Sometimes my blogs take on a life of their own. I start out with a solid plan of what I want to write about, how to structure it and how to do the research. But then something happens that messes that plan up completely. Today’s story is a great example of that.
For several days now I’ve been planning to write about my recent return to martial arts. I studied Shotokan karate for twenty years, but after a decade away from the dojo, I recently felt a sudden urge to dive back in. Fortunately, I quickly found a new karate family that made the decision to start again an easy one.
That school — that family — is Golden Eagle Martial Arts, located at the Webster Recreation Center. Its style is American Freestyle Karate. Based primarily on Kyokushin techniques, it offers a little bit of everything: fundamentals, self-defense, kata (forms), sparring, weapons and breaking. When I went to watch a class, I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of its basic techniques and katas were closely aligned with my Shotokan training.
In addition to the “my-getting-back-into-karate” angle, a second hook for the blog was going to be the fact that the dojo recently marked its 30th anniversary. The school opened in 1996 when the Webster Recreation Center was still located in the old Ridgecrest School on Ebner Dr. After a temporary move to Klem North during the renovation of the Xerox facility on Chiyoda Dr., the program found its permanent home there.
Aside from its close alignment with my former style, there was a lot to love about this school. I saw kids and adults training side by side, guided by the strong leadership of Shihan Matt, Sensei Mike and Sensei Mary Lou, whose teaching styles expertly balanced discipline with a sense of fun. It’s family focused; on the day I was there, a mom, dad and their three kids were training together. And it’s very affordable, especially when compared to a lot of other martial arts schools in the area.
I was hooked. I would definitely be signing up for the next session, and I started to compose my blog and congratulate the school on its 30th anniversary.



But that’s when the story took an abrupt turn.
Earlier this week, at the beginning of class, Shihan Matt sat all the students down and announced that, thanks to some annoying health issues, he has to close the school. It was clearly a very difficult announcement for him to make, and certainly a decision that he did not make lightly. Before him sat adults and youths who had studied at the school for years, children who were just beginning their martial arts journeys, and one older adult who was looking forward to getting back into the dojo after a long hiatus. We all sat in stunned silence.
Matt announced that the dojo’s last day will be Monday, June 15. However, he did offer a glimmer of hope, mentioning that there are preliminary talks about potentially keeping the school going — which might mean a different location or different instructors — if things can be worked out.
So there is hope that Golden Eagle Martial Arts will be able to continue its long tradition of providing affordable family fun, and continue to provide children and adults with the lifelong benefits of martial arts. In the meantime, I have almost four full months of quality karate training ahead of me, and I’m going to take advantage of every minute.
And by the way, congratulations on 30 years, Golden Eagle Martial Arts!
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(posted 2/25/2026)
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