Olof Tornblad Sandan (3rd degree black belt) and dojo leader
Olof joined SKA in 1997 at Stanford University during a research visit where he practiced with John Blair, Jim Sagawa, Manfred Chiu, and Danny Afar. He joined the Saratoga dojo around 2005. Olof promoted to Shodan in 1999, Nidan in 2002 and Sandan in 2013. He became dojo leader of the Saratoga dojo in 2015, after co-founder Craig Hamman relocated to Colorado. |
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Steve Gong Nidan (2nd degree black belt) and instructor
Steve started training at the Hawthorne dojo (LA) in October of 1989. In 1996, he moved to the East Bay area and actually visited the Saratoga dojo for a short time before settling into training at Berkeley for a couple of years until 1998. Beginning in 1998, he spent another 2 years in Sacramento until returned to the South Bay area and settled in for the long term at the Saratoga dojo. |
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Alex Gostrer Nidan (2nd degree black belt) and instructor
Alex started training at Rehovot Dojo of Israel Shotokan. In 1998, he moved to the Bay Area and started training with Craig Hamman and Manfred Chiu at Saratoga dojo. |
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Mack Kusumoto Nidan (2nd degree black belt) and instructor
Mack started practicing karate at the Saratoga dojo in 2003 when he joined the Southwest YMCA. Mack acted for many years as the Saratoga dojo manager and remains a key coordinator with the YMCA for their activities and campaigns. |
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Subhash Kapur Shodan (1st degree black belt) and children’s practice instructor
Subhash began practicing karate at the Saratoga dojo at the Southwest YMCA in 2008. He is the principal instructor for the Southwest YMCA Kids Karate program. When he is not practicing karate, Subhash helps managing and execution of software for payments and healthcare startups. |
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Jose Corbacho Shodan (1st degree black belt) and dojo manager
Jose started practicing karate at the Saratoga dojo with Craig Hamman in 2013. He is an instructor for the Southwest YMCA Kids Karate program and acts as the Saratoga dojo manager. |
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