Minoru Saeki is the founder of Ottawa JKA and the Canada JKA Karate Federation. He is licensed by the JKA headquarters to conduct examinations up to 3rd Dan and is an A-level judge and examiner. Saeki Sensei has been dedicated to the development of traditional Karate in Canada for more than fourty years. As a member of the JKA Masters Committee in Tokyo,  his technical knowledge and experience is at the forefront of Shotokan karate development internationally.

Saeki Sensei is currently a Technical Advisor at Ottawa JKA, conducting instructors’ seminars and examinations, traveling frequently to teach around the country.

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For more information on Sensei Saeki and his teaching philosophy, please see his biography page.

Seiji Saeki is the Head Instructor of the Ottawa JKA, teaching the Adult and Youth programs. He spent four years in Japan under the mentorship of Keisuke Nemoto at the Chiba Institute of Technology. After winning the Kanto Region Championship in 2014, he later joined Instructor’s Training at the JKA Headquarters (HQ) and graduated as a Foreign Trainee after two years of training. During his time in Japan he qualified for the JKA All Japan Championships four times from 2014-2017 and has judged at university level competitions.

Major Tournament Wins

2014 JKA Kanto Region Championship, 1st Place Kumite
2016 JKA Canada National Championship, 1st Place Kumite
2017 JKA World Championship, 3rd Place Team Kata

Yulia Saeki is the Club Manager of the Ottawa JKA and Instructor of the Kids program and Japanese Language Course.  Having received the MEXT Scholarship from the Japanese government, she moved to Japan as a research student and completed her Master’s degree from the University of Tsukuba at the faculty of Health and Sports Sciences.  During her four years in Japan, she was a member of the Tsukuba University Med-Karatedo Club and trained at the Ishige Dojo under the Chief Instructor of Ibaraki Prefecture Masashi Nakajima.