Programs

Tae Kwon Do WTF

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art. Taekwondo is the national sport of South Korea. It is also regarded as the world's most popular martial art in terms of number of practitioners, and sparring, or kyeorugi, is an official Olympic sporting event. In Korean, tae means "foot"; kwon means "fist"; and do means "way"; so taekwondo is loosely translated as "the way of the fist and foot".

Taekwondo's popularity has resulted in the varied evolution of the martial art into several domains: as with many other arts, it combines combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, meditation and philosophy. Traditional taekwondo is typically not competition-oriented and tends to focus primarily on the self-defense and traditional values of the art. Formally, there are two main styles of taekwondo. One comes from the Kukkiwon, the source of the sparring system shihap kyeorugi which is now an event at the summer Olympic Games and which is governed by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF); the other comes from the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), which was founded by General Choi Hong Hi, sometimes called the father of taekwondo.

Although there are doctrinal and technical differences between the two main styles and among the various organizations, the art in general emphasizes kicks thrown from a mobile stance, employing the leg's greater reach and power (compared to the arm). Taekwondo training generally includes a system of blocks, kicks, punches, and open-handed strikes and may also include various take-downs or sweeps, throws, and joint locks.

Escrima

This is one of Master Chavez favorite systems. It is very easy system to learn and very practical for those students wanting to learn self defense quickly. Much of the self-defense offered at Takai Mine comes from the Majai Pai escrima system. Escrima is great as a self defense system for Men, women and children including weapons, multiple opponents, empty hand techniques and much more.

Escrima refers to a class of Filipino Martial Arts that emphasize stick and sword fighting. Other terms which have entered into common usage include "Kali" and "Arnis de Máno" ("harness of the hand"); occasionally the abbreviation "FMA" ("Filipino Martial Arts") is used. Eskrima and Arnis are among the many names primarily used in the Philippines today to refer to these arts. The name Kali, although primarily used in the United States and Europe, is seldom used in the Philippines and in most cases is an unknown word. But due to the popularity of the term outside of the Philippines and the influence of foreign practitioners, the term Kali is increasingly being recognized and accepted in the Philippines. Kalis, as used in the Philippines, refers to a sword. It is commonly mistaken as synonymous to or a derivative form of kali (note: postfixing of "s" is not used in Filipino languages or dialects to indicate plurality). However, for all intents and purposes, Eskrima, Arnis, Arnis de Mano, Kali and FMA all refer to the same family of Filipino weapons-based martial arts.

The teaching of the basic skills in FMA are traditionally simplified. With limited time to teach flashy and intricate techniques, only skills that were proven effective in battle and could easily be taught en masse were used. This allowed villagers, generally not professional soldiers, a measure of protection against other villages, as well as foreign invaders. This philosophy of simplicity is still used today and is the underlying base of the FMA.

Because of this approach, the FMA are often mistakenly considered to be "simple" fighting arts. However, this refers only to its systematization, not effectiveness. To the contrary, beyond the basic skills lies a very complex structure and a refined skillset that takes years to master.

Shorin-Ryu Karate

Shorin-ryu, is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts. Said to have been founded by Sokon Matsumura during the 1800s, Shorin-ryu combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te and Tomari-te. Shorin-ryu is widely considered to be one of the two major modern styles of Okinawan karate, along with Goju-ryu, which is rooted in the third traditional Okinawan style, Naha-te.

Shorin-ryu is generally characterized by natural breathing, natural (narrow, high) stances, and direct, rather than circular movements (with the exception of Shorin-Ryu Kyudokan, which makes extensive use of circular movements). Shorin Ryu is also a great self-defense system in that its blocks can also be offensive movements as well.

Along with being a style on its own, Shorin-ryu is also perhaps the most influential single ancestor of modern Japanese karate. One of Matsumura's best-known students, Anko (or "Ankoh") Itosu became a great practitioner and teacher of Okinawan karate and developed the five Pinan kata, which are now taught not only in Shorin-ryu, but also in a wide variety of Okinawan, Japanese and derived martial arts. It is also believed by some that the first three Pinan kata were actually developed by Matsumura and the last two by Itosu.

Shotokan Karate

Shotokan is a school of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Yoshitaka Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi is widely recognized as having brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, although Kenwa Mabuni, Choki Motobu, and other Okinawan karate masters were actively teaching karate in Japan prior to this point.

Shotokan is one of the five traditional karate styles, the others being Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, Shorin-ryu and Wado-ryu. Although it began as a unified karate school that developed into the Japan Karate Association, Shotokan now exists as several independent organizations.

Shoto, meaning "pine waves", was Funakoshi's pen-name, which he used in his poetic and philosophical writings and messages to his students. The Japanese kan means "house" or "hall". In honour of their sensei, Funakoshi's students created a sign reading shoto-kan which was placed above the entrance of the hall where Funakoshi taught. Gichin Funakoshi never gave his style a name, just calling it "karate".

Shotokan training is usually divided into three parts: kihon (basics), kata (forms or patterns of moves), and kumite (sparring). Techniques in kihon and kata are characterized by deep, long stances that provide stability, enable powerful movements, and strengthen the legs. Strength and power are often demonstrated instead of slower, more flowing motions. Kumite techniques mirror these stances and movements at a basic level, but progress to being more flexible with greater experience. Shotokan can be regarded as a 'hard' and 'external' martial art.