In an effort to better communicate the activities and current position of KKSJ, I have decided that I will periodically distribute a brief summary of our current state, along with pictures of notable events. This is not intended to replace our newsletter or other distributions, rather to highlight and share my perspective on our accomplishments as they related to our mission, vision and values. OSS!

That said, as of today, February 9, 2008, the dojo has a strong membership base with 50 active students. We currently hold 11 martial arts classes per week focused on providing a variety of options by age, skill level and training focus. We have two active assistant instructors Lesley Brunker, who teaches our Monday night family class at 6:30 pm and Joe Treu, who teaches our Saturday morning, 11:15 am kids class. We recently celebrated a significant organizational milestone on February 4th with the 5th anniversary of our 1st class. We have had the outstanding pleasure of having Soke Stephen A. Lonsdale back in the dojo to share with us his knowledge and martial arts expertise through several training seminars. We have been in our new dojo at 635 White Horse Pike for a year and have made it a comfortable home for our training. I have certified Joe Treu as our first eligible student to head to NY to test for Brown Belt III stripes with Master Masakazu Takahashi. We have begun offering instruction on greater advanced concepts and insight on bunkai with our recent seminar on Nijushi. Our colleagues and friends from NY continue to show their support for our school with recurring and more frequent visits (most recently Senseis Janice Goldsworthy – 6th Dan and Jonathan Light – 4th Dan). We graduated our first “Junior Leader”, Kelly McHugh, who successfully completed all of the requirements for the program. And, lastly, we continue to have fun and enjoy the sense of community that we have built together and will continue to expand for years to come! I am very proud of our school, students and the caring culture we have established and look forward to the next 5 years! OSS!

Sensei Andrew Faupel is the founder of Kenkojuku Karate of South Jersey. He can be reach at www.kksj.net.

COMBAT WARRIOR E-MAGAZINE March 2008 / CombatWarriorMag.com