About Our Dojo | Pushard's Okinawan Karate, Maine

Our story

Started by a father and son, still run by the family

Pushard’s Okinawan Karate was founded by Renshi Rob Pushard together with his father, Richard Pushard Sr. What began as a small dojo has grown into a full-time professional martial arts school serving Manchester, Augusta and the surrounding Kennebec County communities.

Renshi Pushard has over thirty years of experience in the art of Isshinryu Karate and holds a fifth-degree black belt. He is a full-time professional martial arts teacher and school owner, and he studies directly with Kyoshi John Hughes of New Jersey. He is also a certified Defensive Tactics instructor for CATC in Augusta, Maine.

Sensei Rebecca Pushard is a co-owner of the school and head instructor for the Tiny Tigers and Little Dragons. She is a first-degree black belt, a Certified Level 1 CDT instructor, a 2003 I.W.K.A. kata and kumite women’s world champion, and has been a fitness kickboxing instructor for well over a decade.

Our training philosophy

Our programme focuses on teaching the art of Isshinryu Karate. Traditional techniques are complemented with tournament and competitive karate techniques, and include a variety of strategic self-defense moves.

Our programmes enable you to defend yourself on the ground as well as on your feet. We also stress the importance of respectful conduct inside and outside our school. Belt rank is earned through attendance, effort and demonstration — never bought — and the quarterly syllabus makes the path to each rank clear.

You can read the full four-year programme curriculum, the kata and rank reference, or the history of Isshinryu and its founder, Master Tatsuo Shimabuku.

Affiliations

Who we train with

Isshinryu is a small style and lineage matters. Our instructors train in an unbroken line back to the founder of the style.

Member of the I.W.K.A.

The Isshinryu World Karate Association connects our dojo to Isshinryu schools and tournaments worldwide. Our students have competed at I.W.K.A. World Championships.

The Isshin-ryu School of Karate

We are associated with Hanshi William H. Duessel and train with Kyoshi John E. Hughes of the Isshin-ryu School of Karate.

Tournament hosts

Our dojo hosted the 2007 I.W.K.A. Championship Tournament, bringing Isshinryu competitors from across the country to Maine.

Beyond the mat

Life skills through martial arts training

Parents often come to us for fitness or self-defense and stay for something less obvious. Karate is a structured, patient, cumulative activity: the only way to learn a kata is to practise it hundreds of times, and the only way to progress is to keep showing up.

That habit — effort over time, in a room where effort is noticed — is what our instructors mean by life skills. Focus, courtesy, self-control and the confidence that comes from being able to protect yourself.

Try a month of training

Thirty days of unrestricted martial arts training worth $100, free, with no obligation. It is the easiest way to find out whether Isshinryu is right for you.

Start your free 30-day trial