Caltech Karate Club

Ohshima Dojo (SKA central Dojo)

Caltech Karate Club members Charles Cohen, Deepak Kumar, Udi Vermesh, and Ted Yu received their Shodan (1st degree) black belts in June 2008. Jeff LeHew received his Nidan (2nd degree). Congratulations!

Welcome to the homepage of Caltech Karate Club, an affiliate of Shotokan Karate of America (SKA), a nonprofit organization teaching traditional karate in the United States since 1955.

The Caltech Karate Club was founded by Master Tsutomu Ohshima in 1957 and is the oldest university Karate club in America.

As a part of SKA and its more than twenty southern California dojos, we participate in regional special events such as the Nissei Week tournament, Special Trainings, exchange practices, and classes with well-known instructors around southern California.

More broadly, we are affiliated with more than one hundred dojos (schools) around North America in regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, New York, Chicago and many other places, as well as in thirteen countries including France, Israel, Switzerland, Japan, and Hong Kong. Students relocating to one of these places after graduation can be assured of opportunity to continue their training.

The Caltech tradition of instruction is established by Tsutomu Ohshima, widely regarded as one of the top Karate masters in the world. He was on the Caltech faculty for 37 years and directly taught those who now serve as the Club's teachers. He is also the chief instructor for all the above-mentioned affiliate dojos.

We adhere strictly to the instructional system created by Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate. Therefore we do not, for example, award non-traditional colors of belts, award black belts higher than Godan (5th degree), invent new kata (forms), or place emphasis on flashy techniques at the expense of effectiveness.

We practice Monday and Wednesday from 7:00PM to 9:30PM, and on Saturday from 10:00AM to 12:30PM. The first hour of each practice is a beginning class and the second hour is advanced. Our club is open to all members of the local Community, although only those people affiliated with Caltech can enter the gym for free, all others are often required to pay $5.00 to Caltech to enter the Gym. Additionally the Shotokan Karate class satisfies the PE requirement for Caltech Undergraduates. We request those not enrolled in the class to club pay dues of $20 per year.