Happy Birthday to our Samurai

Our samurai from the Arizona
School of Traditional Karate
(photo by Bill Borea).

Just before Christmas of 2011, we celebrated the birthday of our Staff Samurai for the Arizona School of Traditional Karate (Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Arizona). Paula Borea, who is half-Japanese, spent her early years in the 'Land of the Sun' and returned to Japan later in life with her husband Bill (retired Air Force pilot). While in Japan and doing historical research, they came across information showing that Paula has samurai lineage - no wonder why all of the guys at the dojo fear her! Anyway, on her birthday, and at the Hombu Christmas party, Sensei Paula showed up in one of her kimono and then dissected her birthday cake with katana (刀) (日本刀 samurai sword). For some reason, no one wanted to lick the icing from the katana?


Bill and Paula are two very important members of our martial arts group in Arizona (Arizona School of Traditional Karate). We all take great pride in practicing traditional Okinawan-Japanese-American martial arts and being members of a Ryu (流) (family).

 Our Arizona members include a wide variety of professionals including geoscientists, biologists, university professors, teachers, engineers, nutritionists, retired military, secretaries, accountants, house wives, students, computer techs, librarians, cooks, etc. In our international organization (Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai) we also have members who include doctors, chemists, lawyers, law enforcement agents, councelors, biochemists, priests, janitors, etc.  So don't be shy - stop by!

Note how well the cake was cut - and by a samurai sword!

In addition to cutting birthday cake, we find other pragmatic uses for samurai arts including carving pumkins and trimming cactus (as well as for traditional martial arts training).

Soke Hausel carves pumpkins on Halloween first with yoko uchi followed by shomen uchi.


If you like our samurai arts, you will get a real kick out of our karate and kobudo classes!