The San Jose Buddhist Judo Club
EST. 1947
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Our instructors are all volunteers. They donate their time and efforts for the teaching of judo and serving the community. All instructors are trained and certified in SafeSport, CDC, first aid and CPR, as well as have their background checked.
WHO WE ARE
Vaughn Imada, Head Instructor
Rank: Rokudan
Year started with the club: 1983
Daniel Kikuchi, Head Instructor
Rank: Rokudan
Year started with the club: 1960
Jim Pennington, Head Instructor
Rank: Rokudan
Year started with the club: 1965
Elaine Abad, Instructor
Rank: Godan
Year started with the club: 1991
Kata certification - Nage no Kata, Katame no Kata, GoshinJutsu,
Kime no Kata; Teacher's Certification
Albert Kato, Instructor
Rank: Godan
Year started with the club: 1992
USA Judo coach's certification
Bill Horbaly, Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year started with the club: 1992
Neal Kodama, Instructor
Rank: Yondan
Year started with the club: 2006
USA Judo coach's certification (International level)
National Referee
Lance Kawata, Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year started with the club: 2006
National Referee
Roy Konishi, Instructor
Rank: Godan
Year started with the club: 1986
Mallory Kato,
Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year Started with Club: 1992
Terance Bantilan, Assistant Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year Started with Club: 1995
Quang (Arik) Dao, Assistant Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year Started with Club: 2002
National Referee
Natalie Gonzalez,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Shodan
Year Started with Club: 2002
Jarrett Miner,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year Started with Club: 2008
Marcie Miner, Assistant Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year Started with Club: 2008
Frank Rocca,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year Started with Club: 2001
Tommy Yamamoto,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year Started with Club: 2001
Nathan Storey,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Shodan
Year started with the club: 2008
Andrew Takara,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year started with the club:
2017
Eric Nakagawa,
Assistant Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year started with the club: 1994
Sarah Jabin,
Student Assistant
Rank: Shodan
Year started with the club: 2006
Olivia Kinoshita,
Student Assistant
Rank: Nikyu
Year started with the club: 2009
Dan Hatano,
Guest Instructor
Rank: Godan
Year started with the club: 2005
Brian Nitta,
Guest Instructor
Rank: Nidan
Year started with the club: 1989
Rank: Sandan
Year started with the club: 2006
Rank: Nidan
Year started with the club: 2006
Larry Okumoto,
Guest Instructor
Steve Yano,
Guest Instructor
Matthew Dong, Guest Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year started with the club: 2000
USA Judo National Coach
Destinee Nagtalon,
Guest Instructor
Rank: Sandan
Year started with the club: 2005
USA Judo National Coach
Sam Piearcy
Guest Instructor
Rank: Godan
Year started with the club: 2005
Rikiya Yamamoto,
Guest Instructor
Rank: Shodan
Year started with the club: 2007