Aiki Extensions Leadership

President | 4th dan

VP Industry Relations, Temple Allen Industries (United States)

Robert Kent first joined the board of Aiki Extensions for having founded the PeaceCamp Initiative (PCI), which won the Ben and Jerry’s “Peace Pioneer” prize in 2008. He became President of Aiki Extensions the following year, succeeding Bill Leight who in turn had succeeded AE Founder Don Levine. Robert began his aikido career with a three year stint in Kyoto immediately after graduating as a Religion and Philosophy double major from Williams College. Robert then trained at Aikido West in Redwood City, CA, for 20+ years under the direction of Frank Doran Shihan, where he helped run the Youth Program.

He often teaches a month-long course about Aikido at Williams College where he has served as an adjunct instructor in the Philosophy, Political Science, and Asian Studies departments. Recent course titles include “Jedi Training”, "Forging Character”, and “Aikido, Gandhi, and King”. Robert earned his Masters degree in Philosophy at Claremont Graduate School in 1993, writing his thesis on the Ethics of Authenticity.

Vice President | 7th dan

Chief Instructor, Burwell Aikido Club (United Kingdom)

Quentin Cooke is the Chairman of Aikido for Daily Life, a small UK based group. Quentin started training in May 1984 under Ken Williams Sensei, then the chief Instructor of the Ki
Society in the UK, but later of the Ki Federation of Great Britain. Aikido for Daily Life was
established to create a group that wanted to be less bound by the hierarchical structure of some aikido groups and to emphasize the purpose of aikido as a philosophy for life, rather than just another martial art.

When ADL was established, it affiliated to Yuishinkai International founded by Sensei Koretoshi Maruyama, a former student of O Sensei and later President of the Ki Society. Quentin runs his own club in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire.

Outside of aikido, he runs his own business as a financial adviser, and is strongly involved in local community work, particularly as the Chair of Governors at the local village school.

Treasurer & Director | Aikido Association of America

Chief Instructor, Aiseishinkan Dojo; Founder, The EQ Dojo
(United States)

Susan is the dojo-cho of Aiseishinkan Dojo in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a member Dojo of the Aikido Association of America (AAA). Susan began training in 2009 under Bob Graebel Sensei. Graebel Sensei was a student of Akira Tohei Sensei in Chicago (Midwest Aikido Federation) and Ken Purdy Sensei in Wisconsin (Aikido Schools of Ueshiba.) Purdy Sensei was one of the earliest American students of Aikido whose shodan certificate was signed by Ō-Sensei.

In 2015 Susan combined her expertise in Emotional Intelligence with her passion for Aikido and created The EQ Dojo. In this virtual Dojo, she teaches the Art of EQ-DO, a somatic approach to relational intelligence. Susan serves as a consultant to companies wishing to elevate their culture and enhance trust, and a personal coach for those who wish to dive deeper. Susan has been an invited national and international speaker, presenting numerous workshops.

Board Member | 7th dan

Founder, The Centered Way & The KiAi Golf (United States)

Jamie Leno Zimron began training at Stanford University in 1976. A lifelong student and teacher of The Art of Peace, she has dedicated her life to social justice, women’s empowerment, holistic healing, and global peace. Aikido informs all her work as an LPGA Golf Pro, Marriage Family Therapist, Bodyworker, Speaker, Peak Performance Trainer, and Citizen Diplomat. She founded the first-ever Women’s Aikido School in San Francisco; co-founded the Association of Women Martial Arts Instructors; and has been instrumental in launching AE programs including Training Across Borders, Middle East Aikido Project, PeaceCamp Initiative, Aikido in Ethiopia and Kenya, Ukraine Relief, and Seed & Support Grants.

A world traveler, Jamie Sensei shares Aikido and trauma-informed reconciliation work in the war-torn Middle East, Africa, and Ukraine. Her deep experience on the mat and as an athlete, activist, healer, and leadership trainer is synthesized in her comprehensive new guidebook, The Centered Way: To Healthy Balance, Peaceful Power, and Harmonious Living.

Board Member

Founder, Quantum Edge (United States)

Chris Thorsen is the founder of Quantum Edge, through which he has advised senior executives from industry-leading media, technology, and utility organizations for over 55 years. He helped build the wireless industry as an integral member of the executive teams that started Cellular One and Nextel Communications.

Chris is a pioneer in the application of aikido principles to leadership mastery and organizational development, and has facilitated conflict resolution seminars for policy leaders from Cyprus. Chris has a Masters Degree from the University of San Francisco in Community Organization and Organizational Development and is a contributor to The Dance of Change, the Fifth Discipline Resource Book. He has studied and taught aikido for fifty years.

Board Member | 3rd dan | Aikido World Alliance

Founder, Richard E Sims Somatic Education (Illinois, United States)

Richard Sims is a Master Somatic Movement Educator and President of ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association). He combines the principles of Aikido into his somatic work helping survivors of sexual abuse, cancer, first responders, business professionals, athletes and others working through life’s stressors. Two organizations he serves include MenHealing and the Cancer Wellness Center.

His Aikido training began in 1994 under Akira Tohei Shihan, explored with Kevin Choate Sensei, and in 2007 joined the Aikido World Alliance under Andrew Sato Shihan where he serves as an instructor at Kiku Matsu Dojo. Paul Linden Sensei also greatly influences his use of Aikido on and off the mat.

Based in Evanston, Illinois Rich travels internationally presenting at conferences, workshops and seminars teaching those in need how his Somatic work and Aikido can be used for the stress, anxiety, fear, pain and trauma they face. 

Director | 3rd dan | Takemusu Aikido Assoication

Owner & Director of Aikido of Sarasota (Florida, USA)

Laura Hackle oversees the development of the organization’s Youth Aikido, Gentle/No-Fall Aikido, and Professional Group Training programs. She is instrumental in advancing Aiki Extensions’ mission of accessible, relationship-centered movement education and community engagement.

Laura has studied Aikido for over twenty years and is a licensed occupational therapist with more than three decades of experience in curriculum design, therapeutic programming, and early childhood education. Her work bridges martial arts, somatic learning, and adaptive teaching practices, allowing her to create training environments that are safe, inclusive, and deeply impactful.

Her leadership and teaching emphasize connection, confidence-building, and lifelong learning through movement.

Executive Strategist | 4 dan | United States Aikido Federation

Owner & Chief Instructor of Aikido New London County (Connecticut, USA)

Crystal serves as Executive Strategist for Aiki Extensions, where she helps guide organizational growth, program development, and collaborative initiatives across the wider Aikido community. Her work focuses on building sustainable systems, strengthening outreach, and turning innovative ideas into actionable programs that extend Aikido principles beyond the mat.

She works as a full-time Aikido instructor. Crystal is committed to creating accessible, modern, and relationship-centered training environments while preserving the core values of traditional Aikido.

In addition to her instructional work, she specializes in dojo development and organizational growth. Over the course of her career, she has helped grow multiple Aikido dojos to memberships exceeding 100 active students.

Known for her forward-thinking approach to martial arts education and community building, she develops programs, partnerships, and cultural initiatives designed to help Aikido evolve, grow, and reach new communities.

She is a member of the United States Aikido Federation and is a member of the International Aikido Federation’s Youth Working Group (North America).