Welcome to the official blog of Zen Budokai East.
Zen Budokai East has been in teaching martial arts in the Danbury area since the mid 1970s. We teach Zen Budo Ryu, a martial art combining elements from many different styles, including Japanese Jiu Jitsu, Kempo Karate, Judo, and ground fighting. It was mixed martial arts before there was such a term (and yes, it pre-dates Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do by a little bit). Over the decades of our existence, we've had our share of setbacks, including a flood and a collapsed building. We've bounced back every time, held together by a core of dedicated students and instructors who refused to let these obstacles pull us apart.
Why? What keeps us coming back, night after night, year after year? Why spend our evenings drenched with sweat and developing aching muscles, when we could be home sipping a cold beer and watching TV?
The reasons we give are varied. Some people like the fitness, some want to learn self defense, some want to train for tournaments, and some just like the company. But somehow, we all share a passion for the martial arts, and just don't feel right unless we've spent a couple evenings a week working out, throwing and being thrown, perfecting our kicks and punches, and studying the myriad ways that the human body can be twisted up like a pretzel. We wouldn't trade this experience for any amount of cold beer. (But we certainly won't turn one down afterwards!) It's what we do. It's who we are.
In this blog, I'm going to be sharing some of my thoughts and observations from studying and teaching the martial arts. I'm not a world champion in anything, just a guy with a desk job who has studied the martial arts for most of his adult life. I hope you find this blog to be interesting and informative. And if you like what you read and are in the Danbury area, I hope you'll come by and see if you share our passion.
