If you have ever done martial arts, people typically ask you the following questions, “What belt are you?” and “Are you a black belt?” In today’s society, rank and prestige seem like the big motivator in most activities. We live in a world focused on competition and who can get the most medals or trophies. But being a black belt does not mean that you are an expert. In fact, the Japanese term for a student who has just attained their first degree black belt is ‘Shodan’. ‘Sho’ means ‘To begin’ and ‘Dan’ refers to the class of black belts. That first black belt represents that you have now learned HOW to learn karate and you are ready to begin your journey.

We have tests in karate and kobudo to embody our way of training – Kaizen. Kaizen is ‘Continuous Improvement’. You set goals, you work with partners, you train hard and you never settle into a rut where you are just comfortable with where you are at, if you are living the way of Kaizen.

On this page, we will post the upcoming testing dates and congratulate the students who have passed! If you are a current student or parent of a student who is ready to test, please visit with Kaicho to get the proper paperwork and payment set-up BEFORE the date of the test. How do you know if you are ready to test or not? Ask Kaicho or Shihan/Sensei to provide a recommendation. Please check back regularly for new postings.

Congratulations to the following students for passing their Karate Test on November 26, 2019.

Dave

Freddy

Gabriel

Antonio

Leo

Lucas

Daniel

Bryan

Camila

Emeliano

Congratulations to the following students for passing their Kobudo Test on November 26, 2019.

Jessye

Elliott

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