Meet our Instructors
Shidoshi Shane Carpenter
Primary Instructor - Washington State
Dai Shihan Phil Legare
Senior Instructor -
Hawaii
Shidoshi Shane Carpenter
Shane Carpenter Shidoshi is the primary instructor of the Bujinkan Taka Seigi Dojo - Washington. He started training in Budo Taijutsu under Oron Rhoads Shidoshi in 1992 while concurrently beginning his military career with the U.S. Army. In 2002, Ryan Lowe Shidoshi of the Central Valley Bujinkan in Bakersfield, California became Shane’s teacher and mentor while they served together in the California Army National Guard. During his third military deployment post-9/11, Shane served on the U.S. and Mexico border near San Diego where Ryan recommended that he trained with Lance Kumm Shihan and Bill Stegner Shihan. In 2008, Shane traveled to Japan for training in the Bujinkan Hombu. Following his return, Ryan tested and awarded him the shodan rank, and Shane began sharing what he had learned in training groups at every duty station throughout his federal active service. Applying Budo Taijutsu during combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Shane helped fellow officers, Soldiers, and civilians to avoid injury, control their operational environment, and prevail during tough circumstances. Shane retired from U.S. Army in 2015 and moved to Deer Park near Spokane, Washington. After several years building a family ranch and focusing on his children during their high school years, Shane continued his training under Phil Legare Dai Shihan. In 2018, Shane passed the Godan test and began teaching as a part of the Bujinkan Taka Seigi Dojo. Shane’s Budo warrior name is, “Tairikuookami” meaning Grey Wolf.
Shane has a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering Technology from California Polytechnic State University and a Masters degree of Military Arts and Sciences from the United States Army Command and General Staff College. He has conducted extensive research in martial arts around the world and wrote his master’s thesis on finding an appropriate mindset for combatives in the U.S. Army in 2010.
A combat veteran, Major Carpenter retired from the United States Army in 2015, after 23 years of honorable service. He deployed twice for homeland security and three times in the Middle East with service in Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan. As a Ranger qualified Infantry Officer, he attended many of the Army’s elite leadership and special skills schools and served in a multitude of operational environments including humanitarian support, emergency relief, conventional operations, counterinsurgencies, security operations, security forces assistance, and as the opposing force at the U.S. Army Joint Readiness Training Center.
Shane’s training focuses on understanding your environment, developing your capabilities, observing potential threats, and reacting appropriately with controlled escalation or de-escalation of force in order to control your situation.
Dai Shihan Phil Legare
Phillip Legare Shihan is the senior instructor and founder of the Bujinkan Taka Seigi Dojo (BTSD), formerly headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. He started training in Chinese martial arts in 1970. After joining the US Marine Corps in 1973, he had a number of military assignments in the Far East in the 70s and early 80s and trained in a number of schools local to wherever he was stationed at the time. In 1977, while stationed in Misawa, Japan, Phil was initiated into Budo Taijutsu under Sensei Shoen Fukuda, who was the Soke for Chugoku KuKenpodo, but was also a ranking instructor in the Bujinkan. Phil started training solely in the Bujinkan in 1982 under Larry Beaver. In 1986, Shihan Doron Navon became Phil’s teacher and mentor and a year later was recommended for Shidoshi-ho (instructor license prior to the rank of Godan). In 1989, Phil traveled to Japan for training at the Bujinkan Hombu Dojo where he passed the Godan test at the old Kashiwa Dojo. This started an annual pilgrimage to Japan for training until moving to Tokyo for work. In 2003, he was awarded the highest rank in the Bujinkan, Judan-Ku level, and is recognized as a master instructor of Budo Taijutsu under Soke Masaaki Hatsumi. Hatsumi Soke also awarded Mr. Legare a Menkyo Kaiden (master’s license) in Shinken Gata (modern warfare) in recognition for developing a modern combative system for law enforcement personnel to deal with counter-terrorism related situations and for military and civilian deployers to fight in the global war on terror. Since 1996, Mr. Legare has taught this protection training to more than 3000 students who have gone into harms way. This combative system is now called Shinken Taijutsu in honor of Soke Hatsumi and in recognition of the strong tie to the Bujinkan and Budo Taijutsu. Shihan Legare’s Budo warrior name is, “Taka-Seigi” meaning Hawk Justice.
Shihan Legare is the recipient of 4 Bujinkan Gold Dragon Awards presented by Hatsumi Soke for martial arts excellence. Joanne Legare, Phil’s wife and a Judan in the Bujinkan who often co-teaches at his seminars, is also the recipient of a Gold Dragon Award. Both Shihan(s) Phil and Joanne lived in Japan for 4 years, training at Hombu with Hatsumi Soke on a weekly basis.
Over the years, Phil hosted 3 highly successful TaiKai’s in the USA (93, 98 and 01) with the 2001 Washington TaiKai DVD winning the prestigious Japan Literary Guild award for Best Sports Film of the Year 2001.
Mr. Legare has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from New York State University and a Masters degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College, National Defense University. He has written numerous articles that have appeared in martial arts magazines over the years. He is a sought after speaker and lecturer on personal protection and Warrior Ethos. He has lectured at the US Naval Academy and in Japan at the American Club in Tokyo, Japan. Legare Shihan has authored several Budo Taijutsu Instructor Manuals, as well as produced numerous instructional videos in Budo Taijutsu and Shinken Taijutsu.
A combat veteran, Master Sergeant Legare retired from the United States Marine Corps in 1996, with more than 22 years of honorable service. He is an Elite Life Member of the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars and also the American Legion. Mr. Legare was a 1996 graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy’s Criminal Investigator Training Program and a Department of Defense Special Agent for 4 years. Mr. Legare recently retired after serving as an executive level manager in the Executive Branch of government.
Phil is married to the former Ms. Joanne Thacker and has twin boys, Matthew and Joshua. The BTSD Hombu is currently located Hawaii.
