1. Features
The art of self-defense
Sam Bartlett, 25
High school teacher
“ImetSenseiBelahibeforeandIthought
this place gives me a great opportunity to
meet people, to improve my techniques.
SenseiBelahiisagreatteacherandIknow
I still have a lot to learn, so I’m just enjoy-
ing all this and hoping to become an ex-
pert one day.”
By EDWIN HSIEH
Staff writer
Many who are not famil-
iar with martial arts may
assume that, in a technol-
ogy driven world today, the
practice of ancient martial
art may inevitably become a
forgotton past, however, here
in the Champaign-Urbana
area, the Kobudokan Dojo
is keeping the spirits of
Japanese martial arts up and
alive.
The Kobudokan, founded
in 1988, offers one of the
largest selections of Japanese
martial arts training in the
Champaign-Urbana area
that include Aikido, Iaido,
Judo, Karate, and Kobudo
classes.
For years, the dojo was led
by Sensei Art Beier, who
began studying Judo in the
1960s, and Sensei Michael
Kleppin, who has been with
the Kobudokan since its very
first day.
Two years ago, Sensai Sal Be-
lahi took over the dojo from
Beier and Kleppin. Belahi,
currently serves as senior
IT specialist in the College
of Engineering, is an expe-
rienced Japanese martial art
practitioner who currently
teaches Karate and Kobudo.
Belahi began studying mar-
tial arts since he was in his
teens, like most other guys
who got into martial arts, he
was into martial arts movies
and wanted to see what it is
actually like doing it.
“Initially, I was very interest-
ed in learning different ways
of hurting people, but that's
not what [Japanese martial
arts] is about,” Belahi said.
"As I got older, I mellowed
down, I begin to understand
it's about more of the preser-
vation of the art and con-
stantly working to improve
technique, things like that
are what keep me going.”
While the main philosophy
of the Kobudokan is to pre-
serve the authentic teaching
of Japanese martial, stimu-
lating realistic self-defense
scenarios is the most im-
portant part of what Belahi
hopes students could take
away from the arts.
“We pride ourselves being
a legitimate self-defense
school. We don’t do com-
petition, or do any showy,
flashy stuff,” Belahi said.
“What we teach is here is for,
in the event that, god forbid
something happen to you on
the street, you’ll hopefully be
able to take a better care of
yourself.”
The Kobudokan offer choic-
es of six arts for students
choosing, ranges from two
PHOTO BY EDWIN HSIEH
Sensei Art Beier demonstrates to students how to perform “Tenkan” in his Aikido class. Tenkan changes the situation from a confrontational and possibly dangerous state with two peo-
ple (and their energies) facing each other to a relatively safe and cooperative situation.
The Kobudokan and the preservation of Japanese martial arts
Nicholas Osborne, 38
Director of Center for Wounded
Veterans at UIUC
“I was a U.S. Coast Guard from 2002-
2010, and I really enjoyed the combative
that we did, but I didn’t follow through. I
found this place about four months ago,
gaveitatryandloveit.Thisissomething
I’vealwaysbeenfascinatedandwantedto
do and I’m glad I found this place.“
Hear from the students
Sensei Sal Belahi uses a student to demonstrate a move in his karate class.
PLEASE SEE KOBUDOKAN PAGE 12
Sensei Sal Belahi and students bow before class begins. The Japanese believe that the head is the most
important part of the body, and by bowing, they are showing their respect and gratitude. Each time a
student enters the dojo, the first thing they do is bow.