AN ORGANIZATION … that encompasses the arts of Karate and Aikido as well as weapons training. Each art is taught in a way that retains the separate recognizable essence of the art while striving toward a synthesis of a cohesive single art that provides a wide range of possible responses to any give confrontation.
KARATE IS ... An art of weaponless combat. Literally meaning "empty hand" (kara: empty; te: hand), it evolved in Okinawa during a time when the Okinawans were forbidden to arm themselves, and migrated to Japan in the early twentieth century. It is classically made up of punches and kicks, though technically any unarmed combat art can be called karate.
AIKIDO IS … a dynamic theoretical study of movement, balance, and multiple attacks used to unbalance an opponent to neutralize an attack and place the student in the most advantageous position possible.
BUTOKUKAN MEANS ... "the Institute of Martial Virtue" (bu: war; toku: virtue; kan: institute). It emphasizes high moral development in conjunction with physical fitness in order to produce virtuous leaders in the community.
"INSTITUTE OF MARTIAL VIRTUE" IMPLIES ... that students of this discipline are endowed, not only with lethal physical skills, but with the wisdom, compassion, and courage to conduct their lives in such a fashion so as to avoid the need for physical confrontations. Leading virtuous lives, they set moral examples for their peers and community.
SELF-DISCIPLINE & PROBLEM SOLVING ... Butokukan instruction emphasizes mental discipline as the means for achieving any goals in life and indeed, this critical attribute does carry over into many other aspects of the student's personal endeavors. Aiding achievements in school, work, and interpersonal relationships, mental discipline permits the individual to make rational approaches to problem solving.
SELF-DEFENSE ... Along with simple, effective, physically incapacitating skills, students of the American Butokukan are taught how to deal with adversaries on interpersonal and psychological levels as well. Prevention is preferable to intervention.
SPORT ... One of the newest and most exciting sports in existence, "light-contact point Karate" competition provides a venue where the student may learn to conquer their own fears; the greatest warrior is the one who conquers himself.
ART ... Encompassing physical, moral, and philosophical aesthetics, students are taught self-confidence, perseverance, and humility leading to the constructive development of a graceful yet indomitably spirited individual.
HEALTH ... Development of increased coordination, balance, and flexibility will necessitate better respiration, circulation, and muscle tone thereby creating a healthier body. Better concentration due to mental discipline will create a healthier mind. One must have both to have either!
FEAR IS RESTRICTING ... We teach students not to fear; by learning how to fight, a martial artist learns the senselessness, the futility of physical confrontation. Being confident, the martial artist need not fight to protect a fragile ego. Without the need to prove oneself, the student can better deal with the problems and confrontations in everyday life. Not fearing, the martial artist is willing to extend help to others, once again setting an example among peers and community for others to emulate.
AMERICAN BUTOKUKAN ... combines the hard linear techniques of Japanese Karate and the soft circular techniques of Chinese Kung-Fu. Students are closely supervised in class with an emphasis on safety. Classes are taught in an academic fashion to facilitate practice at home. Instructors utilize the latest teaching methods to convey modern innovations in the Art in an effort to produce the most competent of practitioners; Butokukan students have been among the best in state competition since 1979!
Read more about the history of the American Butokukan System.