Former University of Wyoming martial arts professor (kyoju) currently teaching in 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 martial artist and Soke loves to teaching martial arts and has been a martial artist his entire life! Back in 1964, he began training at the Black Eagle Federation kyokushin karate dojo in SLC, Utah, and later, 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 over 30 years. Certified in more than a dozen martial arts, his focus is on traditional Shorin-Ryu karate and kobudo and several Juko-Ryu arts including kobujutsu (samurai) arts. After retiring from UW and the Wyoming Geological Survey, he moved to the East Valley of Phoenix where he continues to teach in Gilbert and Mesa.

Those in Okinawa martial arts are typically attracted to  Soke Hausel classes because of his knowledge and background. As a member of several Halls-of-Fame, and one of the few legitimate Soke in the US, Hausel has put great emphasis on teaching, and is even a Hall-of-Fame geologist. Unlike most commercial martial arts schools that put emphasis on fees in order to survive, Soke puts all of his emphasis on teaching, rather than fees.

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.

Chandler Librarians Use Books and Knees

Librarians at the Chandler Public Library in Arizona listen to
Hall-of-Fame Grandmaster Hausel discuss the use of library
tools for self-defense.

Imagine – you’re in-between bookshelves at the public library just before closing – someone sneaks up behind and grabs you. What do you do with that book in your hand?

Several librarians and staff of the Chandler Public Library were confronted with this and other imaginary scenarios at a recent seminar taught by Hall of Fame martial artist and grandmaster, Soke Hausel from the Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa (60 W. Baseline Road, Mesa) and world head of Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai in Gilbert, an international association of Okinawan Karate and Kobudo. Kobudo is a martial art that teaches use of Okinawan farming and fishing implements, as well as modern garden and construction tools, as weapons of self-defense. Hausel was assisted by Senpai Charles Jean (nikyu brown belt and librarian).

During the seminar, Hausel taught the attendees how to escape from wrist grabs, lapel grabs and bear-hugs, by using their elbows, knees, feet and hands and how to use books, magazines, coins, pens, belts, and car keys for self-defense tools against aggressive attacks. The attendees were surprised to find they were working with potential self-defense weapons every day and even checking them out to the public. Who would have thought that a book or rolled up magazine could be so effective in self-defense.

Over the years, many librarians have taken up martial arts training with grandmaster Hausel. In fact, the University of Wyoming Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo Club had some librarians in its group and the club is currently taught Shorin-Ryu Karate by a university librarian.

Hausel taught similar self-defense clinics and seminars to local political groups, EMT, university faculty and staff, military, scouts, teachers, women’s clubs, sororities, religious groups, martial arts instructors, etc. He is a professor of martial arts who taught at four universities in past years and currently teaches karate, kobudo and self-defense in the East Valley.

We thank Charles Jean (nikyu brown belt on the right) for setting up the self-defense clinic for the Chandler Public Library.

And what should a librarian know about their knees and feet?