Toshikai Co-Founder Shihan Tim Leonard (7th degree blackbelt)     

Tim Leonard started his karate training in Manitoba in 1980. He opened his first karate club in 1985 at the North End YMCA in Winnipeg and then a second club in a Winnipeg community centre.  Since moving to Ottawa in 1993, Tim returned to being a karate student by training with numerous local martial art experts and attending seminars abroad.  In the fall of 1997, Tim opened the Toshikai Dojo of Ottawa which now operates out of the East Wind Budo Life Centre.

Tim founded and ran the annual Canadian Isshinryu Karate Tournament in Winnipeg for seven years.  Believing in keeping Isshin Ryu united, Tim was a co-founder and vice-chair of the Canadian Isshin Ryu Karate Association.  As a leader of karate in Canada, Tim was recognized for his efforts in 2001 with the "Spirit of Isshinryu" award and was the runner-up for "Instructor of the Year." Tim was active in the open tournament circuit of which he held numerous titles including the Canadian Isshinryu Champion, the North Dakota State Champion and most recently the 2006 AOKA World Isshinryu Kumite Grand Champion.