Rupert's Karate Academy

After a roller coaster of a past year, in March I was very fortunate to participate in a special Ko Dan Ja Shim Sa (Master Testing) in which eight independent schools united to work together, train hard, and dig deep into the true spirit of what Tang Soo Do should be.

It wasn’t about fixing, correcting, conforming, submitting or standardizing. It was about learning, growing, enriching, innovating, and connecting authentically with the other candidates and practitioners.

It was the first time in my martial arts career of 25+ years that I actually felt valued, respected, and supported, and not just treated as a peon groveling for approval and a certificate with a giant price tag as I was made to feel in past experiences. I always made the best of it to learn and further myself despite the challenges and blatant displays of disrespect and condescension shown by those in leadership roles. They were leading by example - it’s just unfortunate that this example shown was the example to which we were expected to conform.

This past weekend I was fortunate to host an excellent instructor and friend, Master Nicholas Margerum from Lifetime Karate in Poughkeepsie NY, who taught clinics for my students and presented my Yuk Dan (6th Degree) Master certificate. This kind of mutual support for like-minded practitioners is the true essence of martial arts.

My son Keaton surprised me with a special picture he drew of us which is now my most prized possession. Although this last year has been so challenging in so many ways - personally, professionally and with lots of health challenges mixed in, it was a year that showed me who my true friends and support system was at a time when I really needed it.

Thank you to those that were so supportive during this last year and last leg of the journey to 6th Dan. I’m so afraid to leave anyone out by listing names, but if you were at Ko Dan Ja, or if we spoke on the phone regularly over the past year, you supported me during a pivotal time in my life and I’ll never forget it.

감사합니다.

–Tim Rupert

Master Margerum dropping some knowledge for our Red and Black Belt leadership team!

What a great start to the weekend with Master Margerum from lifetime_karate in the house teaching classes! We appreciate the dedication of our students coming in for classes in the last day of school!
Tomorrow we have our leadership team training and sparring clinic with Master Margerum and Master Rupert’s 6th Dan promotion! It all starts at 9:30am! Don’t miss it!

Day One of the 14th Dan Classing at Rupert’s Karate Academy is in the books!

Candidates worked hard and pushed themselves through a comprehensive examination, including our signature old-skool endurance portion, for three hours this evening. We’re in the home stretch now as our eight candidates as well as active Dan members will complete part two tomorrow morning. Keep up the good work and finish strong! 👊

We are so excited for our first red belt curriculum evaluation this evening at 6:15 PM. Red belts will receive their new red belt leadership and success guide workbooks, an interactive guide to help them increase their skills as they continue to prepare incrementally for the black belt level. And they came out looking great! 👊

A big congratulations to both Mr. Bryan Aguiar and Mr. Matthew Leon who celebrated their 5 year training anniversary this past weekend! Thank you both for your continued dedication to your training!

Let’s get ready for a trip up north the first weekend of summer!! Who’s coming with me?!

The Next event being hosted by The Lab is the 2026 Catalyst Cup, June 6th in Red Hook NY!!!

Check it out!

Register here!

https://myuventex.com/ ;id=334366;eventType=SuperEvent