Self-Defense Classes in the Phoenix East Valley

Karate classes at the Arizona Hombu focus on kata and self-defense applications known as bunkai from those kata.

Self-Defense classes taught at the top martial arts school in Mesa, Arizona: the Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Hombu, focuses on adults, families, school teachers, clergy, engineers, scientists, faculty, prospectors, women, men and grandparents taught by Hall-of-Fame Martial artist, Soke Hausel, formerly with the University of Wyoming. People who attend these classes and clinics are always impressed by what they can do just by using simple strikes and unbalancing their attackers. The training is always very entertaining and a great time for all involved.

Grandmaster Hausel considerable experience teaching self-defense, karate, kobudo, samurai arts, martial arts history, women's self-defense, jujutsu and more. While at the University of Wyoming, he taught staff, faculty, students, sororities, church groups, clergy and other martial artists. His years of teaching taught him to break down techniques and make them simple but effective for self-defense classes and clinics and it paid off. Many students enjoyed the classes and over the years, Grandmaster Hausel has heard back from a few students who were actually attacked and successfully defended themselves.

The Self-Defense classes at the Arizona Hombu include school teachers and professors who are attracted to the classes due to violence in the classroom and on the streets, and also because of it educational value and value for physical fitness.

We highly recommend all women learn martial arts because they never know when they might be attacked. While at the University of Wyoming, Soke Hausel's karate and kobudo classes included about 35% women. In addition, he taught clinics to campus sororities, women's church groups, women's clubs and offered women's self-defense classes on campus simply because authorities report 1 in every 4 women on campus will be sexually assaulted during their college attendance.


So, instead of being a victim, some people in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Apache Junction are learning self-defense and karate at the Arizona Hombu in Mesa, Arizona. Recently, some of Grandmaster Hausel's classes have included as many as 60% women who want to be armed with self-defense knowledge. This is simply because when you are trained in self-defense, you don't have to be concerned about how to get to a gun or pepper spray when someone grabs or restricts your arms.

Soke Hausel refers to cases where his students successfully defended themselves. In one situation, a handicapped student was run off the road in Mesa, Arizona by another driver simply because the karate student was driving too slow - road rage is a not so uncommon occurrence in the Phoenix valley. In another case, one of Soke's students was physically attacked by a male essentially twice her height and weight.  He later called the police for assistance after being severely

beaten by the petite karate girl.

Self-Defense Clinics & Classes

One cannot emphasize enough - self-defense clinics can be a lot of fun and they can help educate the lay-person, but to be effective, one must make a lifetime commitment in self-defense training! This shouldn't be a problem if you find a good self-defense or martial arts school, and it can be better than a gym because you will burn a lot of calories, get in shape, and learn a valuable art.

A makiwara board in Gilbert, Arizona.

Last night I was talking to a couple of our female martial artists - one a black belt, and they wanted to know how a person can get over the fear and anxiety of defending against an attack on the street. Based on my 50 years experience in martial arts, this only comes through training  every week for a lifetime. One has to make a lifetime commitment to follow the path of martial arts - just consider it a choice to be physically and mentally healthy and you will gain many benefits. Also, after you are trained,  know when to walk away. If you can't walk away, the training will automatically activate and keep you calm because you have already trained and covered most of the variables and you know how to block. In Seiyo Kai Shorin-Ryu Karate, people are also taught how to take out an attacker with one strike. Sure, there is always the unknown factor as to how the attacker will strike or what kind of weapon he might have, but your weekly training will provide you with the means to defend yourself.

Shihan Kyle of Gillette, Wyoming looks forward
to training during a body hardening.
In such training, a martial artist trained in body 
hardening can accept strikes with considerable force
without fear of injury.

One of these students noted that she took classes offered by a local police department where an officer attacks the women while wearing a Redman suit. I don't recommend this, nor do I recommend using boxing gloves or punching hanging bags. These are too artificial and they do not give a person the proper feeling of striking another person and will teach a person to strike incorrectly - they will also hinder and limit one's self-confidence. If you need to hit a target, I recommend a makiwara board or one of our black belt students trained in kote kitae (ボディ硬化). It is as realistic as it can be expected and it will build self-confidence. Your best bet is to take karate classes that teach kata and bunkai as these teach proper technique and self-defense. Kata are forms - they represent living encyclopedias for self-defense if they also include lots of bunkai (practical self-defense application training of the kata).