Biography
Ian Leitoshi (ray-toh-shee) Sanderson holds the rank of Sandan 3rd Degree Black Belt and has studied martial arts for over 20 years. His Warrior name means “Warrior Knight of the Encouraging Blade.” Prior to finding his home in To-Shin Do, he trained variously in Mizongyi Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan, Pa-Kua, Brazilian Jujutsu, Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu, Arnis, Iaido, and Capoeira. He has also spent his life as a wilderness experience facilitator and brings his wilderness and martial arts backgrounds together in his teaching of awareness, stealth, camouflage, tracking, and many other outdoor skills. A member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle clan, Ian is from the Six Nations of the Grand River reservation in Ontario, Canada. He has also spent many years studying and teaching Indigenous cultural traditions, rights, history, and modern issues. Additionally, he is senior adjunct faculty at Naropa University and has facilitated 800-900 group training and speaking engagements over the last 20 years serving a diverse array of organizations. He sees the ninja lineage as a living history that has much to teach us today about how the disenfranchised can find freedom, prosperity, and happiness now.
In between all this, Ian can be found hanging out with his amazing wife, housemates, two dogs, two cats, eight chickens, a bunch of fish, and a whole lot of bees as they all try to figure out small-scale sustainable community.