Fudoshin Karate School Of Latham

Maybe I’m biased. I had been going here from 2^nd grade all the way through the first half of college. In that time I made my way to 3^rd degree black belt, met some incredible people, disciplined myself, attained inner peace, learned great life lessons, took care of my body physically, calmed myself mentally, and found something so productive and a lifestyle so simple and active that I may never be able to find something this great ever again.
This place is different. Its not flashy, like Pai’s down the street (a mini-​chain). It is a traditional dojo, wood floor, white gi’s, detail focused Shotokan karate. The old dojo was incredibly tiny off of 155, and I was so glad to see the move to a bigger place off of route 9 when I was in 4^th or 5^th grade.
My sensei was probably one of the best people I’ll ever know. She’s (part of the greatness of this dojo is that it is run by a woman) a very hard working (she runs the dojo, but also use to take odd jobs early in the morning and late evening to support it), she was profiled in a «40 women over 40» biography book, and she’s incredibly strong (elbowing 7 bricks is pretty damn strong). Physically she was incredible and a great example of practicing and leading through example. She was 5’4″, 115 pounds of solid muscle, and one of her sidekicks would really knock you down a peg. Her sensei learned karate directly under the man who brought this form of Shotokan from Japan to here. She is half Japanese, half Italian (apologies Sensei!), and her mom makes some really, really lovely food.
Everyone that trains here trains for the right reasons. The style is traditional, classes in morning and evenings and saturday mornings, with more specific and specialty classes for kids and black belts, weapons, kata, etc. Around that Sensei Galvin-​Podrazik teaches body sculpting; its a great class for those just looking for a inexpensive, laid back sculpt class.
This place holds a lot of memories for me; I saw so many people come and go, I’ve even seen marriage proposals here. Kids train with their parents, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters.
A couple other things to really note: They don’t do contracts here. You are not obligated, every month you pay a due and that’s that. Sensei will work with you to see that you are able to make dues and she’s very generous. I remember kids fee used to be 37 dollars. When I left it was around 70, but it’s still so much cheaper than any other dojo in the area if not the region. Sensei is tireless and always around for advice and you can walk into her office to ask questions anytime. Everything outside of actual class is very casual here, everyone is friendly, there’s a stretching area, water cooler, and they sell candy and assorted items in the front. Its basically as DIY as you can get.
This is a shout out to the school. I hope they have many more years of teaching and many more students to come through their doors.