Saturday, February 18th 3:00pm-5:30pm

4 West 18th Street 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10011

• What if you aren’t the type of woman that can easily poke a guy in the eye with your thumb or bite off his ear?

• Or if you are that kind of woman – wouldn’t you prefer to avoid breaking a nail, sweat or heel to prove it?

• And how do you know that really cute guy you just met in the supermarket, in the library or in your stairwell isn’t out to make you the next headline?

Click Here To Register

*The material in this workshop was developed from Gavin De Becker’s – The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence (used with permission), principles of Laban Movement Analysis and Martial Arts. Through video, discussion, movement based experientials, and practical release, hit and run self-defense techniques participants are enabled to powerfully distinguish and disarm potentially violent situations.

Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan invites you parents and caregivers to our wonderful Karate Summer Camp Program
where we will be providing continuing classes for your children so they can stay connected and
empowered with us.

Each week we’ll feature what your children love best about karate and continue to instruct
and empower them to turn their challenges into victories!

We have 3 separate weeks of karate summer camp  this year for you to bring your children to have
fun in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and cooperation. We would love to see you there with us!

In each of our summer camp week is included karate in the park, karate at the beach, Ice cream day,
mat games and so much more…. Your kids will love it!

Dates for our Karate Summer Camp NY:

Monday – Friday 6/27/2011-7/1/2011

Monday – Friday 7/25/2011-7/29/2011

Monday – Friday 8/29/2011- 9/2/2011

Monday-Friday: $375.00

One day: $90.00

Two days or more: $80 each day

For more information: 212 677 7228 or email info@sfmai.org.

We appreciate your continued support of our programs and love working with your children !

Osu!

Master Blaze is an award winning Society of American Fight Directors trained combatant.  Master Blaze will train Padawans of all ages in the art of the Light Saber using safe, choreographed techniques used by the Society of American Fight Directors www.safd.com.  Padawans will learn discipline, respect and focus during their training.

Sabers may be purchased through The Society for Martial Arts Instruction and range in price from $50.00 to $500.00 certain criteria in the weapon must be cleared through Master Blaze.

CLASSES

Padawans Ages 8 to 11
Saturday 11:15 am to 12:15 pm
Classes begin January 8th
20 Sessions, $550

Padawans Ages 12 to Adult
Wednesday 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Classes begin January 12th
10 Sessions, $330

10% Discount if you sign up and pay in full by December 21, 2010

Private Classes Available

Call:  212.677.7228

Or Email Us:  info@sfmai.org

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Lately I’ve been contemplating the meaning of “Karate.” I’m not referring to the etymology of the actual word (although at some point, that may become germane to this topic), but the reason why I practice. What do we learn from Karate?

Of course there are the obvious answers–kicking, punching, kata, self-defense, self-confidence, self-reliance, discipline, etc. But I am sure there are plenty of people who are self reliant, confident, and disciplined and have never stepped foot in a karate dojo. There are also other arts that teach one how to kick and punch. How does karate differ? I extoll the virtues of this path to anyone who will lend even a near-deaf ear, yet I am left thinking,”what does it truly offer me ?”

This lead me to think about the word “karate” itself. It is commonly known that the word “karate” originally meant “China hand,” but was changed to “empty hand” in an effort by the Japanese to distance “their” art from its Chinese antecedents. Hence, the word “Karate” as we know it now refers to an art practiced without the use of weapons, thus an empty hand. But what if it means more than that? Let’s think about it for a second.

What is one of the major functions served by our hands ? I would say that most often, my hands are used to grab on and hold on to any number of things–perhaps a cup of coffee in the morning, or my iphone when I wish to make a call or check my email. Often I grab the steering wheel in frustration as I battle my way through traffic on my way enroute to work.

What if, all of those hours spent sweating and kiai-ing our way through kihon, kata, and kumite allowed us to truly “empty our hands.” What if, each time you stepped into the embujo (training space of a dojo) you let go of all the unimportant things we tend to hold onto simply because we don’t know how to let go of them or worse yet we refuse to let go of for fear we may not recognize ourselves without the baggage that so often defines us. What if, during a sparring match when you have been beaten to the point of submission and don’t think you can endure another second, you let go of all your preconceived limitations and realize just how strong you truly are.

Personally I know that whenever I am practicing, there is no “space” to think of anything else. It doesn’t matter if I had a great day or a disastrous one. Once I step onto the mat all the days events fade to black and all that remains is my spirit and my “empty hands” ready to accept whatever lessons I may be fortunate enough to receive that day.

The funny thing about our hands, is that they can only hold on to a few things at a time. If our hands are constantly full, it’s had to receive anything new. Think of all the wondrous things we may miss while clenching on to things that may no longer serve a purpose in our lives. Why hold on to a hammer, when a wrench is what you may really need?

So perhaps Karate is supposed to teach us how to stop holding on…how to let go…how to empty are hands so that we can receive anew. That’s what it teaches me!

It floored me that I had so much in common with a 10 year old’s training experience. I too have changed a lot and have had many wonderful teachers to whom I owe a great deal for their patience, perseverance, wisdom, and humour. Ironically, the people that I learn the most from these days are my students. Thanks to all the kids at World Kanreikai Karate NYC dojo!

Tell us about a person who has been important to you.

Sensei Michelle has been an important person to me because she influenced me a lot. Sensei is my karate teacher. She has influenced me in and out of karate.
Sensei tells us to work harder in and out of karate class. In karate, Sensei tells us to kick higher. When I kick higher I advance in karate belts. That’s why I get to lead the end of the class sometimes. When I worked harder in writing class I got better at writing. Now I am happy because I like to write in a journal.

Sensei tells us to be self-aware. She tells us to be self-aware because she doesn’t want us to kick people or step on cats and dogs. She also tells us to watch out for people on the street. She also tells us to be careful of people smaller than us.

Sensei tells us to be helpful. In class I do the moves to show white belts how to do them. Outside of karate I helped my grandmother find the campsite sign and find the quickest way to the campsite with all the camping gear. I also helped find the way to all the children’s programs. It is fun being helpful, it makes me feel important, Sensei also tells us to be nice to people. In karate I am nice to all the people there. Outside karate I am nice to friends and family. In all, Sensei influenced me a lot inside and outside of karate. Sensei tells us that karate is only allowed in the karate school because it is only used in self-defense. But I have learned a lot of things from learning karate that I use both inside and outside karate.

- by Alex Caceres-Wright

Sometimes when I get to roll with Professor, the experience is nothing short of mind blowing. He does what he does, slowly, methodically, relaxed, laughing. But the positions are exotic to my white belt student mind. Position is a terribly inadequate word, implying that what he does is understandable in a quantifiable, component set of static placements. No, the movements are in a realm of movement I don’t think in yet. When he rolls like this I am a grain of sand with an ocean floating around me. When he moves on to another student I sit there on the mat, perfectly uninjured, but my mind has been blown. I am waking up from a dream world: I was there, participating, but deep down completely helpless. What the heck just happened to me?

Last night a training friend and I were working after class. We were practicing something new we had learned, when a much-higher belt at our school started to give us help. His moves weren’t quantifiable though. There was no way to separate what happened next from what happened next-next, from what happened before. It was all of a part. It was a piece from the middle of a conversation, at a party, where the chain of phrases are all linked to a room of branching talk. And so we were quickly immersed in the totality of his voice.

Voice: A Brazilian friend said that Professor shows us everything he knows. He does not have special moves for competition. There are things he hasn’t shown us yet simply because we are not ready, but he doesn’t have this extra secret catalog he only uses for himself. The only moves unique to him are those that are suited to him. We had difficulty translating the Portuguese word he used to describe it, malandragem. My Brazilian friend is a musician, and so the closest I got was flow or groove, like a bass player’s groove, the voice he gets when he is a master. But that wasn’t it exactly. He later clarified that it is closer to street smarts, but street smarts flavored with your own unique groove.

I have heard from friends (and do not know if it is true) that the difference between a blue belt and a purple belt in BJJ is only partially knowledge. By knowledge I mean of course what you can unthinkingly execute, the knowledge stored in the neurons of your muscles after you’ve trained them over and over in a particular manner, body-knowledge that you can, if called upon, break down into words. But knowledge is not sufficient for promotion. One must also have begun to develop one’s unique voice, your own BJJ. Your flow, groove, malandragem, is distinctive to you. At purple belt it is not fully developed, but it is there (I surmise it is always there, you are simply now aware of it) and you develop it. The knowledge difference between purple and brown belts is negligible; it is about the voice. Brown and black I don’t understand yet. I have read that black is a commitment to compete or teach, and that your ability to pass on what you know is important to the promotion. And your ability to be self-sustaining, I suppose.

The much-higher belt I referred to earlier has a very distinctive voice. He is not like some black belts, whose style is fast, or Professor, who moves like the tide. He is this vortex, a typhoon. He thinks in spirals, and so it was difficult to pull one move apart from another when he showed us his sequences. They all existed in spiral-space. The only way to participate is to realign your perception of reality from my current three dimensions to that of curved space. Our minds were blown, but it was at least possible to understand this place, because he was adept at instructing us. And, once there, we were spiraling with ease.

I can not stop thinking in that spiral-space (doubly curving non-cylindrical geometry, or, possibly, systolic geometry for geometry geeks out there). Partly because I am fascinated by this new kingdom. Partly because I wish to make it my own.

On November 8^th, 2008, World Kanreikai Karate held its second Open Full Contact Tournament in Danbury Connecticut.  The event, hosted by Kanreikai founder Hanshi Manny Matias, was a well attended  evening of much excitement.

Fighters wore no protective equipment aside from groin and mouth protection – no headgear, shin pads or hand pads.  Punches to the face are not allowed, but all manner of kicks to the head are legal, as are attacks of any sort to the body and legs. With these rules in place, the fighters – who came from many styles and from all over the world – were going to have to be experienced and well trained.

The light weight men’s division , as is often the case, impressed with its fast moving, high energy fights.  Chris Concalves of the United States fought with ferocity to take third place, in a fight in which the action frequently spilled out of the ring.  The final fight, between Dominik Rezpka of Poland and Khaid Montaev of Chechnya , was two rounds of continuous action, with Rezpka eventually taking the light weight crown.

Among the middle weight men, too, there was much excitement.  Clai Henry of USA defeated Vladimir Mineev of Russia in a grueling battle for the championship.  Both fighters were surely weary from earlier fights, but they gave no sign of this as they drove each other around the ring. Third place in this division was taken by Andre LaFond.

The heavyweight division brought Marcin Nowosielski of Poland , a fighter of incredible speed, stamina  and power. He battled his way to the finals, winning each fight along the way, and defeated Lukas Luczynski, also of Poland , for the championship. Scott Haug of USA was third.

Female fighter were combined into one division, and here, too, there were many hard fought f ights. Marylene Prince of Canada defeated a game Maureen McConnell of USA to take third place. And the final fight, between Anna Kolodziej-Plewka of Poland   and younger sister of Kyokushin World champion Julie Lamarre,  Kathia Lamarre of Canada , was a true display of championship talent – two rounds of lightning kicks and full power punches found Kolodziej-Plewka the winner and Lamarre a very game second place.

During a break in the fighting, there was a demonstration of Brazilian Jujitsu technique by Best Way Jujitsu, of Connecticut, as well as some semi-contact fighting by teenage “fighters of the future.” It was a full evening, with a great display of fighting spirit, and all participants appreciated the opportunity to participate in this event.