Traditional
Shorin-Ryu Karate &
Kobudo is taught year round to adults at the
Arizona Hombu Dojo in
Mesa. A couple of families train in
karate and
self-defense group classes, and children (>8 years of age) in these families are mature, always train with their parents, and do not disturb others in class. Only adults (>16 years of age) train in
kobudo at the
Hombu.
Kyoju (professor of
Budo) taught
karate,
kobudo,
iaido,
sojutsu,
hojojutsu,
hanbojutsu,
naginata,
jujutsu, self-defense,
self-defense for women, self-defense for faculty and teachers, self-defense for ROTC cadets, and martial arts history at the
University of Wyoming for more than 30 years. He taught
martial arts at three other universities and several commercial gyms, and he is the head instructor at the
Arizona Hombu dojo in
Mesa, Arizona in the east valley of
Phoenix.
Tuesday evening
karate classes focus on basics known as
kihon in Japanese. Learning stances, kicks, punches, blocks, and how to fall come in handy not only for
self-defense, but also for self-confidence and physical fitness. By far, the most important aspect of karate, besides learning to respect others, is to learn
kata.
Kata are
ingenious forms created centuries ago and are the heart of Okinawan
karate and
kobudo. When done properly, these teach
karate practitioners muscle memory, good stances, balance, movement, power, accretion, and hundreds of
self-defense applications. In traditional
karate-do, there is nothing that compares to
kata. And at the
Arizona Hombu dojo, the student is always learning.
Soke, recognized as a
martial arts genius, knows more than 90
kata;
thus students
include beginners who don't even know how to tie their
obi (karate belt), to the most advanced black belt master instructors.
 |
| Soke teaching black belt clinic at the Arizona Hombu dojo |
When one learns
kata, they not only learn a
martial arts form designed to help them move correctly, but these forms incorporate the favorite
self-defense applications from
martial arts masters from the past. Its a form of living history. And most applications (
bunkai) were tested in combat by various karate masters in Okinawa's martial arts history. And nearly every
kata not only incorporates punches, kicks, and blocks, but they also include many throws, chokes, attacks, restraints, arm bars, etc. Many of these are obvious, others are somewhat obscured.
Kata provide a means for learning many self-defense applications including many of the chokes and throws one usually relates to Japanese
jujutsu. But to be effective, the student must not only practice kata correctly, but must also practice the
bunkai often, both by shadow boxing and training with a partner.
 |
| While at the University of Wyoming, Soke classes ranged from 22 to 110 Today, he limits classes to a maximum of 25 to provide more individual attention. These classes include the beginner to the most advanced black belts. |
