The West Los Angeles Karate logo design has rich history and meaning. The design is called Hidari-mitsudomoe. The three prongs of the star represent mind, body and spirit. Also Kihon, Kata and Kumite. The number three is often connected with Hachiman, the god of war and archery and the guardian of warriors. In Shintoist thinking, the number represents the three aspects of the four souls that a Kami (god) or a dead person possesses. The three are yang, yin and good fortune.
It was an honor to have Machida Sensei and his son Chinzo Sensei visit us at our dojo for a private seminar. His teachings reminded us of how important tha basics are.
When sensei Steve went through some old karate books he found this article that he had saved, published in 1991, about our Sensei Alan Weil. Interesting read, below is a full scan of the article big enough to read.
West Los Angeles Karate school is finally moving to the new YMCA building. This Wednesday, October 3rd will be the first class there. Note that we have the same practice days but slightly different practice times.
New schedule is as follows:
Wednesdays at 8:00-9:30 pm and Saturdays at 1:00-3:00 pm
Location:
COLLINS & KATZ FAMILY YMCA
1466 S Westgate Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Room# 221
John Horns, Shodan
John, our oldest practitioner did not skip a practice on his birthday. Happy 87th birthday!
John Horn has been training with us since 1980 and made Shodan in 1997. As a native of Minnesota, he trained with Sensei Fusaro. John’s younger brother was a Shodan under Fusaro, as well as a world-class marathon runner.
John and Bob Schwartz (our second oldest at 84) started at West LA around the same time. Their perseverance at mastering the art is admirable, despite physical and age limitations.
Qinglin He, Shodan
Congratulation to our latest black belt Qinglin He.
Qinglin has been training with West Los Angeles for the last 2 years. He has been an exemplary student, dedicated, earnest and trains hard while always maintaining a gentle and humble demeanor.
Qinglin He (age 29) started training with about 2 years ago as a 4th kyu from the Goju style in Hong Kong. He converted to the Shotokan style, learned the kata’s and worked his way to Shodan at West LA Karate.
He earned a PhD from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and came to UCLA as a post-doctoral fellow three years ago and trained at the UCLA karate club.
We have now updated our website and intend to keep it informative and entertaining. We have added a news/blog feature where announcements and informative articles will be posted.
We encourage members to contribute with images and articles.
