About Zentokan

All ethnicities, national origins, immigration/citizenship statuses, primary languages — all are welcome here. Negative attitude toward any of these categories is cause for ejection.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are irrelevant to our training. We do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or misconduct. We also do not denigrate students for being “feminine” or “masculine”. We have two small changing rooms that are available to all students. We are also a pronoun-savvy dojo.

The most visible aspect of what we do is physical. That said, in our home dojo in Japan you can meet a blind student who practices Tameshigiri (test cutting) and a student who has lost the use of his left hand but has won medals in gekken (sparring). We also know someone who practices from a wheelchair and another student who couldn’t lift his arms over his head when he started training. So if you have a sincere desire to learn, we will meet you where you are. Developing the strength and flexibility you need for proper movement is part of the curriculum. This training is about uncovering the best in each of us; we are all working on ourselves, and we do that work together.

A lot of martial arts schools would rather have your dues than have you on the mat, but we take the opposite view. We don't want anyone’s financial worries to come between them and their training. We offer scholarships or sliding scale dues to dedicated and deserving individuals on a case by case basis. Students who train on scholarship must meet and maintain minimum attendance requirements.

Most people choose to purchase their own uniforms and other equipment, but we have some donated materials available.

Religion is irrelevant to our training, unless you have a strenuous objection to the ritual involved in our reiho, in which case we should have a respectful conversation about it and figure out the best way forward.

Although we teach a martial art, we recognize that students may have past experiences that change their view of physical contact. We generally believe that while being able to make physical adjustments to students can accelerate their progress, it is not required; and in fact one of the lessons of the COVID pandemic is how to adapt to being able to teach without contact. Relatedly, we can tailor our gekken (sparring) practice to the needs of each student.