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 11 are welcome and we have several as young
as 9 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! (continued
below)
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
The
photographs on this page were taken during a one-week period.
You'll note that there was still, during this week, one night
that only had 4 students, and another were there were 14. The
average these days is 9 so it's an excellent time for you to
get personalized attention. Dare we hope that at this rate there'll
be 100 students training with us a year from now! It is to that
extent that Sensei Ligo's attention will be divided in the future,
so it's an excellent time for you to begin your training. (continued
below)
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
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 14,
12, 9, 9 . . . They don't leave the class injured, and yet they
SWEAT and they learn techniques that they can apply should they
ever have to. (continued below)
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
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 students
Annie, Jennifer, Nydia, Amy, Marie, Heather, Eire, Lissa, Crystal,
and Emily, 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. (continued below)
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
Something
like a quarter of Ligo Dojo students have come to us with significant
levels of achievement in other martial arts. Including especially
Mark, Mike, Marie, Craig and Jeff, who come from a Tae Kwon
Do and/or kick boxing background, they are proving their ability
daily to adapt to a new style. We have had others in the past
who come join with black belts in other styles or from other
teachers who hold on too strongly to their "sense of themselves"
and of their prior experience who have proven NOT to be successful.
Those however who come in with a sense of humility and willingness
to learn something new, and particularly those mentioned above,
are making great strides. Mike Roberts who had full contact
experience in kick boxing and Tae Kwon Do became this past October
(below, left) the first Ligo Dojo student to participate in
a Kyokushin Tournament (we have been taking residential students
all over the world for competitions for years, but Mike was
the first non-residential student to participate). For details
on this tournament experience, click on the "Rochester
Tournament 2007" link at right. (continued below)
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
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 one year 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.
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
This
Saturday night in November (above) there were only 4 students
in class and yet that training achieved legendary status at
least in the eyes of instructor, Nathan Ligo, for the fact that
these students trained so incredibly hard given the extreme
range of students in attendance. Eire is 14 -- that's her 12-year-old
brother, Bijon-- they train four nights per week on most weeks
and have become incredibly strong for their age (they've got
good genetics for toughness; their father trains with us too!).
Nydia, 26, is a graduate student at UNC who trained for three
years in Russia (of all places!) before moving to Chapel Hill,
and then there's Jacques's wife Annie. The training this night
was kick-mit training, a power/stamina training exercise that
Sensei Ligo uses most frequently to prepare his residential
students for tournament competition. These three women come
very close to representing three generations of women (no offense
to Nydia who's not quite old enough to be Eire's mother; Annie
could be Nydia's), and the fact that the three of them trained
so hard for as long as they did that night without letting up
was phenomenal!
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
Jacques's
wife, Annie, above right, has been practicing Kyokushin Karate
for 32 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."
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
Ligo
Dojo instructor and founder, Nathan Ligo, is seen here in Japan
in the last week of November (the same month the above dojo
photos were taken). 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).
Class
Times 6:30 PM Monday to Saturday, Closed Sunday
Cost : $60/month with request that those who can pay $80 because
we're a nonprofit.
Uniforms not included.
For more information call 923-6915.
