Dojo Information - About Us
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Who we are
We also do offer a kids karate program based on the principles and methodologies of Koryu Uchinadi.
What drives us
Our philosophy and fundamental objective is to preserve old-style karate through serious and continuous study and research of the art, and to promote it through genuine and dedicated teaching.
Mission/Vision
Our mission is to break barriers between styles, and establish friendship and technical partnership between various dojo's around, all in the name of learning, sharing, preserving and promoting martial arts in general, and old-style karate in particular.
Sensei Radi had this vision as early as 2001, and we have never diverted from the mission. While the weekly efforts and operations focus mainly on teaching karate at our dojo, we have reached out to several other schools and the public through occasional study groups, visiting other dojo's and inviting them to visit us. We are proud to be connected in friendship and information exchange to several dojo's around. Our mailing list has grown to over 250 recipients.
People
We are a group of like-minded individuals who are brought together by our love and passion for karate. We are as serious in karate as one can ever get. However, we remain conscious of the fact that karate, though a way of life in many ways, remains a hobby. Through the sacrifice and great time it takes to maintain training and instructing, we remind ourselves that family always comes first. We thrive to convey this to our students, along with other social and human values.
Business Philosophy
We can make one up if you insist.
We are a non-profit group of like-minded martial artists. We teach because of our committment to preserve and promote old-style karate, and because we simply love to train. We teach at minimum wage that merely covers transportation expenses. We are currently located at the YMCA, which fully manages the finances of the program, and treats the instructors as part-time employees at about $8 per hour. Any program profit at the end of a given fiscal year is directed to the YMCA. We are working hard to improve the pay for the karate instructors of Koryukan Frederick...
Sensei Radi consistently states: "I will consider myself extremely fortunate if one day I can make enough income from teaching karate to be able to quit our 9-to-5 job and focus solely on my hobby and passion. This will require me to create a martial-art instruction business and thrive at making it successful. This means the school will have to rely on offering multiple classes and offer flexibility to a wide variety of ages, make carefully calculated and decent profit while maintaining integrity and fairness. At this moment in my life however, I'd rather spend my evenings raising my own kids and enjoying my family."
History
In this section, I will write about how we came to exist. This will allow the visitor to become informed of the origins of our school and the various events that contributed to it being where it is today. I will be descriptive in paragraphs and make a list of significant milestones in the history of our dojo since its origin.
IMPORTANT MILE STONES:
Year 1993 - School founded as a Tae Kwon Do Dojang by the late Holly Garber, 3rd-Dan TKD.
Year 2003 - School registered with IRKRS as Koryukan Frederick, Frederick's home to old-style karate, Koryu-Uchinadi.
Year 2004 - School appointed as the MD Shibucho, i.e. the official representative of IRKRS in the State of MD.
Year 2005 - Two dojo instructors awarded Yudansha title in Koryu Uchinadi.