Ellwood Shotokan Karate Club, Ellwood City, PA Fantastic Opportunities

As a member of the ISKF, opportunities to expand and explore your karate endeavors are unlimited. Your training and development is not limited just to ESKC.

Three times a year when you test, you will also receive expert instruction from a high ranking representative from the ISKF.

When you travel, take your gi (uniform); chances are there will be an affiliate dojo near your destination which will welcome you to train.

Every summer you will have an opportunity to converge at Camp Greenlane outside Philly with hundreds of other shotokan enthusiasts from all over the world (in 2006 twenty countries were represented) for a week of training with a host of world-renowned, eminently skilled instructors. We here in Ellwood City are extremely fortunate that we are so conveniently located.

Every fall, you will again have the opportunity to travel to Camp Greenlane to participate in a 3-day weekend specifically for the East Coast Region. Typically close to 200 students join to socialize and train as a close-knit group with the region's exceptional talent, including Sensei Okazaki himself.

If tournaments interest you, there are several regional events each year. The JKA/ISKF attitude toward tournaments, however, is that tournaments should only compliment your training, not be your training; therefore, there is no 'circuit'. Nationals in 2006 was held in Anchorage, Alaska; the 2006 World Shoto Cup was in Sydney, Australia.

Train for enjoyment and accomplishment. Train for self-defense. Train for competition. Train for physical and mental fitness. Train to travel and meet people from around the country and the world. Train for a sense of belonging. It's up to you.