A San Francisco Bay Area native, Kevin Heard Sensei has been studying Japanese cultural arts for over twenty years. He holds teaching licenses in Shin-shin-toitsu-do, a form of Japanese yoga and meditation, 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 aiki-jujutsu. He also posed for illustrations in the books Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation and Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-jujutsu.Heard Sensei serves on the SMAA Board of Advisors. He is also the assistant editor for the SMAA Journal and webmaster for the SMAA website. He currently holds the title/rank of Fuku Shihan/5th dan in the SMAA's Traditional Jujutsu Division. He has 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 also demonstrated aiki-jujutsu several times at the Kokusai Budoin Sogo Budo Taikai, held annually in Tokyo. Heard Sensei taught Saigo Ryu at the 2005 SMAA Seminar & Congress in Utah and at the 2006 event in Michigan.
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
Mr. Heard currently lives in Richmond, California with his wife, Patricia.
