Club history

Kim and Jeff Weber founded Anderson Shotokan Karate in 2002 (as Shotokan Karate of Anderson). Sensei Kim Weber (7th dan) started training in 1985, earning recognition over the years as a certified instructor, judge, and examiner; Mid-America regional officer; and top competitor (world champion, 2012). Sensei Jeff Weber (7th dan) started training in 1986, also earning recognition as a certified instructor, judge, and examiner; Mid-America regional officer; and top competitor (2014, 2016).

Sensei Margaret Williams joined Anderson Karate in 2023 when she moved to Ohio to teach at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College. She also started training in 1985, but in another region: Mikami Sensei’s All South under the ISKF/JKA. She ran her first dojo in the mid-2000s in Waynesville, North Carolina, first under Takashina Sensei then Mikami.

Anderson Shotokan Karate is a member dojo of the Mid-America region of the International Shotokan Karate Federation, which was founded in Philadelphia, PA, in 1977.

Shotokan karate

An Okinawan teacher/poet, Gichin Funakoshi, helped introduce karate to the modern world in 1922 in Japan. Funakoshi sought to unify the martial arts of his day, synthesizing such styles as shorin and shorei. That synthesized system became Shotokan, named for his pen name as a poet: Shoto, the sound of wind blowing through the pines.

Funakoshi and his students created the first Shotokan (house of Shoto) in 1936. Over the years, his students spread Shotokan karate around the world.

Funakoshi wrote in his memoir, “Karate-do is not only the acquisition of certain defensive skills but also the mastering of the art of being a good and honest member of society.” [For more about Funakoshi, read his memoir, Karate-Do: My Way of Life.]