Congratulations to Larry Troffer, Norm Collins, and Sang Tran for passing the Brown 1-belt exam on 8 Mar 2007.
 

Welcome to the Nisei Matsukazi Kan website!

 Our Purpose:  Our intent is for this site to serve as a forum for learning and sharing knowledge and ideas about the martial arts.  You won’t find anything for sale here.  What you will find is information, training techniques, musings, and links to other sites.  Ideally this site will become a martial arts “homepage” from which we can all share our ideas and link to others who can help us grow as a martial arts community.  We welcome your input.  If you have thoughts you’d like us to post, or a link you’d like us to add, let us know.  We won’t help you sell anything, nor will we belittle any other art, but we do invite discussions and thoughts, as well as any training tips you think others might find useful or interesting.

 Our Name:  Nisei Matsukazi Kan, translates into English as “Second generation place to study Matsukazi".  We chose that name for our group as our leader, David Rathgeber, is one generation removed from his Sensei, Cardo Urso, who himself traces his martial arts lineage directly to Okinawa.

 What is Matsukazi?  The Matsukazi Shito-Ryu Karate, Kobudo, and Jujutsu Federation is an organization that trains and practices Okinawan style martial arts.  We believe that a combination of styles is the best way for an artist to truly grow and understand the theories and concepts behind bushido and the martial arts lifestyle.  As an example, for our jujutsu students to receive black belt promotions beyond Sandan (3^rd degree) they must receive a Dan grade in Kobudo, Judo, and Karate.  We believe that through this type of knowledge and understanding we are able to maximize the benefits we receive from study and to better share these benefits with others.  The headmaster of Matsukazi-Ryu in the United States is Sensei Paul Fracchia.