Aikido Instructors
Aikido of Eugene is a member of the California Aikido Association and all aikido instructors at BMAI are certified black belts with the Aikikai Foundation, the Aikido world headquarters in Japan.
Chuck Hauk is the dojo-cho (chief instructor) of Aikido of Eugene, which is the aikido program at Best Martial Arts Institute.
Hauk Sensei began his martial arts training in 1970, studying Shotokan Karate under Blake Okimoto Sensei in Claremont, California. He began his Aikido training in 1977 at Pasadena Aikikai under the instruction of Gene Anderson Sensei, while regularly training also with Francis Takahashi Shihan at Alhambra Aikikai.
In 1979, he was a student of Frank McGouirk Shihan during the founding of Aikido Ai of Southern California. In 1980, he moved to Eugene and soon thereafter assisted Glenn Bluestone Sensei (former uchideshi to Mitsugi Saotome Shihan) in opening and operating a new school in Eugene called “Aikido Northwest.”
In 1987, Hauk Sensei began a long association with Tom Read Sensei, Chief Instructor of Northcoast Aikido in Arcata, California, and former student of the late Michio Hikitsuchi Shihan (Judan, 10th degree black belt) in Japan. During this period, Hauk Sensei assisted his long-time training partner, Daryl Berlie Sensei, in teaching Aikido classes at the University of Oregon Aikido Club.
Having known Frank Doran Shihan since 1978, Hauk Sensei formally became his student in 2002, coinciding with becoming Chief Instructor for Aikido of Eugene. Hauk Sensei currently holds the rank of Rokudan (6th degree black belt) from the Aikikai Foundation, Aikido World Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan. This rank was awarded to him by Frank Doran Shihan, hachidan (8th degree black belt), Former Division II Head of the California Aikido Association and Chief Instructor of Aikido West in Redwood City, California.
Chuck Hauk was selected as the Featured Instructor by the California Aikido Association in September 2003. The article they published about him can be found here .
Mark Kruger is an aikido instructor at Aikido of Eugene and licensed to teach Shinto Ryu Iai Batto Jutsu, a form of traditional Japanese swordsmanship. He is an extremely versatile martial artist with experience in a vast number of martial disciplines ranging from ancient forms to modern tactical systems.
He began his practice of Aikido in 1991 under Gary Barnett at the University of Washington. He moved to Eugene in 2003 and immediately joined Aikido of Eugene and became a student of Chuck Hauk and Daryl Berlie. Sensei Kruger holds the rank of 5th Dan in Aikido.
Sensei Kruger also trains in the Japanese sword art of iaido. He began the study of Shinto Ryu Iai Batto Jitsu under Robby Pellet Sensei in 1994 while living in Seattle. After moving to Eugene he added the study of Muso Shinden Ryu to his practice and currently trains in that style under Stephen Thoms Sensei.
He began training in judo in 1998 under Karen Nagai at the University of Washington. He has continued his training in the BMAI judo program under Steve Nisewander and Alan Best since joining BMAI in 2003. He attained his black belt in judo in 2021.
Additionally, he has been a student of Historical European Martial Arts and studied the art of Armizare since 2007 under Maestro Sean Hayes. He also has limited training in kendo, naginata, and Filipino knife and stick and has taken firearms related classes by InSights Training, 10-8 Group, LMS Defense, Vickers Tactical, Todd Louis Green, and Shivworks.
To broaden the scope of his understanding and help see the fundamental principles behind the martial arts, he regularly attends seminars in other disciplines. He has trained at seminars with Shinichi Koike, Sekiguchi Komei, John Sells, Bram Frank, Hock Hochheim, Tony Wolf, Christian Tobler, Tom Leoni, Dan Harden, Howard Popkin, Rick Hawn, and Akuzawa Minoru.
In 1996, I entered the Shuwakan Yoshinkan Aikido dojo in Indianapolis, Indiana simply – if somewhat begrudgingly – to satisfy the persistent invitations of an enthusiastic friend who was a member.
I had trained in Karate and Tae Kwon Do in my early twenties but had never developed a true passion or commitment to either art. Aikido, I felt, would surely be just as much of a passing interest. I would watch the demonstration, give a polite “thanks, but no thanks” to my friend, and head home.
Then I saw the tiny, unassuming class instructor launch her attacker, a heavy-set man more than twice her size, into a throw that sent him flying to the opposite side of the dojo. He rolled to his feet, turned and ran at her, swinging a vicious front strike at her head. She narrowly dodged the blow, caught his arm while spinning around, and somehow magically turned the man’s wrist into his own shoulder. She drove him into the floor with a thunderous slam.
I couldn’t sign up fast enough. My friend remained smug for years afterwards.
I received my Shodan, first-degree black belt, in 2003. In those seven years, aikido had transformed from a mysterious art into a science of body mechanics, timing, and precision. I had become passionate and committed to refining my understanding of it.
My family and I moved to Eugene, Oregon in 2008. As a displaced Midwesterner, I felt somewhat out of touch with the West Coast culture, however, I found an immediate sense of community and friendship with the people at Aikido of Eugene within BMAI. The style of aikido, Aikikai, was somewhat different than the Yoshinkan style that I had originally learned, but the instructors accepted my differences and encouraged me to explore the similarities. In 2013, they awarded me Nidan, my second-degree black belt; and in 2017 I was honored to receive sandan, my third-degree black belt.
Aikido, I have found, is a never-ending pursuit that only becomes more intriguing as time moves forward. It is a way of self-defense, a way of maintaining physical fitness and flexibility, an activity that promotes friendship, a spiritual path, and most of all, simply a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone, regardless of age or physical ability, to give it a try. It may connect for you in just the same instantaneous and unexpected way it did for me.
I was first introduced to martial arts by watching my sons train in the Children’s Karate Program at BMAI. Watching Sensei Best and his senior instructors, I realized that martial arts was far more than fighting technique and self-defense. The attention to self-awareness, self-discipline, focus, precision, and improvement rather than perfection, opened the my eyes to a path I had not been aware of previously.
I began training in aikido in 2001, with Senseis Berlie and Hauk, shortly after BMAI added the art to the school’s curriculum. The practice of aikido at the physical, internal, interpersonal, personal, psychological, and spiritual levels captured my full attention immediately. Studying the physical and internal aspects of aikido on the mat while learning to keep aikido present in all aspects of my life off the mat is the focus of my practice.
I enthusiastically attend seminars and camps anytime I have the opportunity. I have attended over 50 seminars and camps with world-renowned aikido masters from many different traditions, including Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, T.K. Chiba Shihan, Motomichi Anno Shihan, Hiroshi Kato Shihan, and Seishiro Endo Shihan, as well as many American aikido masters, such as Frank Doran Shihan, Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan, Robert Nadeau Shihan, Donald Moriyama Shihan, Clyde Takaguchi Sensei, Randy Scoville Sensei, Mary Heiny Sensei and Linda Holiday Sensei.
My entire practice has been with Aikido of Eugene at Best Martial Arts Institute. I was awarded the rank of Sandan (3rd degree black belt) in 2023.
Sasha Kruger began her study of aikido in 1995 with Koichi Barrish, Sensei at the Kannagara dojo in Granite Falls, Washington. She continued her training at the UW Aikido Club under Gary Barnett, Sensei while she attended the University of Washington from 1995 -1998. She moved to Eugene in 1998 and joined the University of Oregon Aikido under the tutelage of Janet Rumsey, a direct student of Daryl Berlie, Sensei. In 2001 she began training with Aikido of Eugene directly under Daryl Berlie and Chuck Hauk at Best Martial Arts Institute. She received the rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt) in aikido in 2010. In 2017 she achieved the rank of Nidan (2nd degree black belt).
Sasha trained in the Japanese sword art of Shinto Ryu Iai-Battojutsu from 2002 – 2009 and was awarded the rank of sankyu.
She also trained in the stick, knife, and empty-hand systems of the Filipino Martial arts of kali, escrima, and siniwali for ten years under Eric Filippenko, Sensei.