“I come to you with only Karate… empty hands” is the first line of the Creed of Karate that all students will learn before their first promotion. At Rocky’s Dojo and Gym we teach Issin-Ryu Karate, which is primarily defense based. The goal of our classes is to make the student able to defend themselves against anyone who intends to do them harm, and to learn how to use only their hands to accomplish true self-defense.

Isshin Ryu Karate is one of hundreds of karate styles, but is very versatile in that we use 50 percent punches and 50 percent kicks, which allows you to deceive your attacker in a self-defense situation. We use hard, soft and circular blocks with snap punches (which is perfect for continuing into more contact fighting). Snap kicks with every part of foot (i.e. ball, heel, top & blade). Knee and elbow close in techniques are also taught. Karate is a Japanese word which means “empty hands”; in English which is the essence of self-defense.