Ian Sensei in his dojo at Skagway’s rec center.

There’s a new class this year being offered at Skagway’s rec center. It’s a balance between mental and physical fitness called Shotokan Karate, and it’s led by Sensei Ian Hays who’s lived in town for about a year. 

Sensei Ian Hays has been practicing karate for 30 about years, and he remembers the night the love affair started for him. It was mid-summer in the early ’90s and his parents took him to the theater to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“I was just about to go into first grade. And my parents took me to that movie. And I was like this has got to happen. So I enrolled in karate at the Juneau Shotokan Karate Do club in Juneau.” And he’s been practicing Karate ever since. Hays teaches Shotokan Karate, which he says is the most well-known form of the martial art.

“Shotokan karate originated in the island of Okinawa. The founder of our style moved to Japan in the late 20s. It’s a very long story that goes all the way back to China. But suffice to say that he took the Okinawan style that he was taught as a child, integrated it with some other styles and included it into his own, and developed what we know today as Shotokan Karate,” said Hays.

He teaches classes to everyone from four-year-olds through adults at the Skagway rec center. He says it’s a good cardiovascular workout, there’s stretching, calisthenics, pushups.

“We commit to a sort of a regimen of trying to perfect our technique. So you get a really great full-body workout. Plus, there’s a lot of mental discipline that goes into it,” said Hays.

2nd grader Henry Barrett told KHNS he’s learned some Japanese through the class, like how to count to 12, but one of his favorite parts of the class is when they do drills.

“He has big long rubber bands, and we have partners, and our partner ties the rubber band around our ankle. And then we have to step forward in our stances and try to get to the other end of the wall,” said Barrett.

“Ian Sensei ” (as he’s known to his students) says he wants to make sure people know that his dojo, which is how he refers to his class, is a welcoming space.

“I don’t want people to be scared that this is a big macho thing or to feel like they have to be in shape. That’s one of the most common refrains you get is ‘Oh well, once I get in shape, I’d love to come try a class.’ And my answer to anyone is, I’ll get you in shape, you just need to show up because that’s the hard part, especially for adults,” said Hays.

3rd grader Hudson Guilliams is also in the class. He says he wants to earn a blackbelt, and his favorite move is the round kick.

“I love it, I get to learn a bunch of techniques, and I get to learn a martial art,” said Guilliams.

Hays is in Nashville this week training and learning more techniques from other senseis to help him become a better teacher of the craft.

“They’re making sure that what I’m teaching is on a par with what they expect and that my techniques are at a high level so we’re part of an international organization,” said Hays.

He says Shotokan Karate is not really a self-defense class. He’s confident after practicing for 30 years that he could defend himself with the skills and disciplines he knows, but that’s not the focus of the class.

“What I can give you is, you know, the physical fitness, self-awareness, situational awareness that will hopefully someday help you if you’re ever in a sticky situation,” said Hays.

In December, Hays says he will be doing some workshops for beginners, but anybody can show up to a class to get started.