Most karate studios teach a style: Taekwondo, or Tang Soo Do, or jiu jitsu, etc. Not so at Team Karate Centers (http://www.teamkaratecenters.com). TKC, a dojo in Woodland Hills, recently chose to break the one-style mold by offering classes in Hapkido, boxing, jeet kune do, Phillipino stick fighting, kickboxing, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, and more.
Woodland Hills, CA (PRWEB) November 24, 2009 -- Most karate studios teach a style: Taekwondo, or Tang Soo Do, or jiu jitsu, etc. Not so at Team Karate Centers (http://www.teamkaratecenters.com). TKC, a dojo in Woodland Hills, recently chose to break the one-style mold by offering classes in Hapkido, boxing, jeet kune do, Phillipino stick fighting, kickboxing, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, and more. Nor did it do so by simply adding stickers to its walls or extra signs on its marquee: the classes in each individual style are taught by some of the great masters of those styles. A partial list would include:
All of this has as its foundation Fariborz Azhakh, a 6th degree Hapkido Master, and his extraordinary team of instructors, all of whom range from 1st through 3rd degree black belts, and many of whom hold belts in other martial arts styles as well. Azhakh is himself a world-class Master. He earned his first black belt under 8th degree black belt Steve Sexton (one of the highest ranking Hapkido Masters in the United States). He went on to receive his 6th degree black belt from Hapkido Grandmaster Ji Han Jae. Master Azhakh also is the founder of www.martialinfo.com, one of the most comprehensive repositories of martial arts information in the world.
But even with all that, students and visitors alike are just as amazed – if not more so – by the attitudes and morals that TKC seeks to instill in its “family.” Many of TKC’s 500 active members (compared to the usual 50 to 100 in most dojos) spend as much time together outside the studio as in.
Instead just learning to kick and punch, TKC members are urged to become Very Involved People (VIP's). They are encouraged to help newer students, to go the extra mile whenever they can for each other, and to make the world a better place.
Not all is “fun and games,“ however. As might be expected given the amazing quality of the instructors, Black belt candidates must endure a grueling year-long qualification period. They perform team exercises and find ways to reach within themselves for strength at the same time as they reach out to others for help. Examples range from killer runs up overgrown hills that invariably end with half the students carrying the other half, to CPR and First Aid certification courses offered to the community, to intense training sessions up to a full day of non-stop physical challenge.
Master Azakh seems to embody both parts of the TKC concoction: the technical and the sentimental. He is rightly proud of the fact that his studio offers instruction in more different styles than probably any other in the world. But he seems even more proud of the philosophy of TKC: constant improvement in all aspects of life. "If they are successful in life," he says of his students, "they are going to be successful at Hapkido, at Gracie Jiu Jitsu, at kickboxing. One follows the other."
TKC has franchises in Florida, in Ohio and two others in California. More are certain to come. But for now, walking through the glass door at the "original" TKC will mean walking into a new and different kind of martial arts studio: one where you will find some of the greatest masters in the martial arts world gathered under one roof to teach their specialties. This has never happened before. It may never happen again.
But it is happening now. And it is an amazing thing to see… even more amazing to experience.
Team Karate Centers, Inc.
21038-A Victory Blvd. Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Phone: 818 704 0606
Fax: 818 704 5638
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