Seibukan Jujutsu of Washington

Julio Toribio-Kancho gave this Tacoma dojo, founded in 2005, the name Tenchikan, which translates as House of Heaven and Earth. Toribio-Kancho founded Seibukan Jujutsu, and the dojo's chief instructor, Hanshi Mike Sauders (10th Degree Black Belt), is a direct student of his. The school also goes by the Tacoma Budokan, and it counts the Seibukan Honbu Dojo in Nagoya, Japan, as its headquarters school.

Two arts share the mat. Seibukan Jujutsu for teens and adults meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and a Saturday morning class is open to all age groups. Enshin Itto-ryu Battojutsu, a sword art, has its own adult class on Monday and Wednesday evenings. A session lasts from an hour to an hour and a half. Sensei Amanda Bowes and Sensei Kai Hayes teach alongside Hanshi Sauders. Juniors have their own jujutsu classes.

Seibukan Jujutsu has no competition or tournaments. The dojo teaches it as a traditional Japanese martial art, in the traditional manner, and every class centers on learning and practicing jujutsu. Students still sweat and gain flexibility and balance, the dojo says, but “It is not meant to be an exercise class.” What the training is for, in the dojo's words, is self-defense: proven techniques and, for each student, “a greater sense of awareness and additional skills that can keep them from being seen as a victim.”

Outside the group classes, the dojo offers private and semi-private lessons, self-defense courses for individuals and organizations, and firearms instruction for individuals and groups.

The dojo doesn't publish prices or a trial class; a short call or email before the first visit settles both.