Kenwa Karate of Sitka


celebrating 40 years!





A special interview with Michael Taylor, founder of Kenwa Karate of Sitka



This year on April 2, we marked our 40th anniversary! The Kenwa Karate of Sitka dojo started in 1984 and was founded under Michael Taylor Sensei. In honor of that milestone, we interviewed him. Our current lead instructor Laurinda Marcello Sensei took karate from Taylor from the ages of 7 to 13 which inspired her love of the art.


Interview excerpts, including four audio segments, follow. This conversation has been condensed for length and clarity.





Photo of Sensei Michael Taylor, February 2024. Photo provided by Taylor.



What got you interested in karate?



Marcello: How did you first get interested in karate, like as a student?


Taylor: Oh that's a great story. Now the reason I got interested in karate is my dad... This is this is my story, I'm sticking to it. Dad took karate in Okinawa and after World War II he was at the Navy CB station in Okinawa. So he would tell stories of taking karate off base.


Marcello: Oh cool, I somehow did not know that.


Taylor: Yeah. So, so that was what sparked the interest. But the other thing that's sort of funny. I'm love it, I’m going to put this in there… is that he was taking karate lessons at that time. He was really young. He stole his brother's birth certificate. Massive family, so he was a little bit underage. But, he would take, he would trade his cigarette rations for karate lessons. That's what it was. But that's why he did that. I remember. I remember that he didn't have a lot of stories, but that was when he took it because he didn't smoke and he eventually. But he was like he said, yeah, he traded his cigarette rations for karate lessons in the aftermath. He was “CB” which is a construction battalion. So, you know, he was a boilermaker and mechanic type guy. That’s what got me interested.


Marcello: How old were you when you started?


Taylor: How old was I when I started?


Marcello: Uh-huh.


Taylor: I was 17. I started in Juneau in the basement of the Marie Drake Junior High School.


Marcello: If we could skip ahead, what made you start teaching classes?


Taylor: Well, I moved to Sitka from Juneau after I graduated from high school in 1973. And I moved to Sitka in 1980 and I started teaching in Sitka because there was nothing else to do. I didn't drink, you know, so. I needed something to do, so I started a karate club. And mainly, it was just for something. That was actually the real reason. I needed something to do, or I was going to go nuts.


[Laughter]


Marcello: Fair Enough



Early History



Taylor and Marcello then talked a little more about early karate history in Sitka. While Taylor was teaching, our program ran exclusively under Sitka Community Schools, the precursor to what’s now Sitka Parks & Rec. He says “one of our first classes was in the basement of the junior high over there, Blatchley. Then eventually we moved to Baranof [now called Xóots Elementary School], which is where I stayed for the rest of my time there.”


Taylor founded Kenwa Karate of Sitka in 1984. Kenwa Karate of Sitka teaches a style of karate called Shito-Ryu. Taylor mentions previously having taught a different style called Shotokan from 1980-1984 before switching. He mentions switching because “Shotokan has big, deep stances and Shito-Ryu just fits my body type better. That's why I switched to it. You know, a little bit light. So you can move around faster. I don't like getting hit.”



Do you have a favorite moment from teaching in Sitka?



Marcello: Do you have any favorite moment from teaching in Sitka?


Taylor: Favorite moments of teaching in Sitka. They're sort of all blended together now. I think it's like when we pulled off our first national team that was pretty big, you know.


Marcello: Who was on the first national team? Do you remember?


Taylor: There's only three of them, I think, and the first national team was Colin, Gabe, and Jason. Jason Mullenix who is passed away now. Gabe [Bell] (née Jones), who is somewhere in Seattle area, I guess. You know and Colin is the only smart one. He's in the Virgin Islands.


[Laughter]


Taylor: That was, I think that was that was the highlight because you know because Tanaka was really competition and the fact that we went and then we placed and you know all that stuff. And then I think I made it to two nationals.


Of course we went up to state every year pretty much. Twice a year, and then they used to have Anchorage and State.


Marcello: How old were the boys when they went to nationals?


Taylor: How old were they? They were all in high school.


Marcello: High school, okay.


Taylor: Yeah, I know they were brown belts. Colin was a brown belt, Gabe was a brown belt. Okay, yeah, they're all brown belts, that's right. Yeah. So. because I know. Because you know, I took, my stepson John went to nationals when he was two. So that was my first excursion. You know, sort of out of state and you know. I think I think that was pretty much the highlight of it. And that was when nationals were still in USA NKF instead of the WKF. They were still a little bit more anonymous.


Notes for context from Marcello - Hanson, Bell, and Mullenix were all smart boys from my recollection. We just laugh about Colin Hanson’s foresight to live where the weather is much nicer. Hanson taught karate following Taylor’s departure and kept the program going along with several parent volunteers. I studied under Hanson for some time and attended at least one tournament trip he coached to Anchorage. The late Jason Mullenix also taught for a period, so I had him as a teacher as well. Gabe Bell also assisted younger students frequently and helped me personally several times.


The name "Tanaka" that Taylor is referencing is that of another instructor. At the time of the national's team trip Kenwa Karate of Sitka was affiliated with an Anchorage karate dojo led by Katsutaka Tanaka.



What’s Changed?



Marcello: What has changed in the karate world since you first started teaching? I mean other than YouTube and stuff?


Taylor: Well, that's the biggest influence on karate is that - the access to quality information you can get on YouTube. You know that's the big thing. Before the only way we had, the only way you could train when I first started, you know, VHS's hadn't even come out. I paid like $600.00 for that Betamax. That's the biggest training. We didn't have electronics. If you trained, you had to go. There were no videos, there was no way to record things. You just, you learned on the floor and you learned in class and that's how you learned. But now someone… I can say now I'm like with people, I just say, okay, this you know, once we get through it, this is “Kusanku Dai” [a popular advanced kata] now go online and check out this person. That's the rhythm. The start and the stop and the tensions.


So, the biggest thing is that. Everybody is like has access to everything, so it's like. You know, I don't think karate has got any better it's just that for the nerds, it's a lot better. You know? Because we get to see everything that's good. The rest of people I don't even think they even realize the value of it.


Marcello: Yeah. Well, I realize the value. I mean like that's why I took time off in college. Because me and Ronnie were looking at one of the same colleges but we didn't wind up both going to it. And so I was like, I got to college and I was like I have literally no one to practice with and my notes are kind of not that many and kind of bad. And then YouTube, I think came out like maybe I was like a junior or senior in college when it came out.


Taylor: Yeah, that's what it was. And in once sense that was a better time because you know, if you knew karate you were sort of a god.


Marcello: Sure.


Taylor: Yeah. I mean, you had a lot more status. Because people couldn't... If you'd actually learned karate and you were teaching it, then you had more information than anybody had. And you know, and so there was... I think it had a little bit more impact.


Like when I first started Bruce Lee was just coming out on television and in the movie theaters. You know? And it was the era of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and some of those guys. You know, and so that's the only place you ever saw karate. It was in the in the old, old karate movies, you know, which were pretty bad at the same time. For the for the 1970’s it was pretty amazing.


You know. Now I think we're almost rotated back to the point where there's so much information out there, they don't even realize it's out there.


Notes for context from Marcello Ron Conklin Jr. and I took karate together as children. Conklin then went on to serve as the lead instructor for Kenwa Karate of Sitka during our final two years in high school.



Advice



Marcello: What advice would you have for current students?

Taylor: What advice? Exercise more.

You can't divorce karate from physical fitness. I don't believe in the “push up clubs” type thing. We don't do pushups like we used to do. But they need to be… I would think it's more aerobically efficient. You know? I think cross training is the best thing they can do.

You know it's good advice. Cross train, bicycle, hike. Do other physical activities and then karate is really easy because you're not trying to train your body. If you don't… If you're doing a desk job and then karate, karate can be really hard because then karate becomes your workout. But if you're active, active physically doing other things then karate becomes more intellectual because your body can already handle a good quality workout and learn how to control your body. So, I tell people well the best thing you want to cut five years off your black belt? Just start doing squats and lunges every day. You know?

And then and the other one I always recommend to people… like Rome wasn't built in a day don't expect to be an expert in two years. I don't give out the black belt until they're 16 [years old] and that's the exception. There's a few exceptions, but those are exceptions. You should, you know, in 20 years should have one or two.





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