Sensei Bio Gabriel is considered the father of Lebanese Aikido. He studied Aikido at the Hombu Dojo in Tokyo from 1973 till 1978, while working in the shipping business. Thereafter, he taught Aikido at the Banzai Dojo in Beirut, with the help of Sensei Mohamad Darwish, a Judoka.

Between the years of 1978 and 1983, Sensei Bio taught Aikido to many Lebanese and some foreigners who were stationed in the country during the war, and graduated several students as black belts. However, due to the war, he immigrated to the USA on September 9th, 1983.

Today, he resides in Long Island New York, where he owns his own shipping company. He has established the Aikido of Nassau County Dojo where he is still teaching as a senior instructor.

Every summer, he travels to Lebanon to give seminars and special instructor classes at one or more of the Dojos Affiliated with the LAF. We in Lebanon are very fortunate to have such a resourceful person in the art of Aikido.


Some of his achievements in Aikido:

- Honorary President of the Lebanese Aikido Federation and of its Technical Committee from 1998.

- Present Aikido rank: 6 Dan from Aikido World Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan.

- Studied Aikido under the late and present Doshu for five years.

- Took private lessons for five years with Masuda Sensei.

- Took private small group lessons with: Masuda, Takezawa, Shibata, Endo.

- Took regular classes daily under the following 9th Dan Masters: Arikawa, late Yamagushi, Tada.

- Took regular classes daily under the following 8th Dan Masters: Masuda, Fujita.

- Took regular classes daily under the following 7th Dan Masters: Sasaki, Watanabeh, Endo, Toriumi.

- Holds a special certificate from the late Doshu Kishumaru Ueshiba. Only about ten of such certificates exist in the whole world today.

- Holds a certificate from the Hombu Dojo, Aikido World Headquarters, signed by the late Doshu himself giving authorization to teach Aikido. The Hombu Dojo does not issue such certificates anymore.




Sensei Salim KaiSensei Salim Kai was born on May 14th, 1964 in Lebanon. He obtained a visa to leave Lebanon and go to college in the United States. There he spent 12 years in the State of Michigan, learning English and then studying Engineering Physics. Thereafter, he also studied Biomedical Engineering Technology while working at the University of Michigan Medical Center as a Cardiopulmonary Technician in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, and later on as a Biomedical Engineer.

While there, he saw enough sick people to realize that there is something awfully wrong with the world…this changed his views on life.

He began his Aikido training in 1984, while still a student in Engineering Physics. His initial introduction to the art of Aikido was with Sensei Daniel Sharp and Steve Richter, and under the direct supervision of the late Walter E. Todd. He remained a student there until his return to Lebanon on December 9th, 1993.

Upon his arrival in Lebanon he pursued his training, and began teaching Aikido to a small number of students on January 19th, 1995, at Notre Dame University. In the years to follow, between 1995 and 2000, Sensei Salim taught in about ten clubs throughout Lebanon till he finally settled in his own dojo, Harmony Club.
During the summer of 1995, Sensei Salim crossed paths with Sensei Bio Gabriel, and thus became his student. He remains loyal to him till today.

From January 1995 until August 2003, Sensei Salim dedicated his entire time, energy, and resources to the dissemination of Aikido in Lebanon. He helped his own students become teachers in their own right and establish their own dojos throughout the country to spread the message of peace.

After serving as the President of the Lebanese Aikido Federation for over 5 years and as the chief instructor at Harmony Club, Sensei Salim got married to Miss Josiane Rizk on June 11, 2003 and moved back to the State of Michigan a few months later. He currently trains in Aikikai Aikido, Daito Ryu Aikijutsu and Mugai Ryu Iaido.
We wish Sensei Salim the best of luck.