Ligo Dojo of Budo Karate in Durham -- Martial Arts Durham (Budo Karate House)(Durham Karate) (Durham Martial Arts) (Martial Arts Durham) (Kyokushin America) (Kyokushinkai USA)(Martial Arts Chapel Hill) (Chapel Hill Martial Arts)(Kyokushinkan)(Kyokushin-kan)(Nathan Ligo)(Karate Chapel Hill) (Chapel Hill Karate)(Karate Raleigh) (Raleigh Karate) (tae kwon do chapel hill) (taekwondo chapel hill)(

	BKH Residential Student Paul Kaminski's Blackbelt Grading in South Africa
	Kyokushin-Kan International Camp Capetown, South Africa May 2008
	Kata: Naifanchin Shodan Performed by Kancho Royama and Ligo Dojo's Sensei Ligo
	Durham SWAT Team Training at Ligo Dojo in March (click here)

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!

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 Friday, 5 PM Saturday, Closed Sunday
New AM Classes: 8:00 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday
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)

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)

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)

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.

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!

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."

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).