Shotokan Karate Center celebrates more than 25 years of teaching traditional karate to generations in Coral Springs
Coral Springs, Florida – Before a typical class begins at Shotokan Karate Center, the atmosphere can feel relaxed.
Teenagers may be talking and joking as they finish tying their gis. Adults prepare nearby. New students sometimes wait close to the entrance, unsure of exactly what to expect. Some parents aren’t simply watching from the sidelines. They are putting on belts and preparing to train themselves.
Then Sensei Carol See Tai arrives, and the mood changes.
Students turn their attention to training, continuing a tradition that has been passed down through generations and has maintained a presence in Coral Springs for more than 25 years.
Located on Wiles Road, Shotokan Karate Center teaches traditional Shotokan karate to children and adults, with experience levels ranging from first-time students to longtime black belts.
Beginner classes are held on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at about 5:30 p.m. The dojo also offers an all-levels class at 10 a.m. Saturdays, bringing younger and older students together.
That mix is intentional.
Rather than separating karate entirely by age, the school allows children and adults to train alongside one another from the beginning. A young student taking a first lesson might practice in the same room as an adult newcomer or someone who has spent years studying the martial art.
The philosophy behind the school stretches back decades.
Its history is closely connected to Master Shigeru Takashina, who was one of five instructors sent to the United States by the Japan Karate Association during the 1970s to help establish traditional Shotokan karate in the country.
See Tai met Takashina in 1976.
At the time, she was a freshman at the University of Miami and already held a purple belt after previously training in Trinidad. That meeting developed into a student-teacher relationship that would continue for 37 years.
See Tai trained under Takashina while also competing nationally during the 1980s.
Over the years, the dojo itself moved. It operated in Sunrise, later moved to Fort Lauderdale and eventually established its current home in Coral Springs.
A major transition came in 2013, when Takashina died. Before his death, he asked See Tai, his most senior student, to continue the school and its traditions.
She has led the dojo ever since.
Now a 7th-degree black belt, See Tai works alongside a group of fellow black belts who volunteer their time to teach classes throughout the week. They include Dr. Seif Elbualy, Elton Pride, Lam Nguyen, Vern Glassman and business manager Jeff Lynne.
Around the same period, See Tai and the school’s senior students established Shotokan Karate Center, Inc. as a nonprofit educational foundation.
Today, the organization is affiliated with the Japan Karate Association American Federation.
Its goal remains centered on preserving Takashina’s teachings and making traditional Shotokan karate available to anyone interested in learning.
That has created a diverse group of students.
Some are children from Coral Springs taking their first steps into martial arts. Others are adults who arrive with previous experience, including people who moved to the area from Venezuela, Spain, Chile, Brazil and Haiti and wanted to reconnect with the Shotokan community they knew in their home countries.
Training is structured around gradual advancement.
Students take colored-belt tests approximately every three to four months. As their skills develop, they can progress from beginner instruction into intermediate and advanced classes.
For people who prefer to begin outside a group setting or want additional individual training, See Tai also provides private lessons. Those sessions are generally offered on Sundays and cost $60 each.
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But for many students, the attraction extends beyond belts, tests or technical improvement.
The dojo has developed a community in which beginners train alongside experienced martial artists and adults share the floor with children. Longtime members volunteer their knowledge, while newcomers become part of a tradition stretching back decades.
That atmosphere helps explain why some students continue returning year after year.
For them, Shotokan Karate Center is not simply another martial arts studio in a shopping center.
It has become a community built around shared training, tradition and relationships that continue from one generation of students to the next.
Shotokan Karate Center is located at 10810 Wiles Road in Coral Springs. More information about classes and lessons is available by calling 954-346-0035 or contacting the center directly.
