Arizona's Hall-of-Fame Karate Instructor

Arizona Karate Instructor, Soke Hausel loves to teach martial arts and has been teaching for more than 40 years. Imagine learning karate from a Hall-of-Fame grandmaster, a grandmaster of Traditional Martial Arts. Imagine what this would do to your learning curve. All of this experience and expertise available to accelerate your martial arts training and skills. The Arizona School of Traditional Karate on the border of Mesa and Gilbert is home to this Hall-of-Fame martial artist.

Soke Hausel is not only a great martial artist, he is very good at several professions - so much so that Who's Who noted that he is a polymath. He was inducted into the 2013 and 2014 Who’s Who in America and 2013 and 2014 Who's Who in the World and appeared in several Who’s Who compendiums over the past two decades because of accomplishments as a martial arts instructor, scientist, writer, public speaker and artist. Who’s Who noted 2013 was the 10 year anniversary since he was initially inducted into Who's Who in the World and the 20th anniversary of his induction into Who's Who in the West and Who's Who in Science & Engineering.

Photo of Grandmaster Hausel (right) with friend of many years, Hanshi Ron Smith (10th dan) from
Virginia. Hausel met Hanshi Smith at a Juko Kai International Clinic in Florida more than
20 years ago and the two developed a close friendship. Photo taken at the New Braumfels, Texas
JKI clinic in 2013.

Professor Hausel looks forward to his students' progress. When he started teaching martial arts at the University of Wyoming in 1977; within a short time, his classes will filled: more than a hundred students signed up for Beginning Karate in the Department of Physical Education and Department of Kinesiology each semester, 22 students in Jujutsu classes (the maximum number of students allowed in both of these classes), dozens of students in self-defense, kobudo, rape prevention, self-defense for women and martial arts history classes in the Department of Extended Studies, and more than 150 students in the University of Wyoming Shorin-Ryu Karate in Club Sports.


2013 JKI clinic in New Braunfels, Texas. Soke Hausel with martial arts
colleagues Hanshi Kirby Roy and Hanshi Ron Smith to his left along with
his Seiyo Kai students who traveled from Phoenix, Chandler and Mesa
Arizona and from Gillette, Wyoming.

Many dozen of clinics taught to the public, staff, and faculty related to self-defense, jujutsu, samurai arts, karate, kobudo as well as special classes taught to the University ROTC and dance departments on his free time. This training led to international recognition to the University of Wyoming martial arts program which the program, Soke Hausel, and some students were presented national and international awards. Previously, he had taught karate at the University of Utah and University of New Mexico, and recently at Arizona State University.

He was asked if he considered himself a good fighter? He responded,"What does that have to do with martial arts? Personally, I see myself as good instructor and hope students agree".

Left to right - Bill Durbin, Ron Smith, Hausel and Jeff Goodwin at the
2013 JKI clinic.

According to Hausel, Durbin, Smith, Goodwin and also Kirby Roy (above)
are some of the best martial artists he has ever seen in his 5 decades of
martial arts.

Mesa Martial Arts Instructor Nominated For 30th Pearl Anniversary of Who's Who in the World

Soke Hausel (left) and Hanshi Finley at the
Hombu in Mesa, Arizona.

In 1999, the University of Wyoming Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo Club was awarded the top JKI-Affiliated Martial Arts School of the Year after training a few hundred students in a variety traditional Okinawan and Japanese martial arts at one of the smaller State universities in the country. In that same year, Professor Hausel, was promoted to Sokeshodai (grandmaster) of Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo (Seiyo Kai) after 35 years of martial arts training.

Yudansha attending the University of Wyoming
2010 Martial Arts Clinic. Soke Hausel stands
4th from right, Hanshi Finley Stands 5th
from the right.

Now a martial artist of more than 45 years of experience, Grandmaster Hausel has been recognized as one of the top-rated martial arts instructors in the region. He was awarded Grandmaster of the Year by six major martial arts associations over the years, Instructor of the Year, and International Instructor of the Year. He is also a member of several Halls-of-Fame for Karate, Kobudo, Teaching, and even Geological Sciences. He is a notable alumni of his high school, and the University of Utah and notable person of Gilbert and Laramie.

Soke Hausel with three of his favorite students.

His students are scattered worldwide and include many university faculty, staff, researchers, as well as engineers, scientists, health care providers, law enforcement officers, clergy, pharmacologists, and martial arts instructors and most indicate his classes were some of the better at the university because of diversified teaching, interesting stories, philosophy and Okinawan history that kept the classes interesting. In 2006, Grandmaster Hausel took early retirement and moved to the Phoenix valley and opened a martial arts training facility at the northeast corner of Baseline and MacDonald (between Country Club and Mesa Drives) in 2008. The facility; Arizona School of Traditional Karate acts as a school of martial arts for the public as well as the Arizona Hombu (world headquarters) for his students around the world. He continues to focus on academics.

Soke Hausel with Yudansha members of the Utah
Shorin-Kai including Kyoshi Rob Watson (8th dan)
(Standing next to Soke) and Renshi Todd Stone
 King (6th dan) standing next to Kyoshi.

During the past 30 years, Grandmaster Hausel also taught many classes and clinics for the general public and other martial artists in self-defense such as self-defense for laymen, self-defense for martial arts instructors, self-defense for airline travelers, self-defense for women, self-defense for librarians, self-defense for teachers.

Because of his contributions in martial arts as well as geological sciences, art, public speaking, astronomy and writing, he has been nominated for induction into Marquis 30th Pearl Anniversary of Who's Who in the World.  Soke Hausel indicated that he looks up to two martial artists who he believes are the two greatest living martial artists in the world - Dai Soke R. Sacharnoski and Osensei Tadashi Yamashita.

1996 International Martial Arts Clinic members sit outside of Corbett Gym on the University of Wyoming Campus in Laramie. Dai-Soke Sacharnoski, TV and Movie Star sits in center front. 
Professor Hausel stands in back to the far left.

Soke-Dai Eric Hausel (left) and Soke at the Arizona
Hombu (Arizona School of Traditional Karate in
Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona.

JKI Yudansha including (in front row in white pants) Soke Hausel (2nd from left) and Dai-Soke Sacharnoski (4th from the left).

Photo of Professor Hausel accepting full force kick from Donette
Gillespie (3rd dan) while totally unprotected and smiling! Photo courtesy
of the University of Wyoming.

2003 Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo Clinic at Corbett Gym at the University of Wyoming. Soke Hausel sits in front (6th from the left in black jacket), Osensei Tadashi Yamashita sits 8th from the left, and Soke-Dai Eric Hausel sits 10th from the left (in black jacket). Yamashita is one of the better known Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate Ka, a movie star with such credits as Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee and The Octagon with Chuck Norris.