes Teruo Hayashi Soke, founder of Hayash Ha Shito Ryu; Akio Minakami Sensei; Kenzo Mabuni Sensei, son of Kenwa Mabuni Sensei, founder of Shito Ryu; Fumio Demura Sensei; Toshihiro Oshiro Sensei; Mitsuhiro Saruta Sensei; and Yamada Yoshitaka, 11th head of Shinshin Ryu Iaido.

During the COVID shutdown Gunville Sensei greatly increased time in his own personal practice. While missing the dojo enviroment and training with his dojo friends he found focusing on personal practice to be quite challenging yet very rewarding. He greatly enjoys being able to train with other students and learn from watching how others develop their skills. He also enjoys how Shoreline Karate Club provides opportunities to be introduced to other martial arts disciplines, weapons and training practices.

Gunville Sensei retired from social work in 2018, having worked 31 years with the State of Washington investigating abuse cases of children and vulnerable adults. For the past three years he has volunteered with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in a program with Seattle DOT. Volunteers visit those living in RVs and tents offering basic supplies and recouce information to community services. He finds this activity to be very rewarding and see it as consistent with martial arts practice.

Gunville Sensei also extends great gratitude to John Gough Sensei for maintaining the Shoreline Karate club through difficult years and looks forward to continue training with all the students of Shoreline Karate Club.

Jerry Walsh 6th Dan

Jerry Walsh began his Karate journey at the University of Washington Karate Club from 1973 to 1979. This was the first, and for many years the only, martial arts club on campus. William Reuter Sensei, and his senior Black Belt Richard Daly, taught the Goju-Kai style of Karate during those early years. The experience prepared Walsh Sensei for what was to come some years later. For historical perspective, 1973 was the year Enter the Dragon was released. It is also the year Bruce Lee died.

In October of 1985, Walsh Sensei happened to be running by the UKO dojo in Lake City and decided to go inside to check it out. He watched Akio Minakami Sensei teach a class and realized he was world-class martial artist and teacher. The next day he signed up.

Walsh Sensei earned his Third Degree Black Belt (Sensei rank) in 1996 and has been involved in teaching ever since. In 2010, He was promoted to his current Sixth Degree rank. Given his age and circumstances, he doesn't expect to test for a higher rank. He is happy that he can keep training, though. He says that he is pleased and privileged to practice with Shoreline Karate Club.

While not one of the regular teachers, Walsh Sensei is always available when needed. Gough Sensei and Khono Sensei are always open to his occasional in-class observations. They know that he takes his Karate seriously. His favorite part of training with SKC is this collegial spirit.

Outside of Karate, Walsh Sensei is a retired boatbuilder. Most of his work involved welding aluminum. A decade ago, he earned the title of Certified Welding Inspector from the American Welding Society. This is like being a Black Belt in a blue-collar trade.

Walsh Sensei's main activity is Nordic Folk-dancing. In 1981, He met Judy, his wife-to-be, while just beginning to learn his right foot from his left. In 1999, they danced in Sweden and earned their Big Silver medals in Village Dance. This was at the end of a multi-year promotion process. Sound familiar? He is the current President of the Skandia Folkdance Society in Seattle. There is a lot more to this story!

John Gough 5th Dan

John Gough Sensei's first experience with any martial art would be in 1989 when he joined the Varsity Fencing Team at Northwestern University as a sabre fencer. He earned two varsity letters, Academic All Big Ten honors, and was the MVP of the men's team in 1991.

John's "eastern" martial arts journey began in the year 2000 practicing Tae Kwon Do and Escrima. When he moved to Seattle in 2002, he transitioned to Hayashi-ha Shitoryu, practicing at United Karatedo Organization with Minakami Sensei. He earned his black belt in 2004 and began teaching students of various ages not long after. In 2017 he earned his current rank of 5th degree black belt and in 2020 he earned a 5th dan rank in Kenshinryu Kobudo.

John Gough now is the Chief Instructor at Shoreline Karate Club. As the only person to be on both the board and the technical committee he does his best to make sure that the things we do at the dojo are not decided by one person. He makes it clear that he is neither the Head Instructor nor the highest ranking black belt and that he is just the one managing and maintaining the club. His favorite activities at the dojo are teaching the "Mighty Mites" and Kobudo.

Outside of Karate, John is the Director of Diagnostic Physics and Radiation Safety at Swedish Medical Center, managing a small department consisting of three other physicists. He has a BA in Physics and Mathematics from Northwestern University, and a MS in Health Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is actively involved in his profession and is a member of the "Ask the Experts" Panel for the Health Physics Society and Co-Chair of the Medical Health Physics Examination Panel for the American Board Medical Physics. In addition to karate, he enjoys mountain biking, video games and running few miles a couple of times a week.

Pat McDonald 5th Dan

Pat McDonald Sensei began his martial arts training in 1995 as a student of Akio Minakami Sensei with UKO in Lake City. After many years He achieved his Sensei rank of 3rd Dan. He was privileged to lead and teach many different classes at the dojo. These included a variety of adult and juniors classes and even a Yamani-ryu Bo class. Currently Pat Sensei acts as a back up instructor for Shoreline Karate Club's main instructors.

Pat Sensei's main interests outside of the dojo are traveling, gardening, watercolor painting and playing around with an antique letterpress. (Not including spending time with his lovely wife Rebecca). He is also a retired plumber and most recently helped the Club get their storage shed back into working condition.

Pat sensei has expressed that he would like to extend a huge thank you for the privilege of studying the art of karate with all the wonderful students of Shoreline Karate Club. He especially wants to thank the other knowledgeable, dedicated and caring instructors who make Shoreline Karate Club the "best martial arts experience."

Yoshi Kohno 4th Dan

Yoshi Kohno Sensei joined the Karate team at his university in the 90s. He is thrilled to be a part of the Shoreline Karate Club. His favorite thing to do is to discover new applications for his Karate with Kyle.

Henry Bowman 3rd Dan

Henry Bowman Sensei started practicing Karate in the early 2000s. He is thrilled to be part of the Shoreline Karate Club. His favorite thing to do is practicing the Kata Unsu with Kyle.

Jo Flanery 2nd Dan

Jo Flanery began practicing karate in 2010, wanting some physical activity for herself and having been encouraged by other moms that were participating in classes with their kids. Overtime, she grew to enjoy practicing kata and practical self-defense skills. Her own karate philosophy includes "intensity and frequency of formal karate practice, ebb and flow over time and that is okay, we push when we can and rest when we need to. If we stay connected in some way to formal karate practice, then we are able to bring the karate we practice into everyday life (e.g. parenting, work, sitting in traffic)."

Jo received her current rank of Nidan in 2018 and still continues to diligently practice whenever she gets time away from work. After the global shutdown when things began to open back up a bit, she would practice with Heidi Gough (another instructor at the club) in Heidi's driveway. She loved that someone was still continuing their training and keeping the spirit of the dojo alive even when no one was able to go anywhere.

Outside of karate Jo is a Lawyer. She also enjoys reading, hiking and is often trained by her Corgi.

Kyle Gough 2nd Dan

Kyle Gough began his Karate journey in 2006 as a Mighty Mite, following closely in his father's (John Gough) footsteps. He began teaching Karate to Juniors in 2013 and has been doing so ever sense. As a member of the technical committee he helps to review what the color belts should be learning and how we should teach different techniques going forward. Along with teaching at the Karate Club, Kyle also teaches Karate to Juniors at the Shoreline Community Center. Kyle's Favorite thing to do when he is at the club is teaching the juniors new Kata and techniques.

Kyle also coaches and competes at local Karate tournaments. He was most active through the late 2010s and is less active now as he completes his schooling but will still compete in the occasional tournament when the opportunity arises. From his years competing at tournament he has earned himself various awards along with a few nicknames including but not limited to "The Singing Bo". He believes that while tournament doesn't house what martial arts truly are, they are still an excellent learning opportunity for students and believe that most students have something to gain from competing at tournament.

Outside of Karate Kyle has emersed himself in the music world. He is a percussionist and is currently studying music at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. He loves associating Karate practice to his music practice and his approach to music is greatly influenced from his Karate experience. His hobbies include watching anime, reading manga, playing video games, playing D&D, and mountain biking.

In college Kyle also loves playing Lacrosse, a very physical sport that uses a stick to throw a ball. He is often comparing lacrosse to Bo and uses what he has learned from practicing Bo in lacrosse. He is always open to learning new things and truly believes that he will never reach an end to his martial arts journey.

Aya Griswold 1st Dan

Aya Griswold began her training in 2010, when she was seven years old. As a Junior (students under the age of 16) she made great strides in her Karate training competing and winning in many local tournaments. She served as Pat McDonald Sensei's assistant instructor for a short while before taking over his Juniors class.

She first earned her black belt in 2017 and continues to diligently train to improve her own Karate. She now regularly teaches the Monday Juniors class along with the Tournament Kata Class. Her favorite activities at the dojo are Kata practice and kicking drills.

Outside of Karate Aya is a Student at the University of Washington. She also works part-time as a ramen shop server and also tutors Japanese. Along side that Aya loves to play the piano, crochet and care for her many plants.

Heidi Gough 1st Dan

Heidi Gough began practicing Karate in 2009 as an activity that she could do with her young kids. Over the course of many years she continued to practice at her own pace, slowly improving over time. Throughout her time practicing she has made many good friends with other parents of students who started to practice and she is a big advocate of Karate being something that a family can and should do together. As a member of our board she is always making sure that the club is very open and accepting of everyone.

When the global shutdown forced everyone to stay home she would practice in her driveway to continue her own practice and training. As things began opening back up, she began teaching Karate in her driveway as a way to improve her own karate and to encourage others to continue practicing as well. She continues to teach the Saturday juniors class today and enjoys teaching her Saturday class being both an instructor and a "mom".

Now, Heidi is working to set up her own at-home Dojo. She loves being able to practice whenever she likes and having a space at home helps with that. Her absolute favorite things to do are swinging the Bo staff and exploring practical applications of the karate basics.

Outside of karate, Heidi is a professor at the University of Washington, teaching and conducting research in environmental science and engineering. She enjoys time spent in nature, traveling, exploring new foods, and learning about different cultures.