Traditional Karate

The first martial art system taught to all students and the core of our training is Karate. This striking system (a system which uses, the body to block, punch and kick as its primary method of defense.) was born in the Island nation of Okinawa before its annexation by Japan. Okinawa was an independent kingdom for many centuries and traded openly with people from mainland Asia (China, Korea, etc) as well Japan. When the need to protect themselves from bandits or oppressive government arose, they trained their bodies to be like iron. Today there are dozens of recognized and legitimate karate styles. Those from Okinawa are typically called “Ryu” which means school.

The style of karate taught at Apex Martial Arts is known as Isshin Ryu Karatedo. Isshin Ryu was created by Grand Master Tatsuo Shimabuku in 1956 through the marriage of three martial arts which he trained in—Shorin Ryu Karate (small forest or shaolin style) Goju Ryu Karate (hard/soft style) and Kobujutsu (Okinawan traditional weapons). This style was brought to life as Grandmaster Shimabuku, began to teach increasing numbers of US Marines, Soldiers, and Sailors after World War II, and a number of changes were made to accommodate the western body types. Isshin Ryu is by far one of the most practical of all traditional systems

Modern Arnis

Modern Arnis was the creation of Professor Remy Presas. Modern Arnis, similar to its cousin and ancestor systems, escrima, arnis de mano, and balintiwak was created in the Islands of the Philippines  and is a weapon based martial art. The weapon of Modern Arnis training Is a short stick called a baston, which is traditionally made of rattan. MA training also incorporates a great many lock techniques using the baston and therefore the stick is much shorter than other Philippino martial arts like escrima and kali. Students begin arnis training early on, as it helps develop hand speed and coordination.

Traditional Jujitsu

Jujitsu was created centuries ago in Japan, as a means for the samurai to continue fighting in the event he had been caught unarmed or lost his sword. The principle premise of jujitsu training is to unbalance an opponent to the point where their greatest weapons (whether it be a sword  or their superior size) could be rendered ineffective.

Jujitsu is a grappling system which uses joint locks and takedowns as its primary means of training and defense. In its early inception striking an opponent was not only ineffective but potentially dangerous as a samurai’s typical opponent would be another samurai, and the battlefield the armor worn made movement tricky and blunt strikes such as a kick or punch more harmful to the striker.  However, using a takedown to drop an opponent wearing armor made them very vulnerable. The ability to lock an opponent’s joints enabled the defender to also disarm them.

Judo

Created in the late 1800’s by Grandmaster Jigoro Kano, a once avid jujitsu practitioner who had seen the reputation of Jujitsu schools tarnished because of what he saw as a lack of structure, curriculum, and rules. Grandmaster Kano sought to modernize the jujitsu system and create a new system which students could practice full power without the fear of injuring a partner. As art of this restructuring he created a new curriculum around a set of rules  and turned the practice into a sport. Kano is also credited for standardizing the uniform (which influenced the standardized modern karate gi as well) and the system of colored belt ranking. 

Judo, like jujitsu is a grappling art but is sport oriented so the goal in training is to perfect technique to be used in competition. The students at Apex learn proper methods to break falls, and unbalance opponents, early on in training, and graduate to basic , intermediate, and advanced throws later on.

Jujitsu (Brazilian)

Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ) was the creation of Helio Gracie of Brazil after a Japanese Businessman and martial artist Mitsuyo Maeda travelling to Brazil in 1917 taught the art f jujitsu to the eldest Gracie son Carlos. Helio Gracie sought a system where students could practice jujitsu in the same competitive manner as Judo, but were able to use an increase variety of techniques and  victories could more often be awarded to the better trained and conditioned fighters as many judo matches could be lost be a single loss of balance. BJJ began its climb to notoriety with the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. Where Royce Gracie fought and beat much large opponents.

BJJ is taught at high intermediate and advanced levels to develop ground fighting skills, and higher levels of personal competition.

Kendo

Kendo is the way of the sword, a modern adaptation of ancient samurai training methods, modified into a contemporary sport. Samurai learned early on the dangers of practicing with live blades and quickly moved on to wooden replicas. However, in the hands of a highly skilled fighter a wooden sword was still more than able to severely injure or kill an opponent. The most notable Samurai Miyamoto Musashi was reported to have given up even carrying a live blade for duels because he felt it was his duty to give his opponents a fighting chance, and began carrying bokken (wooden sword) as the legend goes he continued dueling in this way for the rest of his life and never lost a duel.  Kendo training takes safety training a step farther by using s sword made of 4 bamboo slats, which flex and move on impact, absorbing shock. Additionally students wear bogu (armor). These safety precautions allow Kendoka the opportunity to practice full speed and power on a trained opponent without fear of serious injury.

Kendo is learned in the high advanced levels at Apex and teaches students a higher level of discipline and tradition as well as incorporating increased levels of foot speed and endurance.

 Sport Karate

Competitive events are a prime component in complete training. Learning how to execute techniques on a relatively equally traing opponent who not only is defending a student's strikes, but is attacking with their own strikes as well. Sport karate - often referred as "Kumite" or "sparring". Is a game of strategy as well as skills. The rules will often change depending on the venue based on various organizing bodies. Apex students train in NBL/SKIL, NASKA, and WKF/USANKF rules.

Traditional Karate

The first martial art system taught to all students and the core of our training is Karate. This striking system (a system which uses, the body to block, punch and kick as its primary method of defense.) was born in the Island nation of Okinawa before its annexation by Japan. Okinawa was an independent kingdom for many centuries and traded openly with people from mainland Asia (China, Korea, etc) as well Japan. When the need to protect themselves from bandits or oppressive government arose, they trained their bodies to be like iron. Today there are dozens of recognized and legitimate karate styles. Those from Okinawa are typically called “Ryu” which means school.

The style of karate taught at Apex Martial Arts is known as Isshin Ryu Karatedo. Isshin Ryu was created by Grand Master Tatsuo Shimabuku in 1956 through the marriage of three martial arts which he trained in—Shorin Ryu Karate (small forest or shaolin style) Goju Ryu Karate (hard/soft style) and Kobujutsu (Okinawan traditional weapons). This style was brought to life as Grandmaster Shimabuku, began to teach increasing numbers of US Marines, Soldiers, and Sailors after World War II, and a number of changes were made to accommodate the western body types. Isshin Ryu is by far one of the most practical of all traditional systems

Modern Arnis

Modern Arnis was the creation of Professor Remy Presas. Modern Arnis, similar to its cousin and ancestor systems, escrima, arnis de mano, and balintiwak was created in the Islands of the Philippines  and is a weapon based martial art. The weapon of Modern Arnis training Is a short stick called a baston, which is traditionally made of rattan. MA training also incorporates a great many lock techniques using the baston and therefore the stick is much shorter than other Philippino martial arts like escrima and kali. Students begin arnis training early on, as it helps develop hand speed and coordination.

Traditional Jujitsu

Jujitsu was created centuries ago in Japan, as a means for the samurai to continue fighting in the event he had been caught unarmed or lost his sword. The principle premise of jujitsu training is to unbalance an opponent to the point where their greatest weapons (whether it be a sword  or their superior size) could be rendered ineffective.

Jujitsu is a grappling system which uses joint locks and takedowns as its primary means of training and defense. In its early inception striking an opponent was not only ineffective but potentially dangerous as a samurai’s typical opponent would be another samurai, and the battlefield the armor worn made movement tricky and blunt strikes such as a kick or punch more harmful to the striker.  However, using a takedown to drop an opponent wearing armor made them very vulnerable. The ability to lock an opponent’s joints enabled the defender to also disarm them.

Judo

Created in the late 1800’s by Grandmaster Jigoro Kano, a once avid jujitsu practitioner who had seen the reputation of Jujitsu schools tarnished because of what he saw as a lack of structure, curriculum, and rules. Grandmaster Kano sought to modernize the jujitsu system and create a new system which students could practice full power without the fear of injuring a partner. As art of this restructuring he created a new curriculum around a set of rules  and turned the practice into a sport. Kano is also credited for standardizing the uniform (which influenced the standardized modern karate gi as well) and the system of colored belt ranking. 

Judo, like jujitsu is a grappling art but is sport oriented so the goal in training is to perfect technique to be used in competition. The students at Apex learn proper methods to break falls, and unbalance opponents, early on in training, and graduate to basic , intermediate, and advanced throws later on.

Jujitsu (Brazilian)

Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ) was the creation of Helio Gracie of Brazil after a Japanese Businessman and martial artist Mitsuyo Maeda travelling to Brazil in 1917 taught the art f jujitsu to the eldest Gracie son Carlos. Helio Gracie sought a system where students could practice jujitsu in the same competitive manner as Judo, but were able to use an increase variety of techniques and  victories could more often be awarded to the better trained and conditioned fighters as many judo matches could be lost be a single loss of balance. BJJ began its climb to notoriety with the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. Where Royce Gracie fought and beat much large opponents.

BJJ is taught at high intermediate and advanced levels to develop ground fighting skills, and higher levels of personal competition.

Kendo

Kendo is the way of the sword, a modern adaptation of ancient samurai training methods, modified into a contemporary sport. Samurai learned early on the dangers of practicing with live blades and quickly moved on to wooden replicas. However, in the hands of a highly skilled fighter a wooden sword was still more than able to severely injure or kill an opponent. The most notable Samurai Miyamoto Musashi was reported to have given up even carrying a live blade for duels because he felt it was his duty to give his opponents a fighting chance, and began carrying bokken (wooden sword) as the legend goes he continued dueling in this way for the rest of his life and never lost a duel.  Kendo training takes safety training a step farther by using s sword made of 4 bamboo slats, which flex and move on impact, absorbing shock. Additionally students wear bogu (armor). These safety precautions allow Kendoka the opportunity to practice full speed and power on a trained opponent without fear of serious injury.

Kendo is learned in the high advanced levels at Apex and teaches students a higher level of discipline and tradition as well as incorporating increased levels of foot speed and endurance.

 Sport Karate

Competitive events are a prime component in complete training. Learning how to execute techniques on a relatively equally traing opponent who not only is defending a student's strikes, but is attacking with their own strikes as well. Sport karate - often referred as "Kumite" or "sparring". Is a game of strategy as well as skills. The rules will often change depending on the venue based on various organizing bodies. Apex students train in NBL/SKIL, NASKA, and WKF/USANKF rules.