Classes in Edmonton
Instruction in our in-person program is oriented to adults and young adults (12+). We consider younger students on an individual basis and children under 12 can train with their parents for free, but we have no separate kids' classes.
In-person classes are 90 minutes: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1900-2030 and Saturdays 1000-1130.
Newcomers get one-on-one instruction to introduce them to Seibukan karate.
I am justly proud of our instructors. Lucy is a prime example. She has decades of professional teaching experience, from elementary school to university education, as well as doctoral study, and she brings all that pedagogical expertise, plus her intelligence, personal charm and generous nature, to karate.
I loved teaching social theory at the University of Alberta, but in karate I get to work with the same students for years and witness how they transform themselves week by week and year by year, as they train and sweat to embody the traditions of Seibukan karate. It's such a privilege.
The sempai-kōhai (senior-junior) relationship promotes the transfer of experience and knowledge and the building of institutional memory. The kōhai learns from the sempai's knowledge and the sempai develops their understanding of responsibility towards kōhai.
We train in the beautiful dance studio of Strathcona High School, 105 A Street NW at 73 Avenue NW in south-central Edmonton. The studio has sprung hardwood floors, ideal for karate practice, and mirrored walls. There is plenty of free on-site parking, and buses stop nearby on both 106 St and 82 (Whyte) Ave.
In summer, we train outdoors, which was typical in old Okinawa. Our venue is the park just south of Strathcona High School
Tuition and fees
First class is free; first month is $50, which covers mandatory annual Karate Alberta dues.
After that, tuition is $70 per month or $710 per year ($130 discount). If three or more members from the same household are training in-person, the tuition for the family is $180 month. We are privileged to have a special relationship with Strathcona High School and its students and staff train in our dojo for free.
All students must belong to Karate Alberta, which maintains our insurance, and pay annual dues of $50 for students 12 or older, and $45 for those under 12.
From the beginning, our policy has been that anyone of good character with a sincere desire to learn Seibukan karate should be given an opportunity to do so, regardless of their financial circumstances. Our tuition is among the lowest in the city, but if you want to try our karate and can't afford our regular rates, please contact us and we will make arrangements which will allow you to train.
Online classes
We also run an online program. Currently, we have students from Northern Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ontario, BC, and Minnesota, as well as local ones.
Online classes are one hour: Sunday 1100-1200 Mountain Time and Wednesday (advanced students) 1900 - 2000 Mountain Time.
First online class is free. After that, tuition is $45 per month for an individual or $60 per month for a family of any size. In addition, all students, including those online, must belong to Karate Alberta, which maintains our insurance, and pay annual dues of $50 for students 12 or older, and $45 for those under 12.
COVID Protocols
As of winter 2024, COVID remains a serious threat to public health. Local wastewater levels remain at elevated levels and many Edmontonians are sick. We adjust our COVID protocols according to local conditions and the best expert advice available to us. We train outdoors in summer, and masking is optional then. Currently, in winter 2024 - 25, N95 or KN95 or better masking is mandatory. We run multiple HEPA filters in the dojo and maintain good ventilation. CO2 levels peak around 800 ppm.
Our protocols derive directly from our karate values:
We should be humble and respectful enough to heed the advice of experts who know much more than us about virology and public health.
We should be considerate and kind enough to take care of our dojo members and the community, especially the vulnerable.
We should be disciplined enough to willingly take on minor inconveniences like masking for the collective good.
Come to the Dojo!
New students are welcome anytime! Anyone with a sincere desire to learn traditional Okinawan karate is invited to try a class for free, regardless of experience or level of fitness. If you have any questions, please e-mail Doug at nantanreikan@gmail.com or use the contact form below.
Karate, Arrogance, and the Way of Teaching
I have been accused of being arrogant by enough people that there may be something to it. But here's what karate teaches me.
I am under no illusion that I am an elite karate practitioner. Neither do I think I'm one of the most inept. Like almost everyone who trains, I fall in the vast range between the best and the worst.
What drives me is the pursuit of emulating my betters. Trying to improve is a never-ending task of learning, which is one reason I think of the way of karate is a way of teaching. It's also important to look to the errors or failures of others, to examine how they reflect flaws in myself that I haven't recognized before.
Karate teaches us to be ruthlessly objective about ourselves, to see as clearly as possible what we do well and not so well. In a real, life-or-death fight, if I believe I'm much better than I actually am and try a technique that I'm not good at, I'll likely die. If I believe I'm much worse than I actually am and have no faith in my technique, I'll likely die. A genuine combative method forces us to face the reality of what we are and engage the world accordingly.
All of this also applies to intelligence, looks, and how good I am as a writer, a father, a spouse, a teacher, or any other quality of being human. There are a lot of people who are smarter, more handsome, and better as writers, fathers, spouses, teachers, or human beings. That's simple truth, not an attempt at humility.
But if I am to sustain any dignity, I also have to believe I'm better than the worst of humanity—racists, misogynists, homophobes, transphobes, Islamophobes, antisemites, Trump and Poilievre supporters. I have to believe that, for all my manifold shortcomings, I can rise above mindless hate, ignorance, lies, and bigotry.
Like most of you, I'm located somewhere in the vast middle ground between the finest and worst of humanity.
So if others think I'm a terrible person because of my arrogance, all I can say is that I'm genuinely working hard to get better.