Ligo Dojo of Budo Karate
in Durhamk
Classes for Kids age 6 and up! 923-6915
Best in the Triangle, Cheapest in the Triangle, No Contrancts, Nonprofit
Community-minded Ideals!
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Our
Fall Grading . . . SEE NEW VIDEO CLIPS!
- December 1, 2009

News!! Ligo Dojo
student Amy W. (below left) makes it to the BEST-8!! in her
division in the world tournament. Budapest. October
2-4, 2009

Earthshaking
News!
1.Paul Kaminski
-
The First to Graduate!

2.Unprecedented
Funding Received! |
This month has
provided Ligo Dojo with a collection of the best possible
news imaginable. At the top of the list: The graduation
of Paul Kaminski (24) of Connecticut. Paul, this week,
attained his goal of remaining 1000 consecutive days in
the Budo Karate House Dormitory. This is no small challenge.
Indeed +/-70 BKH residential students over the past 9
years FAILED to complete this goal. Paul was first. He
returned home this week, honorably, to see his family
for the first time in 1000 days and he leaves behind,
in the dormitory, Kenny and Aaron, who plan on being the
next two to graduate. Paul is fighting with us in Korea
in August and Budapest (in the world tournament) in October.
We have offered him a position with a full salary and
we expect that in a half year or so, he will return to
teach at Ligo Dojo and work towards a time when he can
operate his own dojo. This is up to him, of course! Either
way, he goes forward into life knowing that he can do
whatever he sets out to achieve. Good for you, Kaminski!!
You have a family here for life!
Ligo Dojo,
a 501.c.3 nonprofit, got all four of the grants it applied
for for next year. And it's about time!! We have persisted
for 9 years without external funding. Special thanks to
the Governor's Crime Commission
($70,000 over two years), Triangle
Community Foundation ($15,000 gift), Juvenile
Crime Prevention Council (Durham County) ($12,000
gift), and the City of Durham
($40,000 over three years) for their joint sponsorship
of the "Young Warriors Scholar-Athlete Scholarship
Program" in which children who are at-risk of falling
into anti-social routines can train, without charge at
Ligo Dojo (provided they are referred by participating
agencies). This program is already in full-swing and is
resulting in unprecedented growth in our student body.
On the behalf of Budo Karate House and Ligo Dojo, I would
like to express my deepest appreciation to these agencies
for recognizing the incredible value that Ligo Dojo can
provide for the future of Durham by teaching its young
people. You have put your eggs in the right basket! Our
program is in full swing and we will surpass our stated
goals! |
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Friday, 5 PM Saturday, Closed
Sunday
New AM Classes: 8:00 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Cost : $80/month with request that those who can pay $100
because we're a nonprofit and some students participate
without paying the full amount. No contracts of course.
Simply pay by the month. We are located at 118 W. Parrish
Street in Downtown Durham.
For more information call Nathan Ligo at 923-6915.
Ligo
Dojo in Durham News
Ligo Dojo
experiences its first boom in popularity!

At
long last it seems like Triangle residents are starting to
figure out both that we're here, and what kind of quality
training we offer. We're located in downtown Durham near the
ball park and the Sun Trust Building and it was at about the
same time that the city of Durham finally completed construction
on our street, Parrish Street, that students started to roll
in . . . at least when compared to anything we've seen in
the past. We continue to offer 90-minute classes every night
of the week except Sunday that are primarily geared towards
adult students. Indeed we pride ourselves on NOT being the
"belt mill" or babysitting service that so many
American martial arts schools have become. Children
from
the age of 7 are welcome and we have several as young
as 6 that train with their mothers and/or fathers. Parents
and kids training together has in fact been
very successful and we recommend that you give it a try!
All
training is geared towards full-contact, real world applicable
karate. Of course the primary motives are self-defense,
the development of spiritual and physical health, and the
deepening of character! But we are firm believers that martial
arts schools who train their students for anything less than
real fighting are doing a great disservice to their students,
since they will surely develop a false sense of their own
abilities. That said, SAFETY and respect for the PACE with
which each individual student should approach higher impact
training is upheld as a matter of course. We
currently have 4 students in their 50's one in her 60's and
minors that are as young as 6. . . They don't leave the class
injured, and yet they SWEAT and they learn techniques that
they can apply should they ever have to.
Ask
Sensei Ligo and he'll tell you that one of the most exciting
developments in the recent growth of the Ligo Dojo student
body is the development of a women's
program with the potential to set a new standard far
beyond the Triangle in terms of developing the true potential
of women as practitioners of karate who are not held back
by social stigma. Current female students, whether they know
it or not, have set out on the road to achieving a standard
for women in karate that has been largely absent from the
American South. Women in Canada, Europe and Russia, those
that choose to, engage in full-contact competition just like
the men. All Ligo Dojo students engage in contact activities
at a pace at which they're comfortable, but the evolving difference
here is that women at Ligo Dojo will have the opportunity
to fight if they so choose.
Shihan
Jacques Sandulescu, 79, (below) was the first American to
practice Kyokushin Karate in the continental united states
in the early 60's when Kyokushin's founder, Mas Oyama (1923-1994),
stayed with him in New York for five months on his first trip
to introduce karate to America. Jacques is a legendary figure
in Japan since the adventures that he shared with Mas Oyama
were immortalized in books, movies, and even comic books.
The two men's friendship was life-long and we are extremely
honored to have Jacques and his wife, Annie, as dojo members
since they moved to North Carolina from New York three years
ago. In Rochester, New York in 1992, Mas Oyama introduced
Nathan Ligo (head instructor, Ligo Dojo) to Jacques, and said,
"Ligo you have to take care of Jacques, Jacques you have
to take care of Nathan. Support each other to build Kyokushin
Karate in America," and another life-long friendship
was born.

Jacques's
wife, Annie, above right, has been practicing Kyokushin Karate
for 35 years. She brought Jacques to North Carolina in 2006
to be near Ligo Dojo so that Nathan Ligo and his students
could help to take care of Jacques in his retirement. Like
her husband, Annie is an inspiration to Ligo Dojo students
since she trains harder and kicks higher than most of the
rest of the students and yet she's, well, pushing sixty-something.
Annie is currently working to edit Nathan's most recent book
(she is a professional editor and was a book critic for the
NY Times), and although she let Nathan's prior 5 manuscripts
remain on the shelf, she finally likes this one, and will
help to push it through to where it can be read by more than
just her. "Your students ought to really benefit from
reading this book," she said, "particularly the
new ones. They'll start to figure out what karate's all about,
those of them anyway who limit their idea of what it's about
to their pre-conceived notions."
Ligo
Dojo instructor and founder, Nathan Ligo, is seen here in
Japan in the last week of November '07. The All-Japan Karate
Tournament was held on the 25th and Nathan Ligo traveled to
Japan to enter his residential student (uchi deshi), Paul
Kaminski (see below). That's Sensei Ligo (above left) participating
in a training for instructors following the tournament and
(above right) interpreting Kancho (chairman) Royama's speech
at the opening ceremony of the tournament. Below, that's Nathan
again with Kancho Royama (see "Kyokushinkan Home"
link above).

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