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INSTRUCTORS

 

SENSEI TORU SHIMOJI

Chief Instructor

Toru Shimoji (5th Dan) is chief instructor at Traditional Karate Atlanta. Sensei Shimoji has over 3 decades of internationally recognized teaching experience. He is the current President of the American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF) and a member of the American Amateur Karate Federation Technical Board.

Mr. Shimoji received his Dan rankings and instructor certification from his teacher, Hidetaka Nishiyama (a direct student of Master Gichin Funakoshi – the founder of our system). Mr. Shimoji additionally holds a B.S. in Kinesiology from UCLA.

Among his notable achievements, Sensei Shimoji has been head coach for the US National Team from 1998 to 2000, Kata Champion of the 2000 Nishiyama Cup in Moscow, and silver medalist at the 2002 ITKF World Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Sensei Shimoji is also an accomplished sculptor. His sculptures can be viewed at his art website here.

 

SASA PANIC

Assistant Instructor

Sasa Panic, an Atlanta-based personal trainer, earned his certification from the National Personal Training Institute (NPTI).

Sasa’s passion for physical fitness put him on a personal journey of knowledge into body mechanics and movement, a search that began in Belgrade, Serbia with the study of Traditional Karate in 1994. Moving to Atlanta in 2001, Sasa has continued his study of karate under Sensei Toru Shimoji and in competition through national and international tournaments . Most recently, Sasa was a gold medalist in Fuku-Go at the 2009 AAKF National Championhips in Minnesota, and a silver medalist in Fuku-Go at the 2009 Pan American ITKF Pan American Karate Championship in Brazil.