Karate has no age limit,
to start or end training; you can even do it sitting on a chair. And since there is no "one size fits all" karate, let's talk
Hi there! I am Hermann,
your 76-years-old neighbor and karate instructor
My experience as a college professor who taught working adults for 20 years, together with my black belts and teaching ranks in Doshinkan and Shorin Ryu Karate, combines traditional Asian teachings with Western education into an unique approach that fits our Western minds, while still deeply rooted in Karate traditions
Karate Classes for Seniors
improve your posture and enhance your flexibility and coordination. You’ll control your moves, prevent falls, increase your safety and boost your confidence by learning about self-protection. Karate classes for seniors are 60 minutes of no-nonsense, non-esoteric Doshinkan and Shorin-Ryu Karate, based on physics, mechanics, and the physiology of our matured bodies.
You may book individual sessions (50 minutes) as well.
About Our Karate Classes for Seniors
Some Karate history to correct common misconceptions
Our Karate for Seniors Training Traditions Integrate "Do" and "Jutsu" ...
These Karate versions (or their combination) are your training options
Karate’s birthplace is the island of Okinawa, where about 1,000 years ago Te evolved as the fighting art of royal guards and security officials ["Ti" in local language, meaning "hand" and pronounced "Tee"]. Supposedly starting in the 1300s, Chinese martial arts components were integrated into Ti. Then, after mainland Japan's Satsuma clan
Karate’s birthplace is the island of Okinawa, where about 1,000 years ago Te evolved as the fighting art of royal guards and security officials ["Ti" in local language, meaning "hand" and pronounced "Tee"]. Supposedly starting in the 1300s, Chinese martial arts components were integrated into Ti. Then, after mainland Japan's Satsuma clan occupied the Okinawan kingdom and forbade Okinawans to bear arms in the 1600s, Te/Ti turned into a self-protection art, practiced in secrecy and completely unknown to the mainland until the early 1900s. After WW1, Te was renamed Kara-Te ["empty hand"] and opened up to the public. At that time, Japan had discovered the art and promoted it on its mainland, but changed the initial self-defense purpose ("jutsu") into a way of personal improvement ("do"). After misusing it for the nation’s mobilization in support of military campaigns before and during WW2, Japan eventually redefined Karate-do into a recreational and sports activity for new generations who are more interested in health and self-development than in studying a fighting art.
These Karate versions (or their combination) are your training options
Our Karate for Seniors Training Traditions Integrate "Do" and "Jutsu" ...
These Karate versions (or their combination) are your training options
Thus, today you have different options for practicing Karate. Alongside competitive Sports-Karate, a version I would not recommend for everyone in our age bracket, one option is Karate-do, which focuses on individual health and comprehensive self-perfection.
Another option is Karate-jutsu a martial art for self-protection. Which approach
Thus, today you have different options for practicing Karate. Alongside competitive Sports-Karate, a version I would not recommend for everyone in our age bracket, one option is Karate-do, which focuses on individual health and comprehensive self-perfection.
Another option is Karate-jutsu a martial art for self-protection. Which approach you prefer is up to you; we can address it all, because in our trainings we combine the traditions of Doshinkan Karate-do and of Shorin Ryu Karate-jutsu, that is, of health improvement ("do") and self-defense ("jutsu"). That way, we can tailor your training to match your preferences.
Our Karate for Seniors Training Traditions Integrate "Do" and "Jutsu" ...
Our Karate for Seniors Training Traditions Integrate "Do" and "Jutsu" ...
Our Karate for Seniors Training Traditions Integrate "Do" and "Jutsu" ...
... the path of health improvement and the art of self-protection.
Our Karate-do component is based on Sensei Kanken Toyama’s Shudokan (not “Shotokan”), which he established in the 1930s; not as a style, but as “training hall to study the way”. It bundles classic Okinawan and Chinese techniques into one unified approach that emphasizes o
... the path of health improvement and the art of self-protection.
Our Karate-do component is based on Sensei Kanken Toyama’s Shudokan (not “Shotokan”), which he established in the 1930s; not as a style, but as “training hall to study the way”. It bundles classic Okinawan and Chinese techniques into one unified approach that emphasizes on comprehensive self-development.
Our Karate-jutsu component is Shorin Ryu, the oldest Okinawan, and thus world-wide the oldest, karate system. It evolved as a “hard style” out of the way the art was practiced around the Okinawan town of Shuri, where Sensei Chosin Chibana in the 1930s coined the term "Shorin Ryu", which means "little forest style". He summarized the style's characteristic in his famous phrase "one strike, total destruction".
Today we find several Shorin Ryu versions practicing slightly different curricula; these are identified by specific kanji, which all mean "Shorin", but are pronounced differently.
The kanji Sensei Chibana chose for our Shorin Ryu version is pronounced Kobayashi.
Buy at any bookstore or author-signed from Sensei Hermann
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
The fine arts principle Shu Ha Ri was added to karate-do as an invented tradition when Japan altered an Okinawan self-defense art into fine-art-like self-perfection. Historical, cultural, political, philosophical, psycho-logical, and commercial views are combined into an analysis that answers those questions about ascent or alibi, which
The fine arts principle Shu Ha Ri was added to karate-do as an invented tradition when Japan altered an Okinawan self-defense art into fine-art-like self-perfection. Historical, cultural, political, philosophical, psycho-logical, and commercial views are combined into an analysis that answers those questions about ascent or alibi, which inevitably arise when an Okinawan fighting art is changed into a Japanese fine art.
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jul 2023 – ISBN 9781594399268
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
Thoroughly explaining and documenting differences between karate-jutsu, karate-do, and sports-karate, this analysis corrects today's unspecified use of the term, which suggests unalike karate versions being alike. It then highlights how Japanized karate-do was used for Japan’s prewar militarization; how it was thereafter industrialized i
Thoroughly explaining and documenting differences between karate-jutsu, karate-do, and sports-karate, this analysis corrects today's unspecified use of the term, which suggests unalike karate versions being alike. It then highlights how Japanized karate-do was used for Japan’s prewar militarization; how it was thereafter industrialized into a world-wide sports-karate inflation; and how all that ruined the art’s classic knowledge base.
YMAA Publications, Inc., Sep 2021 - ISBN 9781594399336
YMAA Publications, Inc., Jun 2025 - ISBN 9781594399954
YMAA Publications, Inc., Sep 2021 - ISBN 9781594399336
Scientific analysis and public records reveal the complex evolution of karate and unsettled claims upon it by various stake-holders. It is explained how mainland Japan re-interpreted the classic Okinawan self-protection art into its own karate-do styles of self-perfection and sports; how Americanization altered the art in the West; and
Scientific analysis and public records reveal the complex evolution of karate and unsettled claims upon it by various stake-holders. It is explained how mainland Japan re-interpreted the classic Okinawan self-protection art into its own karate-do styles of self-perfection and sports; how Americanization altered the art in the West; and how the laws of physics prove Okinawan karate’s fighting superiority.
WELCOME !!
JOIN US AT THE
BOW CREEK RECREATION CENTER Virginia Beach
Fridays @ 12pm. 6-Sessions-Course April 25 - May 30
OR BOOK AN INDIVIDUAL SESSION