University of Wyoming martial arts professor (kyoju) moves to Phoenix Valley

Soke Hausel of Gilbert, Arizona loves teaching martial arts.
Photo shows Hausel with black belt Jason Gies, demonstrating
jujutsu techniques to faculty, staff and students at UW. Photo 
courtesy of the University of Wyoming.

Hall-of-Fame karate and kobudo grandmaster located in Arizona, loves to teach martial arts receiving considerable joy in watching his students progress! How he got started decades ago, was  because he was actually led to karate by the Beatles in 1964. At the time, along with millions of other people, he watched the Beatles make their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. As a brand-new teenager, this made a strong impression on him and he began to look into guitar lessons. A few months later, a note posted on a public bulletin board at Hart Brothers Music Company for a band  looking for a lead guitar attracted his interest. He showed up for the audition and over the next several months, the band: the Churchman, slowly rose in popularity until they became the number 1 band in Utah. Along with the music and long hair came the closed minded people who did not like anything different, leading the four band members to sign up for self-defense training with Sensei Tom Anguay at the  Black Eagle Federation kyokushin karate dojo. The intense karate training, led to the band handling any threats. And the  natural path for Soke was to continue training in martial arts. As his path progressed, he found astronomy, geology and other disciplines - but continued learning many Japanese/Okinawa martial arts and earning rank certification and awards in more than 2-dozen arts as well as as promotion to the highest rank in Okinawa karate and certification as sokeshodai (grandmaster).

As time progressed, soke taught karate at the University of Utah,  University of New Mexico, ASU, and taught karate, kobudo, self-defense, jujutsu, and samurai arts at the University of Wyoming for 35 years. After retiring from UW and the Wyoming Geological Survey, he moved to the East Valley of Phoenix where he continues to teach, consult on mineral deposits, and author books.

Those who train in Okinawa martial arts are often interested in soke's classes because of his knowledge and background. A member of several halls-of-fame, and one of the few legitimate soke in the US, he puts emphasis on teaching. Besides martial arts, soke worked as an astronomer, geoscientist, even researched lunar rocks, and was inducted into Halls-of-Fame as a geologist.  He is a polymath and has made niche not only in martial arts, but also astronomy, geology, writing, public speaking and art. He extended his life-long path after completing post-graduate studies in sindonology during the covid crisis/scam. In the past few years (2020-2025), he trained at the Juko Kai hombu where he earn additional certifications in some combat martial arts. 

Soke Hausel teaches advanced karate clinic in the art of Hakutsuru Shorin-Ryu (
(White Crane karate), at Corbett Gym at the University of Wyoming.
(photo courtesy of the University of Wyoming).

A Martial Art Legend in Gilbert, Arizona

Soke posses while teaching tekko (Okinawan Horse shoes) 
during Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo classes at the
Arizona Hombu dojo in Mesa, Arizona.

Grandmaster of Shorin-Ryu Karate & Kobudo taught karate, kobudo, samurai arts, self-defense, jujutsu, kempojutsu, sojutsu, self-defense for women, etc., for more than 30 years at the University of Wyoming. After retiring, he moved to the East Valley of Phoenix and relocated to Gilbert in 2007, and opened the Hombu Dojo. Hombu - the world headquarters of a Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai.

Soke Hausel, nominated and selected for the Albert Nelson
Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

While at the University of Wyoming, he was certified as Professor of Budo (martial arts) by Juko Kai International, and taught martial arts classes and clinics in four colleges including Club Sports, Extended Studies, Physical Education and Kinesiology. Over the years, he was awarded nationally and internationally for his teaching recognized by the University President and the WyomingGovernor for outstanding contributions to martial arts and the education of a few thousand of students at the University of Wyoming. He was also a stand out in the geological sciences. He was known as a workaholic and a person who loved to help others.

Over the years, he was selected  recognized for lifelong dedication to martial arts, geology and writing and was selected for the Albert Nelson Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into in Who’s Who in Martial Arts Legends in Washington DC, and was honored as an outstanding alumni of Who's Who in Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Students of all ages - from 10 to 100, learn karate and kobudo. Children train with a parent or grandparent.

Hausel trained a few hundred black belts around the world as well as hundreds of lower ranked students. Most are now productive members of society as engineers, scientists, physicians, accountants, priests, soldiers, mechanics, university faculty and staff, university students, school teachers, lawyers, nurses, pilots, etc. And many of have noted that their training in martial arts provided an advantage in their respective careers.

According to various researchers; training in traditional martial arts helps improve physical and mental conditioning in part due to better health, memory, concentration, and social skills through training in the traditional Okinawa Shorin-Ryu martial arts.

Hausel dreams that one day he will meet a benefactor as devoted as he, so a permanent martial arts school can be constructed to offer many different aspects of the traditional Okinawan and Japanese martial arts to the public in the Phoenix valley, and train people to respect others and be ethical, something that is not practiced by politicians.

In one recent (2018) US study reported by Dr. Ashleigh Johnstone from Bangor University, children between the ages of 8 and 11 were tasked with traditional martial arts training that focused on respecting others and defending themselves as part of an anti-bullying program. The children were taught to maintain a level of self-control in heated situations.

Researchers found martial arts training reduced the level of aggressive behavior in boys, and the boys were more likely to step in and help someone who was being bullied. Significant changes were not found in the girls’ behavior, possibly because they showed lower levels of physical aggression before the training than the boys did.

Interestingly, this anti-aggression effect is not limited to young children. A different research project found reduced physical and verbal aggression, as well as hostility, in adolescents who practiced martial arts.

Grand Canyon University Professor Earns Master Degree

SO How Does a PhD Earn a Master Degree? Easy! Join a Traditional Okinawan Martial Arts School.

Dr. Neal Adam is awarded both godan (5th degree black belt)
and Shihan (Master Instructor) certificates by Soke Hausel at
the Seiyo Kai Hombu in Mesa.

Wax on, wax off.  It takes decades of dedication & training to master a martial art. When most people think of a master of martial arts, they often visualize an old, wise monk; or a faster than life karate master who is indestructible. But to be a true master of martial arts, one must not only master the physical skills of a martial art, but they must also master oriental philosophy, history and traditions.

It is also rare for a PhD to earn a Master Degree: not the master’s degree from a university, but a master degree in Shorin-Ryu Karate. Remember Daniel-san from the original Karate Kid? Mr. Myagi taught Daniel-san Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate - the same art taught at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa and Gilbert at 60 W. Baseline Road. Reaching the level of PhD and Professor requires dedication to a particular field of study and research leaving little time for anything else. And to do the same in martial arts is rare.

Dr Neal Adam, associate professor of biology at Grand Canyon University, has dedicated the past 30 years to learning karate while pursuing a career in science. His love for karate reached a high level of comprehension of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Seiyo Kai Karate and Kobudo. To reach this level of expertise, one must understand the mechanics and physics of karate, they must comprehend the philosophy of the art, they must learn dozens of complex forms and be able to demonstrate these forms without thinking and with extraordinary power and focus, and they must master ancient weapons, and must learn to defend themselves effectively.

Mild mannered Dr. Adam in his
traditional university professor
uniform

The Master degree is a measure of one’s expertise and translates in Japanese as Shihan. Dr. Neal Adam reached this level and was presented certifications of Shihan and Godan (5th degree black belt) after testing in front of Soke Hausel, world head of Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo at the Hombu (world headquarters) in Mesa.

In addition to demonstrating an understanding of karate and kobudo, Dr. Adam was also required to develop new forms of kobudo. He created a new form of hanbo (3-foot staff) and applications for self defense, and also developed a new form using common everyday tools of his trade for self-defense: eye glasses, rulers, pens, belt, etc. The new form was named the Nerd-ja kata.

After many years of training, Dr. Adam was promoted to kudan (9th dan) and in May 2020, became one of only two people to ever receive certification as Menkyo Kaiden for Seiyo no Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai, from Soke Hausel. It is so difficult to put into perspective how quickly time went after taking its time earlier in life. God bless my student and friend!