Wado-Ryu Karate

It’s virtually impossible to find a school still connected to their origins but every Wadoryu black belt from Sensei Nishimura is registered in Japan and their name hangs on a plaque in the main Tokyo HQ. The Grand Master also occasionally visits the Laguna Niguel dojo as he will in 2016, which is almost unheard. If you’re looking for authentic traditional Japanese karate, this is the real deal, not a martial arts chain where you can pretty much buy a black belt. A 7^th degree black belt, Sensei Nishimura is highest ranking active Wadoryu instructor in the U.S. and an inductee in The Masters Hall of Fame. If your interested in self defense, competition, discipline & confidence, or just the «art» of fighting, you’ve come to the right place. Another nice thing is that you are allowed to train at your own pace according your age, skill level and ambition. You simply won’t find all this in Korean or fundamentally American schools.

Sensei Nishimura is the head karate instructor at this Dojo and he is without a doubt one of the most legit karate instructors you will find in California. He trained in Japan and moved to California in the early eighties and he’s been teaching traditional karate here ever since (over 30 years).
One of the few things that sets this place apart from other McDojos is their quality of instruction. While most martial arts places are run like businesses, this place retains the essence of traditional martial arts. In most other places I’ve been to, the main instructor is nowhere to be found and the majority of the class is taught by advanced brown belts and nascent black belts. Whereas here, Sensei Nishimura is at the Dojo 4 times a week, if not more, actually teaching the classes! From 5 year-​old white belts to advanced students and adults, he teaches and oversees the entire class.
The facility itself has huge mirrors to work on your form and the whole dojo is lined with high quality tatami mats. At the rear, there is a garage sized door that opens for fast and efficient ventilation. There’s also a small viewing area with chairs for guests and parents to stay and watch.
Another thing I wanted to mention is the quality of their black belt students. Training in karate for many years has undoubted developed a high degree of discipline and cognitive acuity in these students and everyone who achieved their black belts through Sensei Nishimura have gone on to excel academically and gained admission to very competitive schools. I personally know seven of them, three are now at University of Washington, two went to UC Berkeley and one to UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. Another is attending medical school at UC Irvine and one of the students from Berkeley is pursuing her Ph. D for biophysics. Amazing stuff.