Interviewers with
Planet News and
Fox 10 Phoenix discovered a unique
martial arts school, martial arts program, and
martial arts instructors in the East Valley of Phoenix at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate located on the border of Gilbert and Mesa and only a mile from Chandler. A martial arts program that is geared towards teaching
adults the traditional aspects of
Okinawan Karate,
Kobudo and
Self-Defense. Students at the School come from Chandler, Florence, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek, Tempe, Scottsdale, Phoenix and other places in the Phoenix valley to train with arguably the best martial arts instructor in Arizona, Sixteen time, Hall of Fame martial arts grandmaster, Soke Hausel. In addition, groups of martial artists from Wyoming, Utah, Massachusetts, Colorado, Nebraska and India have recently trained in Mesa Arizona to learn from the grandmaster.
Many
martial arts students who currently train at the
Arizona Hombu (world headquarters of
Seiyo Kai Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo) on the border of
Mesa and
Gilbert (and only a mile from
Chandler) ended up at this
traditional martial arts school while searching for classes taught by qualified
martial arts instructors with experience in
traditional martial arts. Many also were looking to find a
karate school (
dojo) that would be around for some time. People are frustrated by being locked into yearly contracts that require them to pay fees whether they show up to classes or not or even whether the
martial arts school closes its doors. And in many cases, some later find their instructors have no
lineage to back up their credentials (if they have any credentials at all). Others who would like to learn weapons are required to pay extra fees to attend those classes. One will not find this at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate on
Baseline and MacDonald.
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Soke Hausel explains wrist lock technique using hanbo at 2013 martial
arts clinic in Mesa (Photo courtesy of Nemec Photography). |
Fox 10 Phoenix discovered that this martial arts center is operated by one of the highest ranked instructors in the world and the highest ranked instructor in
Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo.
Soke Hausel, the owner and operator of the
martial arts school (dojo), is the world head of
Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo and the world head of the
International Association of Traditional Okinawa Karate and Kobudo. As a
member of national and international grandmaster councils and boards, a member of several Halls of Fame, and a national and internationally recognized instructor, he maintains his teaching expertise by teaching 6 to 8 classes a week, teaching clinics and seminars and also training at the
Juko Kai International Hombu.
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Paula Borea, Sensei from Japan, roughs up Dr. Neal Adam, Shihan at 2013
martial arts clinic in Gilbert - Mesa, Arizona (photo courtesy of
Nemec Photography). |
During a 90-minute interview with
Fox 10 Phoenix, Grandmaster Hausel and Sensei (instructor) Paula Borea (2nd dan) and Bill Borea (2nd dan) talked about their martial arts experiences, the health benefits of martial arts programs and impressed the
Fox 10 crew with their abilities and power. The focus and power was unlike any martial arts that they had seen. Pretty amazing, especially when one realizes that all three of these instructors are also grandparents.
Some students who end up at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate are looking for a school where they can train with
other adults. Some mentioned they were tired of getting kicked in the shins by 4 and 5 year old kids in taekwondo classes. Few, if any
martial arts schools in Arizona offer as much as the Arizona Hombu (Arizona School of Traditional Karate) where the head instructor has nearly 5 decades of experience and a former professor of martial arts at the
University of Wyoming and instructor at Arizona State University, University of New Mexico and University of Utah.
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Self-defense applications and forms (kata) practice at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate on Baseline Road, Mesa & Gilbert, 2013. |
Members of
Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo, an international
martial arts association, are found in several countries and include a very large percentage of college graduates. Soke Hausel has been training in
martial arts since the early 1960s and taught as a
professor of
martial arts at the University of Wyoming for 3 decades. In 1999, he was certified as
grandmaster of
Shorin-Ryu Karate (
Seiyo-Kai) and in 2004, was certified as 10th degree black belt. In 2012, he received one of the rarest honors in
martial arts. He was certified as 12th degree black belt in
Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo, something that has only happened a couple of times in since the 19th century.
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Martial Arts Weapons (Kobudo) training at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, 2011 |
In 2006, Soke packed up and moved the world headquarters from the
University of Wyoming to the corner of
Chandler,
Gilbert and
Mesa,
Arizona, where he established the Arizona Hombu, or world headquarters for
adult martial artists and
families. In the past he taught
university classes filled with more than 110 students, and now he enjoys smaller
karate classes of less than 25 so he can focus on details with each
martial arts student.
The
Mesa martial arts center also has special
martial arts clinics. These
martial arts clinics involve visitors from other parts of the world. The
clinics may focus on
self-defense,
martial arts weapons,
samurai arts,
jujutsu, etc., or just focus on some rare martial arts weapon or martial arts form. In recent years,
martial arts and
self-defense clinics were taught to university students, university faculty and staff,
Chandler librarians, military groups, girl scouts, church groups, political organizations, other
martial arts groups, etc. And special
weapons clinics were taught to our
martial artists.
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Members of the Police DAV Karate team from Punjab, India visit the Arizona School of Traditional Karate to train in Shorin-Ryu Karate |
Many black belts have trained directly under our
soke. While at the University of Wyoming, a few thousands students learned martial arts under the guidance of Soke Hausel.
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Members of the Utah Shorin-Kai from the Salt Lake valley make one of their annual visits to the Arizona School of Traditional Karate to train in martial arts. Robert Watson (8th degree black belt) stands next to Soke Hausel. |
In total, the instructors at the
Arizona School of Traditional Karate have more than a century of experience. If you are looking for a
different kind of martial arts school that focuses on the traditions of the
martial arts, it will be worth your time to check out this
martial arts school at the border of
Chandler,
Gilbert and
Mesa, Arizona.
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Two instructors at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate at the border of Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa on Baseline Road east of Country Club. (Left to Right) Soke with Sensei Paula Borea (2nd dan) and Sensei Bill Borea (2nd dan). Both Paula and Bill spent considerable time in Japan training in martial arts. Paula is Japanese-American with samurai lineage. |
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George Mumford (1st dan) from Boston and Elaine Mumford from Switzerland
visit the Arizona School of Traditional Karate. George was a student of Soke's at the University of Wyoming more than 3 decades ago. |
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Black belts from up north visit the Arizona School of Traditional Karate. Left to Right are Sensei Kyle Linton (3rd dan) from Wellington, Colorado, Shihan-Dai Glenn Polk (4th dan) from Cheyenne, Wyoming, Shihan Kevin Vance (5th dan) from Cheyenne, Wyoming and Soke.
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Soke-Dai Eric Hausel (5th dan) visits the
Arizona School of Traditional Karate from Parker, Colorado. |