Sempai David Matsuda, 1st Dan
The summer after the opening of The Karate Kid, David took his first steps into the Minakami Karate Dojo. To his relief, he did not find the "show no mercy" mantra of the Cobra Kai Dojo depicted in the movie, but a friendly and inviting environment for spiritual and physical development. Everyday during the summer of 1985, he spent several hours training, not knowing where this path would take him, but knowing he had found something special. Eventually, karate became the foundation for his life, planting the seed for his interest in Japan and the Japanese language.
In 1994, during a one-year exchange to Obirin University in Japan he became a member of the Obirin Karate Team, the only foreigner actually competing at the Japanese collegiate level that year. David says, "... Training took place after classes, 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. It was incredibly intense, but so rewarding. There are probably only a few non-Japanese people that have actually competed [in karate] at the university level. I attribute the possibility of this experience to my years of training at the Minakami Karate Dojo."
After a 10 year hiatus, David returned to the Minakami Dojo, training and teaching several times a week. Since coming back to the dojo, he has felt a lot healthier both physically and mentally. His biggest gain has been the total disappearance of the chronic low back pain that plagued him since college. He confesses, "The pain first went away when I first started working out at the gym, but came back after I stopped going. Karate is different for me, I find karate so much more enjoyable than a treadmill and weights, and have been able to stick with the program."
David is usually at the dojo in the evenings, overseeing the beginner classes and intermediate kata classes. "Karate is one of the best things that has happened in my life. I really want to share the enthusiasm I have for this martial art to all the new students," he ends.