New Location

Osu!

This is my first attempt at 'blogging'.  Senpai Erin says I should do it as a great way to reach our students.  She swears they will read it, so here goes:

As most of you know, I have opened a new location for my dojo (school). This will be the fourth school I have opened in my career. Though its a new location, teaching karate is nothing new to me.  It really is true that I have been teaching for close to 40 years, hard to believe, I know!  I finally decided, after teaching and training in karate for nearly 4 decades, to use my title in the name of my new school.  I did this not because of my enormous ego (those who know me, know this is not the case) but because I felt that in a world with so many martial art instructors calling themselves Master or Shihan and promoting themselves to high rank, I should stand above and show everyone there is a school really run by a rightfully earned Shihan.  I feel my students should know that by coming to my Karate Academy, the are receiving a legitimate karate master.

The title Shihan means 'Master' and is given only to those who have trained for many decades and who have demonstrated the quality of a karateka (one who trains in karate) by devoting his life to his art.  In the eyes of my master, Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, I am considered a Shihan (Japanese for Master).  But let me say this, I will never consider myself one who has mastered karate; there is always more to learn, refine, and improve.  I do consider myself knowledgeable and above proficient and capable of delivering a quality lesson to my students, and just like Black Belt and Beyond, my training is not finished.  'Shihan' is a honorary title, but for me it is a way to show the length of time and commitment I have to my beloved karate-do and I am proud to have it in front of my name.

We hear the word 'karate' thrown around in the generic sense.  Usually 'karate' is used to describe all different types of martial arts.  What I teach is real karate, not taikwondo, not jujitsu, not mixed martial arts, not kung fu.  All these arts are well established and teach a similar message, but what I teach is a traditional japanese-style karate with all the formalities that you would assume go along with it.

I look forward to seeing what lies ahead with this new school.  This will be my first attempt at running a full-time school.  I am excited to be back on the floor teaching what I love.  Our new school, though still under construction, is going to be the most beautiful and best one yet.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading.  Osu!