The Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance

Toronto Aikikai is a founding member dojo of the Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance (Shin Kaze), an organization of affiliated Aikido schools in Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.

Shin Kaze is a non-profit organization dedicated to the practice, development and instruction of the martial art and philosophy of Aikido as created and exemplified by its founder Morihei Ueshiba, O Sensei, and as spread by Hombu Dojo, the Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, under the leadership of Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba.

The affairs of Shin Kaze are managed by a Board of Directors. Responsibility for technical aspects rests with a Technical Committee composed of a group of Shihan (master instructors) resident in North America. Toronto Aikikai's Chief Instructor, Robert Zimmermann Shihan is a founding member of Shin Kaze, a member of its Board of Directors and a member of its Technical Committee.

Among other things, Shin Kaze registers and standardizes rank gradings according to Hombu's international regulations. All students at Toronto Aikikai are required to join Shin Kaze when examined for their first grading.