About Us

Club History

The MIT Shotokan club was founded in 1974 by Sensei Kazumi Tabata. It was the second club of his New England Collegiate Karate Conference - NECKC, a large network of Shotokan clubs across many New Englands colleges.  We are an Association of Student Activities Club Sport and have about twenty members, from undergraduates to faculty members.  We welcome beginners as well as anyone with experience in other styles.

The MIT club has always benefited from high-ranking and excellent instructors and continues do so at present. (It has also always suffered from MIT students being overworked!). The dedication of our instructors in working with beginners is wonderful.  The club is very active: Apart from the regular workouts for beginners and advanced students, MIT hosts seminars, promotions, tournaments, and events with karate clubs from other universities in the area.

 

2020-2021 Instructors:

Greg Cumings, President of North American Collegiate Karate Conference

4th Degree Black Belt, 35+ years of experience in Shotokan Karate

 

Avril Kenney '11, MEng '12

2nd Degree Black Belt

 

2021-2022 Club Officers:

President (right):

Pasquale AntonantePhD Candidate, Course 16

1st Degree Black Belt

 

Treasurer (left):

Hao He, PhD Candidate, Course 6

7th Kyu Orange Belt

 

 

2020-2021 Club Officers:

President (right):

Qian Xu, PhD Candidate, Course 2

1st Degree Black Belt

 

Treasurer (left):

Anh Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Course 14

2nd Kyu Brown Belt