I figure since I am really starting to get into my karate that I will tell everyone who wishes to know about my style, my Sensei, and other stuff about the martial arts.
I started taking karate in the fall of 2000 as a PE class at WCU. I have always wanted to take some form of the martial arts but I never had access to any place to study since I am from a very small rural town in SC. The WCU class is taught by Sensei Duncan and he teaches Sansei Goju-ryu, which means Third Generation Hard-Soft Style. More information about Goju-ryu can be found on Sensei Duncan's website Martial Arts Today. I really enjoyed taking the class and in the spring of 2001 Chris and myself started attending the WCU karate club meetings that are held twice a week at school.Chris is a Nikyu(2nd degree brown belt)in the Trias Shorei/Shuri-ryu systems of karate. She started taking karate when she was 7 years old in Cincinnati. She quit training when she was about 14 and just started back training after I talked her into attending a local tournament in Asheville in the fall of 2000. She placed second in kata at that tournament and also met our soon to be new Sensei, Lorraine Lewis. She started training with Sensei Lewis in December and in May of 2001 I also started training with Sensei Lewis. In September of 2001 I was given my first rank and promoted to ShichiKyu (yellow belt).
Sensei Lewis started her training in the 60's in Judo and Karate and is a Nanadan(7th degree black belt) in the Shorei-ryu & Shuri-ryu styles of karate. She was one of the first women in the US to recieve a black belt and competed at tournaments all over the East and Mid-West USA in the 70's. She was a two time USKA Female Kata points champion in the 70's during the peak of the USKA. Her Sensei is Dr. Roberta Trias-Kelley who is the daughter of the late Grandmaster Robert A.Trias. Grandmaster Trias opened the very first karate dojo in the United States in 1946. Sensei Lewis teaches a combonation of Shorei-ryu and Shuri-ryu which we call Trias Shorei. It is a much more traditional style than many of the other karate styles that are around today. Her dojo is located in Leichester, NC which is just outside of Asheville. Tons more information about Sensei Lewis, her husband Lawrence who is a Godan(5th degree black belt), the Trias Shorei style, the dojo, or many old pictures from tournaments and such, can be found at the Dragon Wing Dojo which is their website.
In July of '01, Chris and myself attended a Iaido (swordwork) seminar and it was one of the best things I have ever done. It is something that I really think I would like to study further one day soon, hopefully in Japan! It was taught by Mr. Terry Sanders who is the Shorei-ryu karate stylehead. He studied Shorei-ryu and Kodokan Judo directly under Grandmaster Trias and also studied Shindo Muso Ryu Jodo and Jojitsu along with Shinkage Ryu Iaido in Japan under a member of the Tokugawa clan. In addition to the sword working seminar, Kaicho(stylehead) Sanders also gave a private lesson to Sensei Lewis' students which I got to attend. It was a great experiance. Kaicho Sanders' website can found here at Kondo No Shokai.