Best Karate & Kobudo Instructor In Phoenix, Arizona Valley

"Domo Arigato Gozaimasu Phoenix, Arizona" - Thank you Phoenix!

There are many great martial arts instructors in the Phoenix Valley; thus it is an honor to be considered as the best in the valley based on 'expertise'. In 2017, Soke Hausel, world head (grandmaster) of Shorin-Ryu Karate & Kobudo (Seiyo Kai) and Juko Kai International Shihan (master instructor) was selected as best in the category of Expertise.

Soke Hausel began his martial arts training in 1964 after growing long hair and joining a garage rock n' roll band. Because of the lack of tolerance for long hair in 1964, all four members of the band signed up for Japanese (kyokushin kai) karate for self-defense. 

In 2017, Soke was elected to Who's Who in Martial Arts and selected for the Albert Nelson Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievement Award. His dojo (martial arts center) was also selected for the 2017 Mesa, Arizona Small Business and Excellence Award as well as for the past four years.

Grandmaster Hausel is a distinguished polymath and received national and international awards not only in martial arts but also in geological sciences, art, writing and public speaking. 

Through the years, Soke taught hundreds of students, faculty and staff members self-defense and traditional karate. While at the University of Wyoming for 30 years, he developed one of the more diverse traditional martial arts programs as Kyoju no Budo (professor of martial arts). He has taught self-defense to many adult groups including Christian, boy scouts, girl scouts, military, professional, librarians, women's clubs, martial arts groups and more. He loves teaching martial arts and enjoys the people he works with.

Soke Hausel gives credit to Dai-Soke Sacharnoski who has been his personal instructor and mentor since 1993 for his abilities in martial arts. Hausel state's that "Dai-Soke Sacharnoski is the best martial artist I have ever seen and has provided me with a great model and path to follow".

Hausel says he is also grateful "God has blessed me with all of his accomplishments as a person and polymath". In his early life, Hausel had more or less been thought by some (including his high school counsellor) to have been the least likely to succeed.

Today, Soke Hausel teaches a variety of traditional martial arts to adults and families.

Best Karate School of Mesa, Arizona

Karate, Kobudo, Self-Defense and Samurai arts  classes at the Arizona Hombu Dojo. "Thank you" again for selecting the Arizona Hombu (Arizona School of Traditional Karate) as the "Best Karate School in Mesa" in 2013, 2014 and in 2015. We work hard to be the best karate school in the West.

The name of our school - Arizona Hombu comes from Japanese which means world headquarters, or administrative headquarters for Shorin-Ryu Karate. To have a hombu dojo implies that the school is home for a grandmaster. Our grandmaster, known as Soke, was also selected for international recognition this summer for martial arts and geological sciences.

The more you train now, the less you
will bleed when it really counts!

Group training in kata (forms).

Bunkai training (applications from kata).

Traditional Karate



Torii gate in Japan

One would need to search the corners of the Earth to find anyone who has not heard of karate. Karate was created on a tiny group of islands known as Okinawa. Because of pragmatic combat effectiveness, karate spread throughout the world in the 20th century after it had been revealed to the public such that today, almost every person has a general idea of what karate is.

Many fighting sports in the world try to mimic karate and incorporate karate-like techniques; but just because someone kicks and punches does not imply they know karate let alone understand martial arts. Any school boy or girl will kick and punch under certain circumstances, but this does not mean they are karate practitioners. Unfortunately, few people understand the difference between sport karate and traditional karate. Even those who practise karate, most do not understand there is a dramatic difference between sport and traditional.

'Aerial Karate' - color pencil sketch by Soke Hausel

Sport Karate, as pointed out by Tsuneo Kinjo from Okinawa, has two branches - kata and kumite. In sport Karate, kata is practiced more like a dance contest with a fashion show - performed for trophies with a general lack of understanding of bunkai (pragmatic self-defense applications). Kumite (sparring) in sport karate is also about winning and losing. Those who train in sport karate wear padded gloves and try to out-score each other requiring many unfocused techniques. The Father of Modern Karate, Gichin Funakoshi of Okinawa wrote, "The purpose of Karate lies not in defeat or victory, but in perfection of its participants".

Traditional Karate is very different. It is about perfecting oneself and as stated by Chojun Miyagi, it is also about "... training oneself to be able to overcome an opponent with a single technique". This is why those who train at the Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai hombu in Mesa, Arizona, are taught to develop maximum focus and work towards a skill of a one-punch knockout: not a knockout in a ring or cage, but a knockout that may save your life during an aggressive attack on the street. If a person has to use more than one technique in self-defense, they stand to lose the battle and possibly their life.

Gichin Funakoshi, pencil sketch by
Soke Hausel

By definition, a martial art requires not only martial combat technique, but also esoteric value to guide a martial artist along an ethical and moral path. Think about it for a second. How many politicians are you aware that train in traditional martial arts? 

But traditional martial and politics are antipathetic towards one another. Traditional martial arts requires honesty, ethics and morals. Politics requires a broken polygraph, which is why politicians are rarely seen in a traditional martial arts dojo.

'Okinawan sunrise', pencil sketch bo Soke Hausel

Traditional Martial Arts Instruction at the Arizona Hombu

Soke Hausel (a.k.a. Miyagi Hausel), a traditional martial
artist with more than a half-century of experience.

Visualized Mr. Miyagi in the 1984 Karate Kid film classic, and you have a general idea of what Traditional Martial Arts are about.

In 2006, it was decided to move the Hombu from the University of Wyoming to the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona. Upon retiring from UW and the Wyoming Geological Survey, Soke began teaching martial arts classes at Golds Gym and ASU. But within a few years, the Hombu dojo was opened on Baseline road at the southern border of Mesa.

The new hombu was opened in 2008, almost the day that the economy collapsed.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our Hombu was recognized as the Best of Mesa for 2013. This is also the 5th anniversary since our grandmaster was inducted into the 2008 USHOFMAA International Hall of Fame in Maryland along with appointment to the Supreme Elite Warrior's Council and appointment to the World Sokeship (Grandmaster) Council.

Our Grandmaster was notified last week, of his inclusion into Marquis Who's Who in the World (he  has been highlighted in that biographical compendium for 10-years straight). It is also the 10th anniversary since our grandmaster was inducted into the Latin America Society Worldwide Hall-of-Fame in Puerto Rico and the 10th year since he was awarded the International Grandmaster of the Year (2003). In 1993, he was included in Who's Who in the West and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

In 2014, we celebrate many more anniversaries including the 15th year anniversary of our grandmaster's appointment to the world head of Shoin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo (Seiyo-Kai), and also be the 50th year since he began his martial arts training. For traditional martial arts instruction in the East Valley of Phoenix, the Arizona Hombu stands alone.

Seiyo Shorin-Ryu students with Soke Hausel and Hanshi Ron Smith at the 2013 JKI clinic in New Braunfels.

Welcome to our Traditional Martial Arts School in East Valley

Yokoso! Welcome!

We look forward to meeting you at our traditional martial arts school in the East Valley of Phoenix (Mesa, Gilbert). All of our deshi (students) become friends because of our training methods and many are friends for life. 

Soke Hausel (kyoju) at the University of Wyoming.

Kyoju no Budo (Professor of Martial Arts) taught martial arts, traditional karate, kobudo (martial arts weapons), self-defense, jujutsu and samurai arts at the University of Wyoming for more than 3 decades, and taught at Arizona State university, University of New Mexico and the University of Utah. Soke is the world head of Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Renmei, an international martial arts association located in the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona. Soke is a member of several Halls-of-Fame for teaching skills.

Soke has been recognized for many contributions to teaching including Grandmaster of the Year, International Grandmaster of the Year, Instructor of the Year and International Instructor of the Year.



Arizona-Utah Black Belts Train in Hanbojutsu

Luis from Utah performs Ago Senage on Todd during black belt clinic in Mesa, Arizona

Members of the Utah Shorin-Kai trained in Hanbojutsu (半棒術) at the Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Hombu in Mesa Arizona (April 12-14th, 2012) under the direction of Grandmaster (Soke) Hausel. The training reviewed several waza (techniques) including chokes, strikes, blocks, restraints and throws (nage waza) and Soke Hausel taught several new techniques that the group had never seen before. The hanbo, known as the Half-Bo can be a very effective weapon as it is a stick about the length of a cane and can be carried essentially anywhere and is considered part of the Kobudo Program at the Arizona Hombu.

Renshi Stoneking applies royote garumi on Luis during hanbo training at
Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa.

Ryan applies  koshi ori ni kata on Thad at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate, in Mesa Arizona during the Utah-Arizona Black Belt Clinic. High ranking martial artists from Murray and Salt Lake City Utah trained with martial artists from Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler, Arizona in the ancient Japanese art of Hanbo jutsu along with Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kenjutsu.

ABOUT Arizona Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo

Seiyo Kai evolved from traditional Shorin-Ryu Karate and was officially recognized as a unique martial art in 1999. Thus this style, a gendai (現代武道) (modern) art, evolved from a koryu (古流) (old-school) martial art. Our members train in basics (kihon) of karate and kobudo which are taught over and over again (but in different ways) to teach muscle memory to attain a level of mushin (無心) (a disconnect from the mind). If a deshi (内弟子) (student) trains without full focus and effort, the training will leave negative imprints on the muscles and the student will learn to defend with little force as is seen in most Western martial arts schools. "You defend as you train". Look around your dojo (道場) and watch not only your sensei (先生), but also those who exhibit power. These people are training properly – try to emulate their effort.

We are an affiliate of one of the more prestigious Okinawa-Japanese-American martial arts associations in the world - Juko Kai International. Soke Hausel has been an active member of Juko Kai International for nearly a quarter of a century, has been an active member of Zen Kokusai Budo Bugei Renmei for 17 years, a long time personal student of Dai Soke Sacharnoski, and has been a martial artist for more than a half of a century.

In addition to kihon (基本)(fundamentals), members of Seiyo Shorin-Ryu practice kata (形)(forms) and bunkai (分解)(applications). We have a curriculum that includes more than 70 kata. Why so many? Kata and karate (空手) are inseparable. This has been emphasized by great Okinawan Shorin-Ryu masters of the past and we agree. Kata is extremely important since kata includes basics, balance, stances, breathing, self-defense (bunkai), and timing & distancing (in Japanese, known as 'ma'). Everything we need is found in kata. Katas should also be practiced with distinct timing in mind with breaks (places where techniques are slow and emphasized, where they accelerate, etc), they should be practiced with focus while keeping bunkai in mind: they should never be rushed. The practice of kihon and kata mixed with bunkai provides excellent training as long as one includes power, focus and Zen philosophy. Traditional karate requires traditional methods.

Yan Ma demonstrates
Pinan Godan Kata

Competition in martial arts is antipathetic to what we look to achieve. The great Okinawan master of karate, Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) wrote "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in perfection of its participants".

It is clear from Funakoshi's and other Okinawan masters that karate was designed for self-improvement and never designed for tournament competition. If anything, most tournaments bring about just the opposite of what karate is trying to teach. We do not stop our students from competition - we believe in free choice, instead it is up to the individual. But tournaments reward martial artists for technique that is useless and flashy, it rewards martial artists for holding back power and focus, and it periodically rewards people for improper behavior.

Even so, in the past. some of our members were awarded regional, national and even international championships. But this has to do with the type of martial arts training required for competition and its philosophy. If you ever have a chance to watch a tournament, most competitors have little focus. A few years ago, the University of Wyoming club experimented with competition and nearly every member who competed won a medal (or was disqualified in kumite competition for striking too hard); however, those who continued in this adventure lost essentially all of their focus and power within a year. We do not stop anyone from competing – this is a freedom of choice, but it will likely end up with the deshi developing poor technique.

Sensei Linton of Wellington, CO defends against tanto
(Knife) attack from Hanshi Finley of Casper, WY at Seiyo
Clinic at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

We practice controlled ippon kumite (sparring). But, free sparring must be kept to a bare minimum and only introduced to students when they acquire a good level of focus, power and control. When I introduce students to kumite, it is primarily ippon kumite (one step sparring). In this situation, uke (defender) is attacked by tori (attacker). Sometimes the attack is predetermined, other times it is not. When we practice kumite, our sensei must watch closely for lack of focus. When the focus is lost, we need to practice the technique again and again with focus.

At rare times free sparring (jiyu kumite) is practiced under the watchful eyes of a sensei. Free sparring is practiced to teach deshi to respond without thinking. As soon as any block, kick, or punch is applied without focus, the practitioner must be stopped and the same scenario practiced over and over again until it is done with focus. Most karate schools in the US concentrate on free sparring and this is one of the principal sources for bad technique in most schools. So free sparing needs to be controlled and limited greatly.

Hanshi Finley is all tied up during
hojojutsu training at the Casper
dojo. This is an art used by local
officials to restrain prisoners in
the Edo period of Japan.

Along with karate (empty hand) training, Seiyo Shorin-Ryu students learn kobudo – the art of ancient weapons. Weapons in our curriculum include bo (6-foot staff), hanbo (half-staff), kobuton (short stick), nunchaku, sai, tonfa, kibo (expandable baton), kuwa (hoe), kumade (rake), kuai (cane), kama, nitanbo, iku (oar), manrikigusari (weighted chain), surichin (weighted rope), nireki (two rakes), hari (fish hook), tekko (knuckle duster), kusarigama (sickle & chain) and others.

Seiyo Shorin-Ryu members also have the unique privilege of learning Samurai arts including iaido, naginatajutsu, jujutsu, sojutsu, bojutsu, and hojojutsu. These arts include training with katana (samurai sword), tanto (knife), naginata (pole arm), yari (spear), hojo (cord) and jujutsu.

Sketch of Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍)

Self-defense training is very important and we train in defense against a variety of attacks. When a new technique is introduced tori (the attacker) must begin by give and take until uke (defender) learns the technique, then tori should become more aggressive to provide more resistance and speed, but always keeping in mind safety and self-confidence issues. Tori must also remember that he or she is not being struck with an actual atemi (distracting strike) that assists uke in escapes. Our association also provides self-defense training for the lay-person through clinics and classes.

Ryan uses tekubi waza on Dr. Adam
during training at Hombu in
Mesa, Arizona

Sooner or later, all of our students break rocks. This is a very minor part of karate, but a confidence builder. After teaching karate for more than 40 years, I’ve only had one student unable to break a rock – it was a barrier that this person built for herself and could not overcome even though this person was capable. When breaking boards, we do not pick plywood to break (or tree limbs), so with rocks, we look for good flat, limestone and/or sandstone. So in a sense, it helps to be a geologist.

For a few students, special miegakure (hidden) techniques are taught including kotekitae (kotekikai) (body hardening) and tein hsueh (vital point strikes) are taught to help us master hitotsuki hitogeri (one strike one kick knockouts).

The majority of classes taught in our school are taught to adults and families. Each of our dojos is different: some focus on families, others on adults, and some have kid’s classes and some have a mix of classes.

Dai-Shihan Gewecke of the Gillette, Wyoming dojo breaks rocks
during our Spring geology 101 training at the University of
Wyoming in Laramie.