About SEISHINKAN - Instructors

Chief Instructor
Robert E. Ellis, 6th Degree Black Belt
Personal Student of Higaonna Morio, Founder and Chief Instructor of the International Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-Do Federation
Certified IOGKF Senior Instructor
Member Executive Committee IOGKF-USA
Member National Grading Board IOGKF-USA

Sensei Ellis began karate training in 1963, while still a high school student in New York. Early training also included Judo, Kendo and Zen with Sakiyama Roshi a former student of Miyagi Chogun Sensei. Following discharge from the Marine Corps, Ellis entered the PhD Japanese history program at the University of Oregon In 1973, Ellis went to Tokyo to study with Higaonna Sensei as one of the first westerners at the now famous Yoyogi dojo. Concurrently, he enrolled at Waseda University to continue his academic studies. Upon returning to the U.S., Ellis started his own dojo and for the next 20 years headed the University of Oregon club sports karate program and taught karate while on faculty in the Physical Education Department. Ellis lives with his wife and son in Portland, Oregon where he teaches. His daughter attends law school in London, England. Ellis is a former technology executive having spent most of his career in the defense industry. Ellis Sensei’s new dojo SEISHINKAN, named in honor of his teacher, means the school where we develop the spirit of Morio Sensei.

Senior Assistant Instructor: Ron Tiland, 4th Degree Black Belt
Ron Tiland began his martial arts training in Judo in junior high school. He began his Okinawan Goju-Ryu karate training in 1976 under Sensei Ellis while a senior at the University of Oregon. Following graduation, he continued his training in Portland, Oregon under the instruction of Harry Dinihanian. An ardent martial artist, Ron also trained for a period in Shito-Ryu karate. Ron Tiland lives in Beaverton, Oregon. His youngest son attends high school while his older sons attend Oregon State University in Corvallis and Southern Oregon University in Ashland. He is a licensed engineer in the states of Oregon and Washington and operates his own consulting firm.

Assistant Instructor: Harry M. Dinihanian, 4th Degree Black Belt
Harry began practicing Karate in 1973 under Sensei Ellis, while pursuing his architectural degree at the University of Oregon. Following graduation with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1976, he competed in both regional and national level tournaments in both kumite and kata events. He opened the Portland dojo over twenty years ago, has attended numerous seminars and gasshuku’s and has continued to teach since that time. Harry has been a Portland native all his life where he raised his family and fulfilled his career goal of practicing architecture. He presently works for an international firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon, designing facilities for the high-tech electronics industry around the world and is licensed in multiple states. He is blessed with three sons, Devin, Nathan, and Adam.

Assistant Instructor: Ricardo C. Olalde, 4th Degree Black Belt
Ricardo began his formal Karate training in 1970 as a 14-year-old Junior High School student. Following undergraduate studies at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico, Ricardo came to the United States in1980 to pursue his education at the University of Oregon and continue his practice of Martial Arts. In 1985, he began his training in Okinawan Goju-Ryu under Sensei Ellis. Ricardo is a Ph.D. candidate in Criminology, at the University of Oregon. He has spent 20 years working in the field of Addiction Counseling, as a professional consultant to Oregon’s Office of Mental Health & Addiction Services, and to the Oregon Department of Corrections, He is currently president of MultiCultural Consultants and the Executive Director of the Freedom & Recovery Program at the Oregon State Correctional Institution. He lives happily with his wife and two children in Salem, Oregon.