NCR Dojos – Winter Storm Warning Feb 22-23, 2023 (new)

The Midwest Karate Association, St. Paul, will be closed Wednesday February 22, 2023 and Thursday February 23, 2023 due to the upcoming winter storm warning.

For Shotokan Karate of Mn- Mpls MN (SKM), and Traditional Karate-do Academy at UMN, contact the club Sensei for their updated training schedule plan for this week regarding the upcoming winter storm warning.

NCR Winter Shiai March 25, 2023 (new)

The Traditional Karate North Central Region (NCR) is having a winter shiai on Saturday March 25, 2023 from noon-3:00pm hosted at the SKM dojo. This is your opportunity to test your kumite and kata skills with fellow katatekas and get feedback from the NCR judges.  Come to the winter shiai for fun and excitement, and support your fellow karatekas as they test their skills against their fellow athletes. Click here for more details.

January 2023 Kata Seminar Highlights

The 2023 Traditional Karate North Central Region (NCR) kata seminar was held Saturday January 28, 2023. The 25 students who attended the seminar had a great time learning new katas such as unsu, gojushihosho, and kankusho as well as indepth instructions on heian katas and tekki. Thank you to SKM for hosting the event. Also, thank you to the instructors for sharing their indepth knowledge of the katas and demonstrating some of the kata’s bunkai: Al Kotula, Darren Marr, Jon Hodapp, Dave Pinske, Laurie Elliott, Mike Ching, Gerry Ramacher, and Art Wong. Advanced katas challenged students to apply new principles to the kata that would be part of their next exam.

Click here for NCR Facebook photo album on the NCR kata seminar and click here for additional posts.

Click here for photos from Mike Ching

AAKF 2023 Seminar – April 21-23, 2023 – Mpls (update)

The 2023 American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF) seminar will be held at the Van Cleve Recreation Center in Minneapolis Friday April 21 to Sunday April 23. There will be a dan and certifcation examinations Saturday afternoon. Click here for the online seminar registration link, schedule information, and hotel recommendation. Click here for the flyer. QR code to the registration link:

AAKF Annual Membership Renewal – March 31 Deadline

The annual AAKF Membership Renewal deadline has been extended to March 31, 2023. Individual AAKF memberships expire March 31. If you renew your current membership before March 31, the cost is only $25. After March 31, your AAKF individual membership renewal is $35. For club renewal, the cost is $170.00. Check this out ->  Benefits of an AAKF membership.

Click here to access the AAKF registration form. Write a check following the instructions from your club’s sensei. Deliver your payment and registration form to your club’s sensei – he/she will then mail the documents to the AAKF organization. For club registration form, click here.

2023 AAKF National Championships – June 21-24 Washington, DC

The 2023 AAKF National Championships will be held in Washington, DC June 21-24, 2023. Whether you are a black belt or kyu level, you will be able to compete in either the adult or youth division. You must be an AAKF member to compete. Senior black belts wanting to judge at the National Championships must be an AAKF qualified judge. AAKF registration will be due May 30, 2023 with more details to follow. Click here for more details on the AAKF National Championships.

Upcoming Calendar of Events and Registration

• Upcoming events
  • TBD
• NCR 2025 plans
  • January 25, 2025 NCR/SKM winter Shiai at SKM. More details to follow.
  • March 1, 2025 NCR/SKM kata seminar at SKM. More details to follow.
  • March 29, 2025 NCR/SKM spring Shiai at SKM. More details to follow.
• AAKF upcoming events:
  • 2025 – AAKF National Champtionships and International camp. Madison, WI More details to follow.

• WTKF Events
  • WTKF calendar  – Click here for more upcoming WTKF events.

Click here to view NCR’s photo albums.

More photos here from the U of Mn club photo library.

Dan Examination Schedule

• NCR and AAKF dan exam schedule
  • tbd
• Dan examination testing requirements shodan-sandan – click here
• Dan rank registration required when you pass your dan exam – click here