Kevin Heard Sensei, a member of the SMAA Board of Advisors, was recently approved by the SMAA Jujutsu Division for promotion to rokudan. This makes him one of the highest ranking jujutsu teachers in our association.
A San Francisco Bay Area native, Heard Sensei has been studying Japanese cultural and martial arts for nearly 30 years. He holds teaching licenses in Shin-shin-toitsu-do, a form of Japanese yoga, as well as related healing arts. He also holds the rank of menkyo chudan (a traditional teaching license roughly equivalent to fourth through sixth dan in modern ranking systems) in Saigo Ryu martial arts.
Heard Sensei and his wife were the first official members of the SMAA, joining not long after the group was launched by the late Walter Todd Sensei, Nicklaus Suino Sensei, Karl Scott Sensei, and H. E. Davey. He is also the former assistant editor for the SMAA Journal and the former webmaster/creator of the SMAA website. He currently holds Fuku-shihan teaching certification from the SMAA Jujutsu Division.
He has also received rank and teaching licenses from the Nihon Jujutsu and Kobudo divisions of the Kokusai Budoin, an elite international martial arts federation headquartered in Tokyo. He has demonstrated aiki-jujutsu several times at the Kokusai Budoin Sogo Budo Taikai, held annually in Tokyo. He was, moreover, a featured instructor at the first SMAA Seminar & Conference ever held, and he has taught at SMAA events in Michigan as well.
Mr. Heard earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. After working in the software development industry, he returned to the University to become Director of Computing and Information Services for UCB's School of Information. His professional interests include UNIX/Linux system administration, building information systems based on open standards, open source software, and privacy and security in the digital age. He is co-author of Mastering Netscape SuiteSpot 3 Servers (Sybex).
The SMAA Directors and Advisors congratulate Heard Sensei for attaining this high rank.
