Rockland Matsubayashi-Ryu Dojo

07/25/2026

Congratulations to Yosh*taka Taira Sensei, Hanshi, 10th Dan, President of the WMKA, on being officially selected as a holder of the Okinawa Prefecture Intangible Cultural Asset for “Okinawan Karate and Kobudo.”

The very first designation for this cultural asset was made in 1997, and WMKA founder Nagamine Shoshin O’Sensei was one of the original recipients. Now, 29 years later, Taira Kaicho becomes the second master from Matsubayashi-Ryu to receive this recognition, continuing the legacy of O’Sensei.

We are humbled to announce that Yosh*taka Taira Kaicho (President of the World Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-Do Association) has been officially selected as a holder of the Okinawa Prefecture Intangible Cultural Asset for “Okinawan Karate and Kobudo.” This designation was announced by the Okinawa Pref...

07/15/2026

07/09/2026

During the last half hour of tonight's July 9, 2026 class at the Penobscot Bay YMCA we'll be practicing some Tonfa kata. It's always a good time to embark on a new path that intrigues you!

07/03/2026

Congratulations to Seven Soucy on his promotion to Nikyu (brown belt) on Tuesday evening at the Penobscot Bay YMCA .
He's been working hard and it shows!! 👏👏 Keep on coming through the door to the Dojo!

06/30/2026

A new session starts at the Penobscot Bay YMCA this evening. Classes continue Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m., and Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. We continue to feature a Matayoshi kobudo class on Saturdays at 9 a.m. as well. Message us for more info!

Located at the Penobscot Bay YMCA, the Rockland Matsubayashi-Ryu Dojo is the oldest dojo in Maine dedicated to practicing traditional Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu karate.

06/22/2026

A huge thank you to Sunday Strolls Rockland and Rockland Main Street for organizing such a wonderful Summer Solstice/Sunday Stroll combined event, and for inviting us to train in public as a part of it. Great job by Justin Keller, Steve Mumford, and Mary Ann Heinzen-Hackett on their terrific concentration during this public training/demonstration!

06/21/2026

Today, Sunday, June 21's the day. Come check out a (very) small, but mighty group from our dojo on Main Street near Tillson Ave in Rockland, at 12:30 PM. We'll be working on Kata, Bunkai, Yakusoku Kumite, and Kobudo.
Have questions about our classes? Come on by and ask us in person. 👍👍

06/19/2026

Congratulations again to Mary Ann Heinzen-Hackett who received her Nidan certificate from Okinawa during last night's class at the Penobscot Bay YMCA. We're so lucky to have her in our dojo! おめでとうございます!

05/12/2026

A wonderful post from O'Malley sensei at Matsubayashiryu Finland. I heartily reccomend you follow his page! Perhaps his refusal to dwell in deep philosophising is exactly the deep philosophising we all could benefit from!

For today’s class we completed the introduction to the technical templates — Kihon Undō.

During the session one of the students very astutely noticed that I was counting to seven before asking the group to turn and go back the other way. She asked if there was some special meaning to the number. Naturally, I told her there was. It meant we had run out of space and had to turn around.

Karate — and probably martial arts in general — often attracts a lot of deep philosophising. Some people love to assign hidden meanings, talk about ancient secrets, and wrap simple movements in layers of mysticism.

The teachers I work out with on Okinawa never did any of that (with me). They made things simple, direct, and practical. My recollection of their teaching leaves no room for mystical interpretations of physical training. The prevailing philosophical advice was straightforward: be a nice person.

We can get caught up in the mysticism, in trying to find special meanings, in talking endlessly about secrets and ancient ways.

Or we can practice.

Photo — me attempting to look mystical at Droichead na Rossan.

05/07/2026

Tonight's class at the Penobscot Bay YMCA will also focus on what we call Kyan no Sai. There is NEVER a bad opportunity to share this video of Owen Masters sensei performing this kata in Zenko Heshiki sensei's dojo in NYC in the 1970s... (and we had nothing to do with the music...)