This page shows Reviews & Testimonials of Shotokan Karate of Gaithersburg in Gaithersburg, MD. 3 Reviewer rated Shotokan Karate of Gaithersburg as Excellent. Read detailed reviews below.
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Average Rating: Excellent (3 Reviews)
- Quality of Instruction:
- Excellent
- Other aspects:
- Excellent
3 out of 3 Reviewer recommended Shotokan Karate of Gaithersburg.
Excellent school for Shotokan Karate and beginning Jiu-Jitsu
Aug 18 2011 by C. Pares (Active Student with 6 Months - 1 Year Experience at this school)
- Quality of Instruction:
- Excellent
- Other aspects:
- Excellent
- Recommended:
- Yes
A serious and fun place to study martial arts
May 15 2011 by KarateX (Active Student with 1 - 3 Years Experience at this school)
- Quality of Instruction:
- Excellent
- Other aspects:
- Excellent
- Recommended:
- Yes
Shotokan Karate of Gaithersburg is an amazing school with some great instructors. Mr.Nguyen is a highly accomplished martial artist and it translates in his teaching. His focus is on training the student in proper attitude, discipline, and techniques for Shotokan karate, which positively impacts the student both physically and mentally. I would not hesitate to recommend his classes to anyone, regardless of their age, skill level, or current physical ability.
(2 of 2 People found this review helpful)
Fantastic School!
May 09 2011 by Adam (Active Student with 3 - 6 Months Experience at this school)
- Quality of Instruction:
- Excellent
- Other aspects:
- Very Good
- Recommended:
- Yes
The teacher, Master Nguyen, very clearly has great knowledge in Shotokan. But he is also very kind and very approachable, it is obvious he teaches (adults and kids both) because he enjoys it. The curriculum for adults is traditional Shotokan (the dojo is part of ISKF) with some grappling added on to complete the art. Traditional Okinawan karate had grappling, but it was lost when Master Funakoshi brought it to Japan. Master Nguyen is trying, in his own words, to "reverse engineer it" from other styles and add it back in.
I highly recommend this school. As it is Shotokan, it does take time to progress through the ranks; it is not one of those 1 year black belt schools.
Sensei Yanni Nguyen is a second degree black belt in Shotokan Karate with over 30 years experience in this martial art. He an excellent instructor of Shotokan Karate and he teaches in conformity with ISKF standards. All colored belt testing is done in Randallstown, MD, and supervised by Sensei Naji Amin ISKF (8th degree). The instruction given by Sensei Nguyen is top quality and he takes a very keen interest in the personal development of every single one of his students. Sensei Nguyen teaches and maintains a proper balance between kihon (fundamentals), kata (forms) and kumite (sparring) every session. Each training session begins with rigorous exercise followed by kihon, kata, and oftentimes, jiyu kumite (free form sparring). Basic BJJ style takedowns and escapes are also introduced and used as an additional training mechanism. The training is open to people of all ages and is a lot of wholesome fun as well an excellent source of personal exercise. You and your family won't regret taking classes in this particular karate style with Sensei Nguyen. He teaches other styles of martial arts also. It's fun for the whole family.