FAQs
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I travel several times a year to Florida to study with Sensei Tyrone Pardue, 5th Dan (5th-degree Black Belt) and Chief Instructor of the American Wado-Ryu Karate Academy. And I also travel each year to various places (Canada, Florida, England) to study with Sensei Masafumi Shiomitsu, 9th Dan and Chief Instructor of the international Wado-Ryu Karate-Do Academy. Shiomitsu Sensei is one of the world's few living genuine martial artists masters--he is one of the first Japanese instructors to bring Karate from Japan to the rest of the world (Europe, North and South America, and even Africa) starting in the early 1960s.
- What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
If you're looking to practice a martial art for yourself or your kid(s), the most important thing is the character of the teacher. Go and watch a class or participate in a free trial class. Does the instructor seem kind? Does he love what he does? He or she must not only be good at their martial arts techniques. They must be good at TEACHING! Be wary of anyone who calls themself a "master." There are few genuine martial arts masters in the world. And be careful of martial arts schools that require an annual membership fee or charge a large monthly fee. Do they want you for your money or because they are committed to teaching and passing on a martial art?