TEAM LIFE KI-DO
Experience, Leadership, Guidance
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
“No one in Austin deserves higher praise or greater thanks from us than the Senseis at Life Ki-do. You all are very special people and extremely talented instructors. I have been thrilled with every single staff member."
— Parent of Life Ki-do Student
SENSEI JONATHAN HEWITT
Founder & Lead Instructor
Founder of Life Ki-do® Martial Arts & Personal Development, Jonathan began his martial arts training and competitive athletics as a young boy. In addition to being a skilled martial artist, Sensei Jonathan was also a high school state wrestling champion and a very proficient soccer player.
His childhood quest to find the ancient inner life skill teachings of the martial arts led to his training and teaching in a wide variety of systems including Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing, JKD, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Street Self-Defense, Wrestling, and Systema. He is a certified Systema instructor under world-renowned Systema master Vladimir Vasiliev.
Jonathan has a degree in psychology from Emory University in addition to over 35 years of practice in meditation, mindfulness, and the brain-body connection. His great joy comes from sharing ancient, universal personal development skills to inspire students to discover and live from their inner calm and strength.
SENSEI DOUG DIAMOND
Youth Program Director & Lead Instructor
A black belt in Nisei Goju Ryu Karate, Doug is a Lead Instructor and Director of the Youth Program at Life Ki-do.
Since 2006, Doug has been privileged to serve families in our community through the dojo. Doug’s passion is empowering youth through cooperative practice. Reverence for the innate goodness of humanity is his most important guiding principle. Doug also loves his family, his dog, and his vegetable garden very much.
SENSEI DEVEN PENN
Lead Instructor
Deven comes to Life Ki-do after working at Parkside Community Montessori School as an assistant teacher in the classroom and as an assistant in Sensei Doug’s Life Ki-do classes at the school. In addition to training in Life Ki-do Martial Arts, Deven has trained in Aikido, boxing, and kickboxing.
He also has extensive physical fitness experience in gymnastics, baseball, and track and field. Exercise and healthy living have always been a big part of Deven’s life. He achieved his black belt and the title of Sensei in May 2017.
SEMPAI ED PARAY
Lead Instructor
Ed comes to Life Ki-do from My Gym in the Los Angeles area where he lead martial arts classes for multiple locations over 15 years. He has over 20 years experience in martial arts including being a certified instructor in Wing Chun kung fu and Tang Soo Do Korean karate.
His 15 years with My Gym gives Sempai Ed a wealth of experience in teaching children and he has incredible patience with everyone he works with.
SEMPAI SARAH HAYES
Dojo Manager & Instructor
Sempai Sarah started training with Life Ki-do when she was just 4 years old after her mom enrolled her at the dojo hoping to focus her abundance of energy. She continued her Life Ki-do training throughout her entire childhood and teen years achieving the incredible rank of 2nd degree black belt before graduating high school. From the time she was a little girl through all of her years training with Life Ki-do, Sarah has always exemplified inner confidence, strength, resilience, dedication, and most of all joy in her training. She has been an extraordinary student and role model to many over the years.
After graduating from Trinity University with a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing magna cum laude, Sarah joined us full-time at Life Ki-do. In addition to being an instructor in our Life Ki-do Classes, Sempai Sarah runs our Karate Camp, co-runs our Leadership Team, and is our Dojo Manager helping our daily operations run smoothly and supporting our dojo community.
She brings incredible joy, care, and skill to everything she does, and we are very thankful to have her on our team.
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER, SENSEI JONATHAN HEWITT
Hi, I’m Jonathan Hewitt.
Welcome to Life Ki-do, where martial arts meets inner well-being. I’m so honored you found your way here.
The path to my own inner well-being was a long journey. Like many others, I grew up thinking that my happiness was dependent on how well I performed.
As an actor in television commercials, captain of three sports, and state wrestling champion, I was consistently recognized for my accomplishments and accolades.
I soon realized my identity was wrapped in who I needed to be for other people. It was wrapped in what I needed to do to receive the attention in order to feel okay. It masked my insecurities and lack of self-love.
This realization kickstarted my journey into discovering the meaning of life and what it truly means to be happy. I delved into learning everything about meditation and mindfulness.
Through that journey, I learned that true happiness flows from the inside out. I learned what it means to become your own best friend and to truly love and respect yourself.
I discovered how to have intrinsic motivation to become who I wanted to be vs. having to rely on external validation.
I no longer felt the need to compare, compete, or control.
Instead, my consciousness grew and I became more compassionate and cooperative. As a result, my relationships with myself, others, and the world grew stronger and healthier.
I found my inner power — my River.
And now it’s my life’s work to help other people find theirs.
I’ve combined my 30 years of study in meditation, mindfulness, and the brain-body connection with a lifetime of martial arts training to create the Life Ki-do curriculum.
It truly lights me up the moment students discover the inner power they never knew they had access to.
It’s something you have to experience for yourself. Hope to see you soon!
-Jonathan