Kogeki Dojo

Funded by Jose Santaella. Kogeki purpose is to bring out the best in every child, youth and adult by building a strong mind and body. At Kogeki we will help them to discover the champion within themselves.

This is Sensei Santaella’s story of why he chose to name the Dojo Kogeki:

In December 1st of 1990 my then Sensei Kiyoshi Yamazaki and I where invited along with a group of celebrities , athletes and personalities who were invited to a Peace Mission in Baghdad, Iraq. During our visit  there was a Karate sparring (kumite) exchange between the National Japan team and me against the National team of Iraq. Sensei Yamazaki, as usual, spoke to the Iraq coach (without my knowledge) and told him I was the USA National Champion. This coach following what Sensei Yamazaki said matched me against the National Champion of Iraq. Well…this guy kicked me in the head with a mawashi geri (a roundhouse kick), so hard that I can still hear the ring in my ear today!  Ordinarily, a blow that hard in kumite is forbidden. After that kick, he was history…. I swept, kicked, took down and finally beat him. Next day, we all where seating, waiting for the parade start outside in one of the sidewalk on the street of Bagdad when suddenly a famous Japanese painter who was traveling with us start drawing in the back of my t-shirt. I also told him to draw it in my passport (that’s the photo you see below). He told my Sensei that, that was my expression in character during my fight the night before. And he called it KOGEKI. That’s why I’ve chose it as the logo of my Dojo. KOGEKI means: attack over the the defense and/or defend while attack