Open Path Martial Arts

Hey gang, Sensei Bea here.
It’s been a while since I’ve referred to myself as that, and a while since anything to do with Open Path Martial Arts has happened. We entered an abrupt period of shutdown in Febuary and, as a result of the circumstances surrounding it, I have been struggling to figure out where we go from here. It’s become heartbreakingly apparent to me, the more I look at the state of play and where I’m at, that Open Path needs to formally close it’s doors.
Primarily, the buck stops with me on this one - this comes down to a disconnect between what I wanted for my relationship with students inside the dojo vs that relationship outside the dojo. The school started off as a couple of my friends, spread within my circles, and got to the point where every single social event I would go to would either have a student there, or someone would hit me with the “Oh you’re that one chick that runs that karate school.”
The perception I felt as this “Sensei Bea” character never really stopped and affected me a lot - which is part of the reason I have all-but retreated socially since putting the school on hold. This isn’t healthy in its current form, and I need to take some time to myself and to re-define what it means to be an instructor separate from my personal life.
In saying that, I do not consider this school a failure. Not one bit. While we’ve closed our doors sooner than I would’ve liked, I’ve proven that something like this is viable in Perth and I hope to have shown that to other Sensei thinking of starting something like this. And I have had the pleasure of instructing an incredible calibre of karateka and gained knowledge I will never forget.
To my students, past and present, I cannot express how grateful I am to have had your trust placed in me as an instructor. It has been an incredible run, thankyou. And to my fellow teachers who have helped guide the way through this point, your wisdom has provided solace in the most difficult decision I have ever needed to make.
I will never stop teaching, not permanently, and I hope to cross paths once again with my fellow travelers.
Until then,
Sensei Bea.

We had an incredible time marching last night at the PrideFEST Parade. It means a lot to us to have the community come out in droves to support us, and I can only speak for myself but it was an overwhelmingly emotional evening.
We hope to be back next year, Thankyou to all who donated to the GoFundMe to help make this happen.
Lots of love,
Sensei Bea

Feels surreal that we’re a year in and not just still alive, but going from strength to strength. Starting in a little hall in Subiaco, moving up to a bigger & better location in Leederville; I’ve definitely taken a little bit of time to get back into my stride, but teaching feels natural again.
Happy 1yr anniversary to Open Path Martial Arts, the incredible students I’ve met along the way, and the people who’ve helped us get there. Onwards and upwards, always.

(Warning: Coarse language)
Okay so this is fu***ng surreal... My school made the news!
I've been sitting on this for a couple weeks, but after the incredibly successful GoFundMe I got contacted by a journalist at PerthNow who wanted to do a piece on us. And now it's out!
I have a clipping framed and up on my home dojo's wall. Wild.
If you want to have a read, you can find it here: https://www.perthnow.com.au/local-news/open-path-martial-arts-crowdfunding-campaign-could-send-perths-first-q***r-martial-arts-school-to-pridefest-c-15384797
~ Sensei Bea

Hiya! Bea Sensei here. Pridefest is coming up here in WA, and we need a little bit of help with the costs to attend the Fairday & Parade. We would love to get ourselves in front of more people who don't know we exist.
If you can help, we've got a GoFundMe page set up. Thank you, and I hope to see you in the dojo soon 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Donate to Help Open Path Martial Arts attend Pridefest WA, organised by Beatrix Samuelsson Hiya! My name is Bea, and I run Open Path Martial Arts - Boorloo's … Beatrix Samuelsson needs your support for Help Open Path Martial Arts attend Pridefest WA

Had a brilliant high-level training session with Daniel Sensei of Family Goju Karate.
Especially at this level, we never stop training. Even if it's been 5/10/15 years since you've done martial arts, or even if you've never even seen a gi before, the best time to start is now. Head to openpathmartialarts.org/welcome to get 2wks of free training and a free uniform (worth $50 on it's own 😜)

We had a brilliant weekend of high-calibre training with Kyoshi Alex Alt (7th Dan Master Instructor) over from the Gold Coast to run seminars with us, Family Goju Karate, and the Australian Black Belt Academy.
It was brilliant to give my students the opportunity to spend some time with such skilled instructors, and for me to continue to build local connections with our sister schools through Daniel Sensei and Tom Sensei.
We hope to have you back soon, Kyoshi!