Greg Oliver (Sandan)
Greg started practicing in 1989 at the Kansas City Dojo under godan Jon Beltram. He was awarded shodan in 1991 from Tsutomu Ohshima and nidan from Ohsihima sensei in 1993. In 1997 he was awarded sandan from Sadaharu Honda. Greg began assisting instructing in the early 90’s at Kansas City Art Institute dojo, and then the Kansas City AT&T dojo in 1993. From the early 2000s to 2008 Greg instructed at the Kansas City dojo. He also won first place in the brown belt tournament in Chicago in 1990, and fought at SKA’s annual Nisei Karate tournament in Los Angeles in the early 90s. In 2010, Greg moved to Okinawa and began practice in Uechi ryu and was awarded sandan level in 2014 by Kiyohide Shinjo. He began instructing at the Michigan dojo in 2022.
Sarah Oliver (Sandan)
Sarah began practice under Mike Lyon while attending Kansas City Art Institute in 1994, and became dojo manager soon afterwards. She was awarded shodan in 1997, nidan in 1999, and then sandan in 2003. She also fought at Nisei week in 1999. Sarah was an instructor at Longview Community College in Kansas City from 2002-2012. She also led special training in Kansas City in 2008. Sarah began instructing at the Michigan dojo in 2022.
Toni Guzzardo (Shodan)
Deepak (Kumar) Batheja (Nidan)
Deepak started training at the Caltech Karate Club (http://shotokan.caltech.edu/) in 2004 under Randy McLure and Pamela Logan. He continued his training under Ian Ferguson, and earned his shodan in 2008. He was the Co-captain of the club from 2005-07. Over the years he has practiced with several SKA dojos and members in USA and Europe. He moved to Michigan in 2022, and is excited to be part of the Michigan dojo.
Michelle Pham (Shodan)
Michelle started practice in 2014 at SKA’s University of Washington dojo. She then practiced at the North Seattle dojo under godan Nihad Khalaf until 2022. Michelle was promoted to shodan in 2019. She also spent time practicing at the Victoria, BC and the Boston dojos. Michelle has competed at the Goodwill Cup, Canada West, and Nisei week tournaments. She joined the Michigan dojo in 2022.