| HISTORY of the DOJO by Moshe D. Katz The dojo was born rather unintentionally. One day I received a phone call from one of the local mothers, she had heard that I was a "karate expert" and requested that I start teaching a group of kids in the neighborhood. Allow me to backtract. How did I develop this reputation? What had I done to deserve this honor? Two boys in the neighborhood had noticed my very calloused knuckles. My knuckles had become this way by training with the uchi dechi (live-in apprentice students) at the Oyama Kyokushin dojo in New York. We used to do many push-ups on our knuckles and hit the punching bag and as such, we all developed these very "attractive" hands. To non-martial artists my hands looked deformed. Doctors had thought I had a skin disease , but martial artists recognized the callouses right away for what they are - the signs of hard training. One of these boys had asked his parents to invite me over for dinner. At dinner the boys asked me questions about my training. I asked them how they knew. They said "the knuckles!". I had never mentioned my training to anyone in the neighborhood. In conversation it had also come up that I trained for a summer with Shidoshi Frank Dux, about whom they made the film "Blood Sport". I guess the combination of my knuckles and my association with Frank Dux led to my sudden reputation as a "karate expert". Back to our story. The local mother said several parents were interested in karate lessons for their children and they had chosen me as the right person for the job. I protested, saying that I had no teaching experience, little time or interest. I suggested they contact the local community center. In time I consented. We began with a group of six boys in the social hall of the synagogue. We had no uniforms or equipment. We trained on Friday afternoons for one hour and fifiteen minutes. Gradually the group grew and I split them into two groups, younger students followed by older students. Then we added an occiasional Saturday night lesson, about once a month. Gradually we added equipment, punching shields, mats and uniforms. Our curriculum expanded from pure karate to a hybrid style that included judo and jujitsu. Tests and special lessons were conducted by my friend Gadi Buimsohn, at the time a second dan in USA Goju ryu karate. Today he holds the rank of fourth dan. Soon we had our first crop of orange belts. At this time Sensei Gadi felt he should not be testing the students since the style he practiced was actually quite different from what we were doing. My teacher Sensei Itay Gil felt the same way and a new tradition began. Soon we started bringing the students to Jerusalem several times a year for belt promotion tests. In between belt test we devised a stripe system. The students did their stripe tests at our dojo and their belt tests in Jerusalem with Sensei Itay. As the number of girls in the group grew we opened a class for girls once a week on Wednesdays. This class would be the first to be held in my home, a few minutes from the main dojo. When the local synagogue underwent renovations we were asked to leave, temporarily. By the time renovations were complete the municipal community center had bought the right to conduct various classes in the hall were we had trained and they barred us from returning. I had no choice but to move the entire group, which now numbered over fifty students, to my small apartment and bomb shelter. My entire apartment was used. Wall to wall mats in every room except the bathroom and kitchen. Somehow we have managed all these years, although we have at times exceeded 60 students (although they are almost never all present at the same time). We just moved in to our new Dojo on Thursday the 20th of June 2002. |
 |