John Evans
Shari Rodgers
This class is called Beginning Karate, but what we are truly practicing is moving mindfulness. Rather than focusing on performance or memorizing long sequences, we approach karate as a way to awaken awareness through movement. The mind and body develop together, and a new way of moving emerges.
The instructor’s training comes through a Japanese Goju lineage influenced by the original Zen-oriented approach with yoga elements. This training is a quieter, more intuitive tradition that is rarely advertised and not often captured in photographs or demonstration videos. In this way of training, karate is not something to perform for others. It is something to enter. You learn from the inside, outwards.
Instead of asking, “Am I doing this right?” we ask, “What do I feel when I move like this?” This difference changes everything. Where many karate systems emphasize outward conformity, this approach emphasizes internal alignment—breath, structure, timing, and ease. Movements may appear smaller or less dramatic to an outside observer, but the goal here is to reduce unnecessary tension, improve efficiency, and allow the body to discover power without strain.
Why This Matters for Adults and Golden Age Students
As we age, the most valuable skills are not high kicks or speed drills—they are balance, agility, grace, and confidence in everyday movement. This training builds exactly those qualities by refining how we stand, turn, breathe, step, and shift weight. Over time, students report:
• Improved balance and quicker recovery when stepping off curbs or turning suddenly;
• Reduced joint stress by learning biomechanically efficient movement;
• A growing love of movement itself instead of seeing exercise as a chore;
• A calmer nervous system, as breath and awareness become part of each technique; and
• Increased free-flowing energy and fluidity, which feels good in the body and reduces injury risk in daily life.
A Different Kind of Experience
You will not be asked to keep up with someone else’s pace or force your body into rigid shapes. Instead, you will learn to recognize when movement feels true—that quiet moment when posture, breath, and timing align without effort.
This is karate practiced from the inside out, finding joy in movement. It is equally suitable for beginners, returning martial artists, and those simply seeking a mindful, intelligent movement practice that keeps the body capable and the mind present. This is not just a class. It is a practice of embodied awareness, using the language of karate to restore natural movement, confidence, and dignity in motion.
Come and start a new chapter with our Beginning Karate at the Anza gym. Classes are Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. We look forward to meeting you and helping to start your karate journey! If you are already doing karate or did it not too long ago, try our more advanced class on Monday from 4 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 3 to 5 p.m.