Martial Arts Instructor

Suikendo, Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu Karate
Director and Chief Instructor - Dennis O’Brien, 7th Degree Blackbelt

Dennis O’Brien has been a student of karate for fifty years. He began his training in New York State in 1964 and has pursued his art without interruption to this day. For the past  forty-four years he has been under the direct tutelage of world renowned Shorin-Ryu Master Tadashi Yamashita, 9th Dan, Director of all Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu Karate in the United States and founder of Suikendo.

Mr. O’Brien earned his 1st Degree Black Belt from Master Yamashita in January, 1975, and has been a Black Belt Instructor for Master Yamashita since 1976. In November, 1993, He was honored with Master Yamashita’s “Golden Masters Instructor’s Award” for his dedication to the study and teaching of the martial arts at the highest “ Mental, Physical and Spiritual Levels.” Mr. O’Brien currently holds the rank of 7th Degree Black Belt, that honor having been bestowed upon him by Master Yamashita in 1998.

Mr. O’Brien has been teaching karate since 1976, in California, New York State, Virginia and Arizona. He is associated with “Yamashita International,” as one of Master Yamashita’s Senior Instructors. From August 2000 to May 2004, Mr. O'Brien established and operated a Suikendo school in upstate New York at Elite Martial Arts. That school is now being operated by one of Mr. O'Brien's students.

Suikendo - Is a devastating adaptation of formal karate to the practical application of self-defense, emphasizing speed, quickness, agility, focus, and commitment to execution developed by Master Tadashi Yamashita.

Instruction is multi-tiered and aimed at accelerated learning in the foundation of Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu Karate and the complexities of Suikendo at the same time. By limiting class size, the learning curve of each student is improved significantly, allowing absorption of large quantities of information and the resultant processing of that information into enhanced skill levels in a much shorter period of time. Each class is ninety minutes in duration and is conducted two times a week. Classes do not include any confrontational instruction or training, but do require a commitment on the part of the student to dedicate the full measure of his or her ability for the duration of each class. Prior training in some form of martial or combative discipline is preferable, but not mandatory.

Suikendo is a martial art for the 21st Century and prepares the students to defend themselves in the event of an attack by someone intent upon inflicting grievous bodily harm. It is not a sport. It is a way of life.

Private and semi-private instruction is available on request.