Butokukan Karate Silverdale

Butokukan Karate Silverdale has taught Butokukan karate, a style with direct lineage to 19th-century Okinawa, in Silverdale since 1986, and all of its instructors trained directly under Soke (grandmaster) Robert Hill. Master Oichi Nakachi brought the style from Japan to Seattle in 1959 and had opened dojos in Seattle and Bremerton by 1963; before returning to Japan in 1965, he appointed Hill, a senior black belt, to carry it on.

Training rests on kata, self-defense and sport sparring, and the dojo pairs traditional kata with modern approaches to self-defense. Its instructors bring in what they learned elsewhere: Shihan Labalan holds black belts in judo, kali, kenpo and karate, Sensei Doug Wolfard has a background in wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu, and Sensei Tony Hernandez, a career police officer with over 40 years of karate, incorporates law enforcement techniques. Each instructor has taught martial arts for at least 30 years.

The dojo makes longevity of practice a high priority and pitches karate at people from early adulthood through their senior years. Classes are for ages 14 and older, with exceptions for younger students when a parent is in the class.

Classes meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The dojo runs a white to blue belt class, a brown and black belt class and an all-ranks class, and which evening each one meets is something to check with the dojo before a first visit. Drop-ins are welcome, and newcomers can also try a full week of classes on a paid trial. The dojo works with martial artists around the region on tournaments, seminars and workshops, with visiting teachers covering subjects such as Systema and stick and knife defense.