By Nora Heston Tarte
At Senshuken Karate, senseis work to seamlessly blend biblical principles with the classical teachings of shotokan (one of four major style of karate). However, it is far from a bible study. Rather, each typical karate lesson is accompanied by a biblical teaching.
“We do have families who are not of the Christian faith and we all have the same goal of providing the best environment and consistency in raising all of our children,” says Sharon Camacho, a sensei and part owner at the Stockton studio. “We do not require that the families be of the Christian faith but we do inform them of our curriculum.”
As children progress from belt to belt, they learn lessons rooted in verses from the Bible. For example, Matthew 7:24-25 is taught in conjunction with proper stance.
“We teach our students that in karate the way you stand determines whether you remain standing or you fall. Proper stance (dachi) will ‘keep you in the fight’ and no matter what your opponent throws your way, you will remain standing,” Sharon explains.
This unique blend of faith and karate is not the only objective the Camacho Family—Sharon, Richard, and Joshua Vincent—employ. As a nonprofit, every volunteer is there because they want to be, and the goal is to do everything to the best of their abilities because, “doing any less is a waste of time and talent.”
Family is the other key element—“We try to foster family within Senshuken Karate,” Sharon says. After all, the studio was started by a family of experienced martial artists who upon moving to Stockton were immediately overcome with the desire to make it better.
“We moved to Stockton from Traverse City, MI four years ago, and all we heard was all the negative things that have happened and continue to happen in Stockton. We could join in the grumblings or we could do something in our own small way,” Sharon shares.
Students can also take advantage of the more universal benefits that come from karate, including social growth, physical competency, and more—a blend of positives synonymous with both team and individual sports.
“They learn as a family but they perform as an individual. The children help and encourage each other in their conditioning and in learning new techniques and we get to see them blossom when they get a light bulb moment where their, ‘I can’t do it’ becomes ‘I will try harder.’”
The Deal: $65 for eight weeks of instruction (including uniform) followed by a monthly tuition of $35 for beginners.
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