How our classes work

Longmont Wado-kai does not have sessions or seasons. Our enrollment is always open and new students can join at any time!

Each new student is introduced to karate and its basic techniques at a pace that is right for them. Then each student progresses through the various belts at their own pace. If a student attends class twice a week and is diligent in practice they can expect to progress a steady pace toward black belt, but each student will achieve their black belt in their own time.

For a diligent student in the children’s or adult class attending class twice a week, they can expect to be testing for black belt in about 4 years. this is certainly longer than some karate schools, but there it much to learn, and the black belt test is based on an international standard and overseen by at least 3 qualified Japan Karate Federation examiners.

If a student is elevated to black belt at Longmont Wado-Kai, that rank is recognized internationally by the Japan Karate Federation and all other certified JKF Wado-Kai schools and branches.

Knee High Samurai Pre-karate for 3-5 year-olds

30 minute karate classes for preschoolers

Check our schedule page for class times

Knee High Samurai classes are designed to teach our youngest Karateka (karate students) the basic skills needed to be successful in karate as they grow up. Knee High Samurais learn 8 different skills for each of four belt levels: Discipline, Balance, Fitness, Focus, Teamwork, Memory, Coordination, and Control. The eight skills increase in difficulty with each new belt. Knee High Samurais progress from white belt, to white/yellow, to white/blue, to white/green. Once they have completed all four knee high belts they move up to the children’s karate class.

Kid's Karate Classes for 6 to 12 year olds

60 minute karate classes for children and pre-teens

Check our schedule page for current class times

Children’s classes move to more advanced karate including kata (forms) and sparring. Children in these classes progress through belt colors leading from white to brown/black on their way to black belt!

Classes for this age group are typically divided into 4 parts – warm-ups, basic karate techniques, kata, and sparring. Students can mark their progress with stripes on their belts indicating they have learned and understand a new technique or section of kata.

Youth and Adults Classes for 13 and up

90 minute karate classes for teens and adults

All levels – Check our schedule page for current class times

Teen and adult classes are similar to the kids class, just a little longer – warm-ups, basics, kata, and sparring. We do sometimes deviate from this pattern for special training, or to learn something new!

Teens and adults work together with all levels and often the more advanced belts integrate with the beginners to help them learn the concepts and get better together.

Teens and adults spend more time working on the details of Wado-Kai karate, including advanced katas, more advanced sparring techniques, and some of the elements of Jujitsu that Wado Karate is based on.

MATAYOSHI KOBUDO Weapons Classes - 8 years and up

Kobudo classes are taught by Sensei Arron Wallace. Classes are 75 minutes long.

Anyone 8 years and older can learn Kobudo! Check out the FAQs

Do you need to know karate to participate in kobudo?

No. Kobudo is its own martial art form. Many stances, blocks, and hits are interchangeable with karate, though they do have their variations.

What is needed to start kobudo?

Nothing other than a good attitude for learning. Once you get started you will want to get your own bo and we assist in getting the right bo for you.

What weapons will I learn?

The first weapon taught is the bo. You will learn sai, tunkua, nunchaku, eku, tinbei, nunti bo, kuwa, sansesukon, and kama. These weapons also come when you have learned and tested on the previous weapons.

Can I specialize in a specific weapon?

Not in the beginning but yes. It will be years down the road before you do.

Are there other weapons to learn?

Yes. Other weapons outside of the Matayoshi Kobudo Shinbukai system are not used for testing.

Are uniforms the same as karate?

Sort of. The top worn in kobudo is black while the pants are white.

Does kobudo have the same belt system as karate?

No. Kobudo belt system does not work the same way.

How long does it take to get your first black belt?

That really depends on the student. On average it will take from 4 to 5 years. Full time and dedicated students could possibly get it sooner, but being full time isn’t a guarantee that it happens sooner.

Longmont Wado-Kai Karate

5.0

Based on 16 reviews

01:42 21 Oct 23

04:51 17 Oct 23

20:43 23 Jan 23

We have two boys under 12 studying Wado-Kai. Sensei Gus is humble, patient and a great mentor. Also fun! The boys have learned a great deal in a few months - not just karate, but self control. It's been a fantastic experience. Highly recommend.

Annie Donahue-Johnson

19:15 05 Mar 21

dave roberts

22:53 25 Aug 20

My 4 year old son has been doing karate with Gus for almost a year now and I couldn't be happier. Covid made it tough as we haven't been able to go into the dojo but Gus immediately got online classes going so the kids could keep learning and practicing. This is a great dojo with a first rate sensei and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants their kids to get into karate.

Adam Williams

19:43 05 Aug 20

My kids, my wife, and I all take classes from Longmont Wado-Kai. The instruction is awesome. Sensei Gus really helps me break down techniques and focus on details. The kids classes are fantastic, of course, but I'm especially impressed with the adult classes. There's a full class of adults to train with, and the adult classes are satisfying and challenging. Each class has a fitness portion, a fundamentals portion, a kata portion, and then a sparring portion. The sparring is active sparring against resisting opponents with light contact. The other students are safe, disciplined and respectful, and Sensei Gus enforces and models great behavior.In this pandemic, Wado-Kai has done a great job of staying safe and still having great classes. We do outdoor classes with good spacing at a nice, covered, shady location; Zoom classes (that work really well); and small private instruction at the dojo. I'm impressed with how careful Wado has been in this national emergency. Sensei Gus is doing his part to help us fight the fight while keeping the dojo running.We compete regularly in and also host WKF tournaments (the only kind recognized by the Olympic Committee). Ranking and testing is WKF certified. The school, I feel, prepares us well for the tournaments.

Max Craven

07:32 17 Jun 20

I started taking Karate lessons at the age of five, and at first, I wouldn't say I liked it. I dreaded every class and didn't understand the point of doing all those punches over and over again. However, my parents were persistent and told me that I could stop after I got my next belt. Then after a while, they stopped because it was no longer a chore; it was my second home. The previous Sensei, Sensei Tanabe, became my own Mr. Miyagi, and Sensei Gus was the master I could only wish to become.Karate is more than just a form of self-defense; it is a way of life. So while I may no longer be actively practicing the physical side of Karate, the philosophical aspect of it will never leave me. There is no way that I will ever forget what I learned during my time training with Sensei Gus and Sensei Tanabe, and there is no way I could recommend Longmont Wado-Kai enough. For those who are just starting Sensei Gus is a master of teaching the basics, just don't mess around too much. And for those who are more advanced, he will show you techniques that will fundamentally change the way you go about training.There are also other black belts there who will not hesitate to help you if you have any questions or find something difficult to understand.In the end, Longmont Wado-Kai is a great place to learn about not just the physical side of Karate but about Karate as a whole. And hopefully, you will walk away in the end with not only the skills you learned but with life long friends and mentors as well.

Lowe Shewn

01:20 03 Jun 20

I have been training at LWK for almost 7 years now, and It has been an amazing experience. Karate is such a fun way to stay fit, and the LWK community is a really great group of people. I would definitely recommend.

Beau

17:14 13 May 20

My son has been a student at Longmont Wado-Kai for about a year now, and we're so glad we chose LWK.Sensei Gus is a fantastic instructor and is so great with the kids- he makes learning karate a lot of fun, which is key for younger kids, but also explains all of the movements in detail and gives friendly, constructive feedback on how they can improve.The rates are extremely reasonable and he has put a lot of effort into keeping classes going during quarantine, which is much appreciated. It's obvious he cares a lot about the students and about making the dojo the best it can be, and it really shows. We highly recommend LWK to anyone thinking about karate for their kids or themselves.

John Winthrop

18:13 27 Jan 20

Although Sensei Tanabe no longer leads the classes, the new sensei/head instructor Gus is superb and so are the associate instructors.I did tons and tons of research into authentic martial arts schools in northern Colorado (north of Denver, specifically). LWK is a small-ish dojo that will actually teach your child respect, discipline, work ethic, and confidence. It's not a place to send your kids for half a year only to quit when getting promoted to their third belt level is too hard.The instructors pay so much attention to detail and are even handed in having both junior and senior students polish their forms. They're also very approachable, offering up direct assessments upon request in class based on student concerns. There is an opportunity at the end of every class to get instructor feedback so you/your student will know what to work on. The head instructor, sensei Gus Brockmann, has impressive knowledge of biomechanics and always explains the underpinnings of technique in sport and self-defense scenarios so students know why they are learning what they are learning.They are transparent about the costs, with no huge jump from the introductory period to the first official month. You can find both the tuition rates and class schedule on the website and see if it will work for you before joining. No contracts or anything weird, everyone pays month-to-month. There are family discounts and enrolling in both the Karate and newly added weapons (kobudo) class will also snag you a discount.Another area where LWK is awesomely transparent is that they have pamphlets on how belt promotions work: what forms/moves are the students expected to master. That way you have a clear idea of how to move forward. This is because LWK has been around for thirty years, which says a lot.This is an environment where the students do traditional Japanese martial arts warm ups, learn the Japanese names of their forms (nothing overwhelming), bow to each other when entering the mat/sparring/leaving class/demonstrating their forms at the end of class, where senior classmates voluntarily help junior classmates, where they recite a code of honor at the beginning and end of every class, where expectations are clear, and hard work is the norm.If you/your student are looking for a place with learned teachers, a decades long tradition of quality instruction, old school values of dedication/respect, and a welcoming-and-self-challenging environment in which to train, this is it. As with everything, you will only ever get what you put into it. 15 minutes per day of at-home practice never hurt anyone.I hope that this is giving the reader a sense of what the school is like and that it's set up for students to succeed. Everything is transparent, the tuition is reasonable (and many forms of payment are accepted), to eliminate obstacles to joining so the student and their family can just focus on their work and progress.Progress is enriched here because LWK is highly involved in the authentic Karate community in northern Colorado. They're among the handful that host a tournament every year, judging certification clinics are held here, seminars qre hosted every few months, and the recent inclusion of the kobudo (weapons) class shows a commitment to exposing students to Karate systems as a whole.Signing up to LWK is to join a Karate ecosystem with peers to challenge you/your student towards betterment.My only complaint is that the complimentary uniforms are affordable due to being cotton/polyester blends, and plastic-based synthetic fabrics are highly environmentally damaging in the wash because they shed lots of microplastics that wreck oceans and inevitably come back to harm the human biosphere as well. If you're a person who is committed to slowing climate change and believe that human behavior has been immoral on this topic, then I'd recommend looking into 100% cotton uniforms and belts before signing up for LWK.

Branden Long

14:48 23 Sep 19

This place is worth every second of your time. I started training there at age 8 and it was such a warm and welcoming environment. Everything there was taught with true passion. I will always hold a spot in my heart for this place, and I hope you will get to experience what I did.

Dylan Podel

04:52 11 Jun 19

james stepanek

03:11 18 May 17

Sense Hiro Tanabe is the real Deal. A Japanese man that made it his passion early in life . And has shared his unique mastered skill threw teaching Wado - Kai Shudokan Karate beside teaching at front range college and st vrain schools . You will find that he brings incredible spirit and energy . It's a great place for children and adults to learn from a real Master . It is more than a health lifestyle.

Chris Burton

18:53 27 Aug 16

My daughter and her cousins attend. She loves it. A great school!!

Randi Long

22:57 03 May 16

The absolute best Karate facility in Northern CO. My son has attended for 5 years now. We tried others and none compare. Sensei Tannabe is a wonderful teacher. He knows how to work with kids and adults and he makes the classes fun. He offers several types of classes and also has some extracurricular activities as well. Once you join, you feel like part of a family.