2010 TUITION COST (for Classes)


This is the individual tuition cost for one student effective 1 Jan 2010

Free Uniform

Student Enrollment Monthly Fee: $75.00

Registration Fee: $30.00

Annual Association Fee: $25.00

Listed above are the only cost you will have to pay when you enroll, a registration fee that includes personal insurance and an annual fee that makes you a member of the International Shobukan Karate Association. PLEASE SEARCH VIEW THE ONLINE OFFERS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FROM TIME TO TIME IN OUR WEBSITE. We offer a Family Plan.

10 GOOD REASONS TO WHY TRAIN HERE?

WE FOCUS ON QUALITY TRAINING NOT ON STREET FIGHTING, CONFIDENCE, DISCIPLINE AND RESPECT

WE TEACH TRADITIONAL SHOTOKAN KARATE-DO, THE ART

IT IS NOT BY ACCIDENT THAT WE WIN IN TOURNAMENTS, IS OUR DEDICATION TO SUCCESS

WE OFFER AN AFTERSCHOOL KARATE PROGRAM, and much more

INSTRUCTOR IS 3TIMES NATIONAL CHAMPION, 2005, 2006 2009

TRAINED IN JAPAN OVER 4 YEARS, EXPERT IN KENDO, IAIDO AND KARATE

INSTRUCTOR IS WELL KNOWN IN THE COMMUNITY,TEACHING IN KILLEEN FOR OVER 12 YEARS, SAME LOCATION FOR 5 YEARS.

PROVEN TEACHING METHODS, MOST STUDENTS HAVE BECOME CHAMPIONS IN THIS SCHOOL, PREVALING ATTITUDE TOWARDS EXCELLENCE

FACILITY IS 2000 SQ FT, PLENTY OF ROOM TO TRAIN.

FAMILY ATMOSPHERE, STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN CHRISTMAS PARADE AND OTHER LOCAL ACTIVITIES WITH PARENTS

Family Plan is available. Come visit us for more information.

Get in shape for Summer 2010! Improve your children's stamina and discipline... give them a chance to be mentors and role models... Enroll today in the best Karate School in Killeen.

Please call for current tuition, monthly discount rates and family plans. Call (254)368-2311

Associate Member Dojo

Associate Member Dojo: to become a member dojo you must fill out an application and register as a dojo. This application is sent to Japan for approval. There is a membership fee.

Who can become an Associate Member Dojo

Membership in I.S.K.A. is open to all traditional shotokan karate-do organizations. This includes commercial, educational and governmental entities. Members may be either for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. All members are expected to uphold the highest standards of training and conduct as expected by I.S.K.A.

How to join I.S.K.A.

Here are the steps a dojo needs to follow for applying for a membership:

Fill out the Membership Agreement. Have the agreement signed and dated by an individual having the appropriate authority in your organization. Arrange Payment method. Payment, in US Dollars, must arrive within 30 days of the Membership Application. The I.S.K.A. Registration fee is $ (one time payment) The Membership fee is $100/Year, due in January of the calendar year. Mail it to the SKSI Headquarters.

Timeline and conditions

Your application will be processed by Sensei personally. Before your DOJO is accepted as a full member in SKSI, a temporary membership may be granted, for up to 12 months.

During the temporary membership period, your organization must invite Sensei and/or other SKSI officials to a seminar organized by one of your DOJO.

This is required by SKSI, in order to fully evaluate the quality of the training/conduct in your DOJO.

You can also reach us through Direct E-Mail or our Contact Form. You can also call us on the phone at: 254-368-2311. Please refer to our Hours of Operation to call us within our business hours.



Location

Our address is 2201A West Stan Schlueter Loop suite 800A.

We are located in the new Plaza de Rosales Shopping Center on West Stan Schlueter Loop. We are near the Post Office and Willow Springs School on Stan Schlueter loop.

Benefits Children receive from practicing Karate

Our reward system will improve your child's self-esteem. We can not think of a better reason for children to study Shotokan Karate. Your child will become a different person with months of practice, he will be stronger, have more energy, more focus and concentration for school. He will discipline, self confidence and respect. Because the students are allowed to progress individually, Shotokan Karate excels over team sports where many of our children never share in the limelight. Here the student has the opportunity to excel in an activity all by himself, not have to sit and wait for a team player to sit on the bench before he can play. Individual success through hard work, focus, motivation and commitment.

Our belt rank system allows the students to display and reaffirm their accomplishments while learning to set higher goals. Parents really appreciate our discipline the most, although our karate classes are also fun and exciting. Our classes teach correct behavior and positive attitudes that show up at school and home.

Our karate classes help children channel their aggression. Doctors and psychologists very often prescribe karate training to help children learn to focus their energy in a positive manner. Children with ADD, ADHD, and other learning disabilities learn to concentrate better and expand their attention span.

Confidence is one of the most important traits for children to develop early in life, especially for dealing with negative peer pressure. Confidence will empower your child with the ability to make correct moral judgments. Our classes give children confidence through mastery of technique, superior physical fitness, constant praise, positive critiques, and by helping them to attain goals set by the instructors. Confidence-building drills and the performance of technique helps replace shyness with assertiveness. In today's society it is becoming increasingly necessary to possess practical and proven self-defense methods. Our classes emphasize the prevention of a confrontation. However, there are appropriate times to make a stand. It is at those times that your child should have the best techniques and training possible to ensure his or her safety. And with continued supervised practice, your child will have the skills to react appropriately to danger.

FAQ and More...

KIHON: The basics

What are the fundamental training areas of Karate? The fundamental training areas of Karate are stances, hip rotation, advancing and retreating, changing direction, and the techniques used in all of these situations.

What are the primary skills of Karate? The primary skills of Shotokan Karate are the step in punch, the reverse punch, and the front snap kick [oizuki, gyaku-zuki, maegeri]. These are the most basic techniques and the most heavily used by Karate experts.

How are the stances trained? Stances are usually trained by demonstrating the proper proportions and joint positions in the lower body. Following this the instructor usually forces the students to stand in stances for a length of time in order to strengthen their leg muscles. The stances are practiced while utilizing the rotation of the hips, and they are practiced while stepping forward and backward up and down the floor. Finally, the student learns to move about in various directions and to combine different stances in different situations.

How are the hips used? The hips are used to add body weight and force to techniques by increasing the mass that is being accelerated toward the target. These motions also increase the amount of distance the technique will cover, increasing the striking force. There are several methods that are taught in order to accomplish this. They are hip rotation, advancing, and thrusting the hips in various directions to aid kicking.

Some instructors teach that the hips should be vibrated or wiggled in order to add force to techniques. This action has not been shown to have any affect on technique other than to weaken stances by moving the knees. Perhaps these instructors and students misunderstand the concept of setting up extremely subtle body momentum to launch any technique - however, it is ever so delicate and internal, not an external wiggling action.

How are the hips trained? The student practices rotation by standing in place and rotating the hips from the half front facing to the front facing position over and over again. The hips are trained in the other methods while performing techniques or stepping about without making any techniques.

How are the techniques trained? Techniques are usually first practiced in a stagnant position that isolates the arms and legs from the torso. Then, the techniques are applied during stepping and hip rotation exercises. Finally, the student begins to combine techniques with each other, combine stances, and change techniques rapidly in combinations of movement and techniques that are very difficult and complex. When taken to a particular level, this type of training becomes kata.

What are some common Japanese terms for Karate techniques? Every instructor should hand out a text book or a list with the names of the common techniques on it to their new students to help them learn to recognize the names. There is a complete cataloging of the techniques with pictures and techniques using the Japanese names in Dynamic Karate by M. Nakayama, 1966 Kodansha International. See the last section of this document for a list of good books on Shotokan Karate.

What is a makiwara? Maki means to wrap or a roll. Wara means rice straw. A makiwara is a bundle of tightly woven rice straw that is attached to a flat post deeply rooted in the ground. The Karate enthusiast strikes this post repeatedly in order to strengthen the muscles of the body that resist the reaction force that inevitably occurs upon impact with a target. Many think that the purpose is to condition the knuckles against impact, but this is not true. The makiwara can also be used to practice applying force to a target, to practice aiming and to practice punching "through" a target.

What are tetsugeta? Iron clogs. These are sandals worn by Karate enthusiasts who wish to strengthen their legs and hips for kicking and stepping. The shoes weigh around 10 LB, and they are lifted usually around 50 to 80 times on each leg in various directions. Doing kicking with any speed while wearing the tetsugeta, or with ankle weights, is very damaging to the knees, so it is best avoided. However, slow, gentle lifting actions are perhaps more safe.

What are important aspects of good technique? There are three large categories listed in Dynamic Karate as the important aspects: expansion and contraction of the body, concentration of power, and proper speed of technique. Others have identified as many as fifteen different variables which could be trained separately: preparatory attitude, ending attitude, fixing the eyes, proper lower body structure, proper upper body posture, raw speed, controlled speed, distancing, timing, expansion and contraction of proper muscle groups, relaxation and tension of the muscles, breathing, kiai, and other variables. One important aspect of learning techniques is the order in which actions are learned. Mechanics, dynamics, and then control are learned in that order during the process of studying any technique.

What is kime? Most Westerners use the English expression 'focus.' However, the word in Japanese means 'decision.' The idea behind the English expression is to focus all of the tension in the muscles upon impact with the target so resist any reaction force that will occur. The Japanese word suggests that one will make techniques decisive and deadly.

Are the fists tight throughout the punch? When making body tension to resist the reaction force in Karate punches, the muscles of the body are tensed to lock the body in position so that the target absorbs the damage from the collision rather than the person punching. There is a point of confusion, however, about whether or not the fist is tight throughout the punching action, or whether it is clenched only at the moment of impact. One answer is this: beginners should probably clench the fist all of the time. Intermediate students (brown belts and shodan) should begin to try to clench the fist only upon impact. Higher ranking students should have the timing and distancing necessary to easily choose the proper moment to clench the fist, so that safety is not a concern and they can benefit from the total relaxation provided by a loose hand. During kumite drills, many very high ranking Karate players like to keep their fists loose even on impact, so that they can strike actually touching the opponent without injuring them. After long years of training, the expert can easily choose to clench the fist or to keep it loose in any situation.

How do you expand and contract the body? Various parts of the body are stretched and contracted at different times during Karate performance. When punching, the muscles of the back are contracted tightly to draw back the arm, and the muscles of the chest are expanded. This is one example of expansion and contraction. Various instructors put a different spin on expansion and contraction (Tai no Shinshuku) by suggesting that it involves moving the torso and both shoulders together. It is a vague expression that does little to explain the actual activity, at any rate.

What are the two kinds of techniques? There are techniques that snap and techniques that thrust. Thrusting actions are usually taught first using the hands, but snapping techniques are usually the first kicking actions taught. As the student progresses, they are taught thrusting kicking actions and snapping hand actions. There is much debate about the efficacy of thrusting vs. Snapping punches and their resultant pressure generated, but there is no scientific evidence to back up any claims.

What is the most common technique? The most common technique is the screw motion punch.

What are the four common basic blocks? The rising block (age uke), inside block (uchi ude uke), outside block (soto ude uke), and lower block (gedan barai).

What are the four common basic kicks? The front snap kick (mae geri), the side snap kick (yoko keage), the side thrust kick (yoko kekomi), and the round snap kick (mawashi geri).

Why do we hold our arms out when kicking? An important aspect in Shotokan training is to eliminate extraneous movement and foster relaxation during the execution of movements (but not at the moment of focus). s a training aid we hold our arms out when kicking to discern whether we are tightening our upper body while executing the technique. During an actual confrontation we would keep our hands in a defensive position. More advanced students are easily able to keep their upper bodies removed from the kicking process, so they will usually practice keeping their hands up and unmoving during a kick. Other instruction methods include putting the hands behind the tail bone, crossing the arms in front of the chest, or holding both hands forward in a punching action. Keeping the hands isolated also enables the Karate expert to punch and kick in combination without having excess body tension prevent certain timings for the actions.

What are some other, less popular techniques? There are hundreds of techniques in Shotokan Karate delineated in various texts using photos to catalog each and every one. Most training in Shotokan Karate schools is done using the eight most basic motions, though. It is believed that using a limited number of techniques reduces the amount of time required to choose an appropriate response, therefore quickening reaction. Also, the fewer techniques that there are to learn, the more highly skilled the Karate player can become at the few that he is practicing.

The above information is provided courtesy of CS Dojo.