Good day everyone!
Welcome to Toraguchi Martial Arts! Thank you for taking an interest in our culture and teaching philosophy here at the dojo.
A little bit about myself, I started training in goju ryu karate in 1986 at the age of 8 years old, and started teaching karate professionally in Burlington in 1999 at the age of 21 in a school my father and I co-owned. In 2005, I opened our second location in Oakville.
Flash forward to today and I’m currently a nationally certified karate coach and am a provincial coach with Karate Ontario. I am also in the middle of my Advanced Coaching Diploma which will provide me the designation of Chartered Professional Coach (ChPC) this time next year. I will be only one of seven in Ontario with that designation for karate.
This context is relevant for two reasons: A) I have experience in the skills and methods of karate which is specific to you and/or your child, and B) I have long-term exposure to values based learning.
Karate is culturally based on Japanese ideology, and therefore its core values actually supersede any physical value. Because of that, I wanted to share that “Karate begins and ends with courtesy and respect.” These are the two most important core values that are taught in karate that everyone should grew up with.
It’s no surprise that courtesy and respect form the foundation of our teaching/coaching philosophy and permeate through each interaction we have with both athletes and parents alike. Here at Toraguchi Martial Arts, we plan to “build honourable people and courageous champions through respect, discipline, perseverance, integrity, and accountability.”
In summary, I want to make sure we build people, not fighters.
We’ve always explained our instructional approach as a hybrid method. In karate, the Japanese culture and traditions can be very fixed and it’s very easy for “traditional” instructors to get stuck in the past believing that the old methods are perfect and never need updating. I find huge value in the traditional methods but I pride myself on blending modern methods with some of the timeless practices of karate. Sport science has undeniably advanced all sports, including karate, and we can either keep up or get left behind.
We plan our programs to be inclusive and equitable to meet the needs of all levels and backgrounds of students and athletes. And it’s important to note that we’ll build black belts through hard work, and critical and creative thinking.
My promise as a Sensei is to do no harm, and that I’ll never lose my passion for the art of karate as long as the students promise the same!
We’ll live our vision and succeed in our mission to build character by holding ourselves accountable through curiosity and regular reflections on our actions and practices.
Now…how do we bring this all together? Blending old school and new school methods, we will coach, train, and support our students with earnest, and make productive routines out of the necessities of high performance planning, such as:
- Networking with other dojo & athlete training centres to diversify our training and coaching experiences
- Continue to work, learn, and develop within our provincial, national, and international organisations
- We plan on inviting experienced Sensei/coaches to our dojo for workshops and seminars
- We’ll journal our training and reflections to consistently track our development
- We’ll support our athletes with care and most importantly, positivity
- Continue holding “mat chats” to reinforce messages of empowerment and life skills
- We’ll hold regular student and parent meetings to ensure we are all on the same page, answer questions, and ensure our yearly training plan stays on track
- We’ll continue to face challenges and conflicts with patience, tolerance, and empathy
- We’ll stay current on modern practices as the art of karate evolves
- And participate in a wide range of events locally, nationally, and internationally to build experience and to continue the maturation process of each individual student
- We also understand that complacency kills and that’s why I continue to upgrade my knowledge as a Sensei through collaboration and by taking courses through the NCCP (National Certification Program).
- And furthermore, my entire team of coaches and instructors are also NCCP trained for the benefit of our athletes
For full transparency, please feel free to browse my public transcript in the NCCP pathway. This may help you get to know me and our philosophy on an even deeper level.
- Click this link here: https://thelocker.coach.ca/access/account/public
- My NCCP Number is: 6347387
- My last name is: Kenney
Our PSO (Provincial Sport Organization) is also a big part of supporting what we do here at Toraguchi Martial Arts. We are aligned with their values, and you can read their “Code of Conduct” here on their website:
In closing, “Karate mirrors life.” This is another expression that we preach here, so separating values of our art from our lives is not a normal practice for us. Karate and life are considered equal and the same. Value based practices have been so much of our lives that we don’t know any other way.
Thank you for your time and hope to see you soon!