Sundre and surrounding area martial arts students with the Shindo Kempho Karate-Do Club recently started a new season in a renovated dojo.
Over the summer, a water heater at the Sundre Elks Lodge, which accommodates the club by making available the building’s basement, failed and ended up flooding the lower floor, said Sensei Perry Stokalko, who decided to help out with repairs that improved the facility.
“We spent the summer fixing it up,” Stokalko said last week, adding he tapped into personal coffers to help cover that cost along with support from the Elks.
“They’re tremendous,” he said.
Although the club, which caters to anyone of all ages in the community, is not a registered charitable organization, Stokalko said the organization is not-for-profit and that any dollars raised above and beyond basic operational costs are reinvested in the school.
After the flood, concerns about the potential spread of mould meant having to tear out substantial portions of the basement’s panel walls. Although largely still the same facility as before, Stokalko said the renovated dojo did get some upgrades and now has larger matting, a little office, as well as change rooms.
Students — who include one as young as five and another who is 72 — can train on a nearly daily basis during the evenings, he said, adding there are also opportunities to learn other martial arts disciplines such as kickboxing and jiu jitsu.
“We go six days a week.”
The club’s registration recently wrapped up, and membership is a little bit down with about 40 students. However, Stokalko said new members are always welcome.
The instructor said he also plans to throughout this month provide his students with the opportunity to invite a buddy to check out the club and get an introduction to martial arts to see whether they might be interested in joining.
Every attempt is made to work with a person’s financial situation, and programs such as KidSport and Play 4 Sundre Kidz help to facilitate that effort, he said, adding registration for those programs has passed.
With karate being introduced to the Summer Olympics in 2020, which will be hosted in Japan, Stokalko, who has plenty of prior international experience, said he plans to look into the rules and hopes to offer the chance to train any local martial artist whose long-term aspirations include reaching the world’s highest level of competition.
Martial arts gave Stokalko the chance to travel around the world and to represent Canada on the international stage, along the way claiming two gold medals in 1997. One was at the Seiryukai World Goodwill Championships while the other was at the Shotokan World Invitational, which both were hosted in Tokyo, Japan.
All of these years later, his focus has shifted towards paying it forward and sharing his experience with a new generation of martial artists. Stokalko’s co-coach and fiancée, Kristi Epp, who has trained in Thailand and learned from renowned Muay Thai kickboxer Mike Miles, is also offering her expertise.
Martial arts are about much more than learning to defend oneself, Stokalko stressed, adding the sport provides an opportunity to discover self-worth as well as confidence.
His goal is also to instill in his students a sense of decorum that is expected to be upheld not only in the dojo but also out in the community — a philosophy he has made mandatory before allowing them to reach a higher level.
The idea, he said, is to develop their skills not only as martial artists, but also as respectful individuals and members of the community.
