Lakeshore Aikido History

Our dojo was initially founded as Lake Shore Aikido by Betsy O’Donnell Sensei. Betsy Sensei came to northeast Ohio in 2004 to teach the traditional ASU four-week winter Aikido intensive seminar at Oberlin College. She brought with her sixteen years of experience studying and teaching Aikido in the Seattle area with senseis George Ledyard, Joanne Veneziano, and Lee Crawford. She ultimately found Cleveland and the local Aikido community stimulating enough to settle here. From 2010 to 2012 she assisted in teaching at the Cleveland Aikikai.

Following a brief stay in Oregon she returned to the Cleveland area in 2013. With encouragement and mentorship from Wendy Whited Shihan and personal permission from Patty Saotome Shihan, she founded Lake Shore Aikido as an Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU) dojo. The dojo was initially housed in the Euclid Community Center (in the chemistry room of the former Shore High School) in Euclid, Ohio, close to the shore of Lake Erie. Passionate about studying and sharing the teachings of Mitsugi Saotome Shihan, Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan, Motomichi Anno Shihan, and Mary Heiny Shihan whom she considered her most influential teachers, she attracted and inspired a group of students with USAF and ASU backgrounds to practice with her. With a gift for teaching and charisma on the mat, she created a vibrant community of practitioners. We continue her belief that there is one Aikido community and that the friendly coexistence of diverse dojos best serves it.

In December 2016 we moved to our current location in Cleveland Heights, a city with an over 30-year history of Aikido practice. We reconnected with the Cleveland Kendo Association which had been subleasing from us in Euclid. Now our roles were reversed.  Our members were instrumental in building the new joint space.

We were joined by Tom Krumroy Sensei in 2017 returning to Cleveland after several years in Columbus where he had been training and teaching under Claude Geeroms Sensei. He had previously trained and taught under Jim Klar Sensei at Cleveland Aikikai. Doug Clubine Sensei joined us in 2021, with business, military, and dojo-cho leadership and teaching experience.

With experienced teachers Tom Sensei and Doug Sensei onboard, Betsy Sensei knew she could return home to the Pacific Northwest; that the dojo was in good hands and was sustainable. We will always be grateful to her as the dojo founder and for her investment in providing superior instruction. Tom Sensei and Doug Sensei reorganized the dojo as a new Ohio charitable non-profit company, IRS 501(c)(3), with a governing board and Tom Sensei as chief instructor/dojo-cho and Doug Sensei as senior instructor/president. As part of the restructuring, we needed to change our name.  We chose Lakeshore Aikido to emphasize our intent to stay true to our historical roots.

We have a committed membership with most members regularly participating in training. In addition, many of us travel throughout the Midwest and from Washington, DC, to Florida, Montana, and Seattle to train at seminars with leading ASU teachers. Several routinely train with other Aikido organizations when traveling on business. In late 2022, ASU asked us to sponsor a new ASU dojo near us. This opportunity opened the door to a wonderful relationship with Greg Baum Sensei and Chardon Aikido and Self Defense in Chesterland, Ohio. In July 2024 we hosted our first seminar, taught by Robin Cooper Shihan of Aikido of Madison and our ASU mentor Shihan. Greg Sensei graciously shared his dojo with us for this event.

We are excited about the future: growing the dojo, finding a space of our own, engaging in community service, and promoting the art of Aikido.

“My experience in training with top-level instructors in Aikido and my study of Karate-Do has allowed me to come to a deep understanding of the balance between a solid martial background and the true purpose of Aikido: a way of generating peace in oneself and ultimately peace in the world. I see Aikido as a way of making sense of the universe and our place in it, to make sense of my life.”

Plank Holders	Early Members
Pat Tinkler	Don Neth
Donna Drew	Jeremy Neth
Kirste Carlson	Roberta Taliaferro
Himu Narayana	Tomek Rybek
Cedric Melton	Anita Dacanay
Robert Morris
Jake Van de Walle
Jerard Meadows
Jourdan Richardson