I first started training at the Okinawan Temple Karate Studio in 2003 when I was 16 years old. This…read morewas my first experience in a professional martial arts setting. Let me preface this was a personal background:
My plan was to join the Marine Corps shortly after High School. I felt that martial arts training would instill discipline, help get me into shape, and prepare me for the combative aspect of joining the Marines. I did not realize HOW MUCH the training I received at the Okinawan Temple would carry into my military career, not only through boot camp and Infantry training, but to a combat deployment to Fallujah, Iraq in 2006. "Muscle memory" was something I was already familiar with as a student under Sensei Gagne's direction. Having a "combat mindset" and "situational awareness" were all terms and mindsets I had already embraced, thanks to my training at the Okinawan Temple.
Since having trained at the Okinawn Temple, I have never had to utilize my karate training against someone outside of a monitored atmosphere. Not once. I've had people get in my face and attempt to get me to throw down, but when they look me in the eyes, they see something they've probably never truly seen before: Confidence. Fearlessness. Inside, I'm shaking, because that's what adrenaline does to the body, but outside, I'm cool as a cucumber, thanks to Sensei Gagne's training. Even after several years of being outside the loop, my body KNOWS what to do, thanks to the muscle memory type of military training that Sensei Gagne instills. It is really incredible.
Sensei Gagne's leadership abilities are unquestionable and top notch. I have seen him work with young, young children, all the way to senior citizens. Sensei Gagne is patient, compassionate, and humble; all qualities of a true warrior. He will never show frustration, anger, or impatience. He works with men and women of all backgrounds, skill sets, and levels of athleticism. If you enter his dojo with an open mind, you WILL take something away. That's what kept me going back 3 - 4 days a week for almost two years straight. I kept learning more and more, not only about the martial arts, but about my own body, the human psyche, and what happens to us when we are in high stress situations.
You will NOT find "Angry Old Men" or Black Belt Bullies at this Dojo!
Some dojos are indeed run by huge weight lifters with a "martial arts" background. They have their pack of higher level students that they use to beat on the new students in an attempt to break them. The Okinawan Temple is a dojo built upon RESPECT and HUMILITY. Sensei Gagne is NOT a bully, nor would he ever allow bullies to be promoted within his ranks.
We trained HARD. We were training for real life situations against potentially life threatening attackers. But never, not once, did I feel that the higher authorities within the dojo were out to break any of us. Never. The leadership encouraged us to work at our own pace, and we did. But when you look up and see a 40-something-year-old-man sweating right through his uniform, giving 150%, striving to reach a new level of athleticism and discipline, well, you can't help but want to fall in line right behind that attitude, whether you're 70 or 17. The martial artists that I've met at the Okinawan Temple are truly inspiring individuals.
People who want to learn how to "beat someone up" or "do back flips" do not last very long. They do not fit in with Sensei Gagne's level of practicality and the way he trains his students to be prepared not only physically, but mentally, for life threatening situations. Go sit in on a class. Watch the discipline and the hard work Sensei Gagne's students put in. You will see an elite level of martial arts mastery that is incredibly hard to find in this part of the country.
This truly is a place where highly trained, disciplined, humble warriors are created. This is not a day care for kids or play time for adults; you go there to train. Sweat a little bit. It'll do your body good.
