Martial Arts

Karate

Of all the martial arts, one of the most prominent is karate. It was developed in the Okinawa area of mid-1800s Japan and was based on the fighting styles of the indigenous Japanese people and on kenpo, China's martial art of note. Mostly known by its striking techniques of punching, elbowing, kneeing, kicking, chopping, grappling and throwing, it is considered more of an art than other martial techniques. It focuses on fundamentals, various forms, and competitive sparring.

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Zen Meditation

We teach Zen Meditation just for building peace of mind, relieving stress, and building mental endurance. Zen meditation is just simple sitting, right breathing, and correct Zen posture. At the end of each class, we sit in meditation for 10 minutes. It is nothing to do with Zen Buddhism or any religious purpose whatsoever.

Jujitsu

Jujitsu is literally the art of softness or the way of yielding, can be learned unarmed or armed, and evolved from the ancient Samurai methods of defeating opponents, despite the presence or absence of a weapon on either side of opposition. Because the enemies were usually armored, any kind of striking blow was futile for the feudal attacker. Instead, creative pins, throws, joint locks and other methods of neutralizing were much more effective. The principle of using an enemy's momentum against him is what the whole martial art is centered on.

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Kendo

Kendo is the Way of the Sword, literally, and a relatively modern martial art developed in Japan. It is an art of sword-fighting based on Japanese swordsmanship and is both physically and mentally challenging. Though its earliest roots are in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is founded most recently in the late 18th century. By using practice swords and armor, strikes and thrusts could be performed at actual force, but without causing injury.

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Judo

The "Gentle Way" of martial artistry is Judo. Both a martial art and combat sport, it originated in Japan in the late 1800s. It is marked by its prominent display during competition of either the throwing of one competitor by another to the ground, the immobilization of one opponent by another, or the submitting of one opponent to another. This is typically accomplished by a series of grapples, throws, pins, locks, chokes, or strangleholds. Competitive forms do not include any form or weapons use or striking. It is considered the father of all Japanese martial arts currently expressed today. This is because of the teaching structures and the philosophy behind the training. The entire world has been affected in one form or another by the popular spread of this martial art.

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Iaido

Iaido is a martial art from Japan that is a mastery of smooth, controlled movements that draw the practitioner's sword from its scabbard, cut the opponent, remove any blood from the blade, and replace it safely and cleanly in the scabbard. Newer students use wooden or unsharpened swords, whereas more advanced students use actual, sharp metal swords. This art is nearly exclusive in the teaching of forms over fundamentals or actual striking. Practice is performed on wooden dummies and doesn't include any kind of sparring or direct, one-on-one competition. It's more about the perfection of a controlled and fluid motion

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Kyudo

Kyudo is Japanese archery. It is literally the "way of the bow", a martial art of great skill and devoted practice. Whenever archery began in Japan is, for certain, unknown. No historical records exist in the time that archery must have been going on. In fact, molded metal images depicting a Japanese use of an asymmetrical bow date as early as 330bc. A Chinese document, written in the third century, tells of the people in Japan using a bow that was short on the bottom and long on the top. It was this time frame when the bow was used in war as well as for hunting.

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