Chapel Hill Shotokan Karate Dojo

Classes over the Thanksgiving week are often small, as dojo members – in the tradition of the holiday – travel to or host family gatherings. Nonetheless, this year on the eve of Thanksgiving 13 members, from our youngest to our oldest, white belts outnumbering black and brown belts, gathered in the dojo with a common purpose: To […]

Several weeks ago the inaugural Carolina Beach Practice took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, near where the Coastal Carolina University dojo is located. Nine members of the Chapel Hill dojo participated. Below is an experience report from one of them. Like a perfect sweep, the wave pulled my feet up at the same time […]

Several weeks ago we participated in the 2019 Festival of Nations event, which was held at the Duke Homestead historical site in Durham, and featured a wide variety of performances from groups related to the cultures of Durham’s sister cities. One of the sister cities is Toyama, Japan. We were the only martial arts group […]

We’ve enjoyed having Daniel (seated) in class these past couple of years–a boy mature enough to practice with adults. We wish him luck as he moves back to Ohio and hope he’ll be back in North Carolina at some point.

Congratulations to the Chapel Hill Dojo members who participated in a challenging Summer Special Training in June, led by the inspiring Maurice Baker (Charlotte Dojo; front row, fourth from right in picture below): Jason Peck, Nora Favorov, Kim Guzan, Matthew Lubin, and Jesse Berg, as well as our former (but forever) member Cynthia Hsu. Sorry we didn’t manage a Chapel […]

We are thrilled to have welcomed over the past few weeks many new members, who, as on this occasion, sometimes equal the number of “old-timers.” Also, our new Japanese members will no doubt help our Japanese pronunciation! We have also welcomed a number of children into our practice, and as a result we are now […]

On Sunday a week ago, members of the Chapel Hill (NC) and Coastal Carolina (SC) dojos came to the Charlotte (NC) dojo for a joint special practice, led by Maurice Baker (yodan), the Charlotte dojo’s leader. After warming up with combinations, we went through a series of drills to train, among other things, precision, breathing, […]

SKA, our national organization, holds semi-annual Special Training events, intensive training periods designed to allow participants to discover and overcome mental blocks and other perceived limitations. A week ago, Winter Special Training for the US East region was held in Washington, DC, and the Carolinas had a prominent and strong showing, with 5 members from […]

SKA dojos administer Kyu tests twice a year, in November and April, the months of Master Funakoshi’s birth and death, respectively. Kyu tests help students understand the level of training to which they have progressed. For the November 2018 Kyu tests, the Chapel Hill (NC), Coastal Carolina (SC) and Charlotte dojos held their Kyu tests […]

At last Saturday morning’s practice we were honored to be joined by five members of SKA’s Charlotte Dojo, including two while belts and Maurice Baker (yodan), the dojo’s leader (left in front row in picture below). As most Saturdays, Chapel Hill senior and dojo founder LH Lazarus (godan) led one of his vigorous trademark practices with uncompromising […]