Boulder Kodokan

Specialties

At Boulder Kodokan, students learn Okinawan Goju Ryu karate and Matayoshi Kobudo (Ancient Weapons). Through our instruction and connections to the roots of the art we study, we strive to stay true to the traditional practice of these styles. We are affiliated with Okinawan dojos and both travel to Japan and host seminars here in Boulder to learn from the heads of those organizations. We place a premium on the ambiance created by having a smaller non-​commercial club that provides students with personal attention from senior students. One of our club mottos is, «Train Hard, Train Often», and that we do. But it’s a great deal of fun in a very supportive, constructive atmosphere. Our vision for Boulder Kodokan is to build it into a successful non-​profit that provides not just community support through activities, but is able to contribute financially to local and international charities.

History

Established in 1995.

Boulder Kodokan, a non-​profit organization registered with the State of Colorado, was founded in 1995 by Paul and Barbara Gehring. An Okinawan martial arts club, it focuses on Matayoshi Kobudo and Okinawan Goju Ryu. Boulder Kodokan started by offering kids classes through the Boulder County Board of Education Lifelong Learning program. This generated enough interest in the parents of the children to start an adult class, which continued after the Lifelong Learning program was shut down in 1998. We found a new home in PreEminence Hall at 3213 Walnut in 2004. With the help of many students and friends, the space was transformed into the Asian movement arts studio that it is today. We are affiliated with Matayoshi Kobudo Shinbukai and Kenbukan from Okinawa.

Meet the Business Owner

Paul and Barbara G.

Business Owner

Paul Sensei began studying martial arts as a student at the University of Massachusetts in 1986. He began teaching as a brown belt in the UMASS physical education department. He taught beginning karate and women’s self defense courses before going to Japan for a year as an exchange student. During that time, he was awarded his black belt while training in Okinawa. After graduating from UMASS in 1991, he returned to Japan to work for the Japanese government for 3 years and founded his first dojo in the city of Takikawa.

A native of Winnipeg, Manioba, Barbara Sensei began training karate and kobudo while teaching English in Northern Japan in 1992 and received her black belt in Goju Ryu karate and kobudo upon returning to North America in 1995. She started teaching martial arts in 1995 to children and adults in Boulder through Lifelong Learning and the YMCA, always with great patience and attention to detail. She is known for her strength, wit and endurance.