Stanford Recreation

Cyndy Hayashi began her training at Aikido of San Francisco in 1977.  After a couple of years she moved to Iwama, Japan, where she resided as uchi-deshi (live-in student) of Morihiro Saito Shihan.

After returning to the United States, she trained and taught at the Aikido Institute of Oakland and at Aikido West in Redwood City. She later decided to become a dedicated student of Frank Doran Sensei.

She is currently Dai Sempai (senior student) at Aikido West, where she teaches both adults and children.  She travels both domestically and internationally, teaching seminars.

She was awarded the rank of shichidan (7th degree black belt) in 2014 and the title of Shihan in 2016.

She also holds the rank of sandan (3rd degree black belt) in Kyudo (Japanese archery).

Her main emphasis is the enjoyment of self-exploration through Aikido. Strongly believing that Aikido is a way of life, her classes are generally energetic.