I had decided after nine years with my previous teacher in order to further my growth in budo I needed to search for another teacher. In the year 2000 I began traveling around the western states enjoying the teaching of many of the most respected teachers in the country. But I never found a place where I felt like I was drawn to stay. In 2003 I visited Shiohira Shihan in Mountain View California, he brought me in to his little space, we sat on the floor and shared tea together. Being with him felt very welcoming, like he had almost been waiting for me to show up. And even though I had a difficult time understanding much of what he said to me that day because of his heavy Japanese accent, I felt something very special from him, and on a very deep level I knew I had found my teacher. A teacher that could remind me to continue to move toward my center, to be genuinely myself, just by being centered himself.  It seems to me Shiohira Sensei is a teacher that is so centered himself that he can allow others around him to be themselves. He is a man of little pretense and being next to him feels like standing next to a clear lake, calm and centered.

The first time I trained with Shiohira Sensei at the Mountain View dojo, I immediately felt a sense of belonging within this community of aikidoka, walking into the dojo felt like a nice breath, relaxed, like home.  On the mat there was no sense of who's who it was simply a group of highly skilled aikidoka practicing Aikido as THE WAY.  I remember the first time being thrown by Shiohira Sensei felt like I had just hit a giant tree with roots that extended to the center of the earth, he was incredibly grounded. I feel very privileged and grateful to have been accepted into the Pacific Aikido Federation, and hope that my students and I will grow from having the opportunity to study under such a wonderful shihan.

Tammy Lee Anderson October 2005

Tammy Lee Anderson, M.A., M.S.

Anderson Sensei began her Aikido training in 1982, and has been teaching Aikido and Self Defense classes at California State University, Fresno since 1999. She also teaches women's personal safety and rape prevention seminars for companies and private parties in the California Central Valley.  She is the chief instructor of Shinzen Dojo in Clovis, California and is affiliated with the Aikikai Hombu dojo through the Pacific Aikido Federation under the direction of Hideki Shiohira Shihan.  She also maintains a private practice as a Kinesiologist / Rolfer in Clovis, California.

Anderson Sensei brings to her Aikido practice a vast educational background, and holds two masters degrees, with an M.A. in Kinesiology , and a M.S. in Marriage and Family Counseling, both of which were earned at California State University, Fresno.  Her undergraduate work earned her a B.A. in Theology and Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles California.  She embraces a holistic philosophy of integrating body, mind, and spirit, both personally and professionally.  For Anderson Sensei practicing the way of Aiki is a life path, a path filled with personal discovery and self transformation.  Her teaching philosophy is to facilitate each students personal journey helping them discover the beauty and magnificence within and realizing personal empowerment through Aikido movement.  Once asked by one of her students about the magic of Aikido, she replied, "the magic is seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary, seeing the beauty in all life, in the simple every day interaction."