Connection Karate Instructor Chris Goedecke Marks Half a Century of Experience – TAPinto.net

SUMMIT, NJ – Just over five decades ago — On December 12, 1968 — a then-gangly teenager stepped up onto a raised, padded training platform to experience his first formal karate class at the Bank Street School, a pioneering karate dojo in Summit.

“It was love at first kick” says master karate teacher Chris Goedecke, or Shifu Hayashi as many of his students have come to know him. “Karate was unfamiliar to the general public at this time in the 1960s,” said Goedecke.

A prolific writer and popular area teacher. Goedecke, a Buddhist monk, author and inventor (Buddhist name; Hayashi Tomio), Goedecke has been teaching at The Connection in the Hilltop City for 35 years.

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“Most people mistake karate only as a fighting sport for the young,” noted Goedecke. “Karate is an exceptionally good self-discipline and physical education tool, teaching how to move gracefully, and with confidence regardless of one’s age. Karate training will expand one’s body awareness, enhance any sport or physical activity you do with its detailed functional body patterns called kata, and introduce practitioners to an integrative movement philosophy in the Asian Mindfulness tradition.”

Goedecke has no intention to stop teaching. “This art is too compelling,” he explains. “With increasing volatility in the world, karate has become an evermore vital discipline that will benefit anyone who feels anxious about their future well-being.”

To learn more about Karate classes at The Connection, visit TheConnectionOnline.org, stop by 79 Maple Street or call 908-273-4242.

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