I think I started Karate for all the wrong reasons. As I grew up I realized Karate is a lot more then just fighting, Karate became a way of life for me. The lessons in the Dojo became lessons in life, it has made me live life a good, honest and hardworking person. I am very honored to have met all the wonderful people of IOK.
– David Chan
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IOK offers dynamic and safe sparring classes that provide cardio training, strength and conditioning along with circuit training with personalized supervision from advanced instructors. We provide a fun environment with pad work, footwork drills and various kicking and punching exercises that will get you into great shape while having fun. Our instructors are deeply rooted in the Okinawan Karate disciplines that emphasize grounding and base work. We also have instructors that are experienced in grappling, wrestling, BJJ and MMA.
– Michael A DeGiso
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I first started going to IOK for self defense. It fulfills this, but the experience has become much more. From the excellent teachers and camaraderie with other students to tournament competitions, IOK brings out your personal best. I highly recommend this school for martial arts enthusiasts of all levels.
– Eric Chadbourne
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My training at IOK began in 1984. My teachers at the time were the late George Bosworth, Jackie Dowd, Ray Adlesburge, and as I got a little older of course …Jack Summers. The mental discipline and fitness benefit was immediately apparent. These elements served me very well during both my high school academic and sports life. Then when I finished college and was naturally pulled back to the learning structure karate offered, the early lessons in perseverance under such passionate mentors grew enormously into one of humility and personal character building.
As a karate teacher of adults and children …now more than 25 years since taking up study of Shohei/Uechi Ryu, I can say that karate has lead rather directly to a well rooted and healthy sense of confidence in everything I do. I believe this is what Jack Summers means when he often says of karate, “Its a Lesson in Life, my friend”.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be actively working with some of the best practitioners and instructors of authentic, traditional Okinawan karate in our Region. It truly is a pleasure continuing to learn, holding class and teaching “the Way” in that Spirit in which I have experienced it.
– Billy Giovannucci
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As in most martial arts most students really won’t admit it but they originally sign on to fight and to learn self-defense. If you connect with the right Dojo and the right people a funny thing starts to happen to your training line. When I started Uechi-Ryu training in Boston in the late sixties all I thought about was conditioning and fighting until I met Jack Summers and that funny thing kicked in, it did not take long to realize I had met a teacher that went far beyond the physical aspect of Karate but taught the traditional side as well. The hands on approach by Sensei Summer’s and his students has helped me acquire the skill’s I needed to be a husband, father, bushiness man and karate student. Over the years with the IOK dozens of Jack’s students have maintained their karate and are connected to each other in many ways. Jack has always said “this is the best bunch of people” he has met and I see a lot of Jack in many of us as teachers and students of karate. The extra mile that we all go to help each other both on and off “the floor” is a testimonial to such a great group of people. I am proud to be connected to the IOK.
– Russ Centamore.
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As a youth, I was subject to the same influences that have shaped so many other wonderful martial arts practitioners. I have a clear memory of attending a judo demonstration with my brothers and parents, in the mid sixties, as a child of 8 or 9 and being amazed at the skill that was on display that night. Due to the explosion of martial arts films and the presentation of martial arts skills on television, I decided to join a local Uechi-ryu Karate-do school in Brockton, MA in 1972, at the age of 13.
The dojo was run by Mr. Jack Summers (Kyoshi) and Mr. Robert Bethoney (Kyoshi) and in my mind’s eye I can visualize the first night of training wherein I initially saw the awesome display and grace of the Sanchin kata. During my first session, my eyes kept wandering to the other students as they practiced Sanchin which distracted me from the instructions of the senior student that was working with me and the other new students. He finally said to me that there will be time enough for me to train in Sanchin and that it will take but a few weeks to learn and a lifetime to master. Decades later, the truth of this statement still rings true.
My time at the Brockton dojo was limited to a few years, due to a transition to an intense college prep. high school education and the participation in other sports activities. After I matriculated into a large University in Boston, MA, I started to carpool with a local hometown friend. I knew this friend was training in the same system that I had learned earlier and he invited to come train under his instructors (Forrest Sanborn, dec’d and Carmine DiRamio, dec’d). The training under these two gentlemen was taxing and demanding. Mr. DiRanio was a former Golden Gloves regional champion and Mr. Sanborn was a Lieutenant for one of the local police forces. The training in this dojo was geared toward hard knocks and hard earned lessons. Under Forrest and Carmine, I earned my Shodan in 1983.
Just prior to Mr. Sanborn’s untimely passing, the dojo in Quincy was turned over to my former head instructor (Sensei Jack Summers). I was thrilled to be back training with the man (as well as his senior students) who first introduced me to the Uechi world, With assistance from Jack and these seniors, I was able to test and successfully pass for Nidan in 1986.
– Mike DeDonato. (An excerpt from his website with permission.)
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