Testimonials

Here are some of the things students have had to say about their time with Innovation Karate and Jujutsu
Note: Innovation Karate and Jujutsu was previously known as Denshinkan until 2019. Some testimonials refer to the previous name.

Peter

George, Quan and Nic

Suzanne, James M & James F

"When I first started at DENSHINKAN under Sensei Shawn, never doing martail arts before, I didnt know what to expect. From the moment I started, he and the team, but especially Sensei Shawn, made me feel extremely welcome. And over the last two years, helped me learn a lot about martial arts, not only the physical side, but about the history of martial arts as well. Not once have I not wanted to go to training, and a big part of that is due to Sensei Shawn, making classes fun, educational and exciting."

Jarrad

Debbie

"Shawn made me do stuff that I thought I was incapable of doing. I was the kid who never did a handstand. And he had me rolling ( if you can call it that ) all over the dojo. So upping my confidence in myself is one aspect. Through that I decided that I can do stuff that I never thought I could and I had a good look at me and my little existence on this planet. So now I am improving the rest of me ... or trying to. So I signed up for Michelle Bridges 12WBT, and I am slowly losing weight just so that I can do stuff in the higher grades. I now go to a gym to get my fitness levels up, just for training. I have enrolled in a few classes to learn to bake and cook. All in all I think that because of Shawn and KU, I am a much better person ... or in the process of becoming a much better person. Not to mention the fact that my kids think I am hilarious when I practice my syllabus each day."

Dinah

"I had a great time at the Denshinkan. After completing my Master degree studies in Germany, I travelled a year through Australia. As a “walzing black belt” I stayed in Adelaide for a rather long time of that year. I was able to train with Sensei Shawn and the Denshinkan team for some months. I highly appreciated the hospitality of Sensei Shawn and his students. Apart from learning more about my chosen art I also learned a lot about the Australian way of life. And the fighting art is an art of life … as Sensei Shawn demonstrated not only at the Fight for Life seminar last year but also in life. I will never forget the hours we spent together training, laughing and discussing. I’d like to thank Sensei Shawn and his students for their help and friendship!"

Christian

"I have been studying martial arts on and off throughout my life, and I have had the experience of training under a variety of instructors. And from these experiences, I can only highly recommend Sensei Shawn as he is someone who is very passionate in his field, who has a great wealth of knowledge and who makes everyone feel comfortable and motivated under his guidance. Classes are structured in a way that allows everyone to progressively develop their own skills at their own pace, and everything taught not only has a purpose but is well explained and applied. This I believe is of high importance in learning martial arts, but which from my personal experience, I found is often missing in other clubs. I also really enjoy how Sensei Shawn structures his classes so they all include teachings of moral philosophy, along with academic and historical topics. This is awesome, because Karate taught in this manner not only allows you to become a better fighter, but it also helps you in so many other aspects in your life, and has allowed me to become a better, more confident and disciplined person in general. Training at the Denshinkan Martial arts academy really offers a positive and fun learning environment, where everyone is friendly, co-operative, and willing to explain and help. Regardless of age or experience, Denshikan Martial Arts Academy offers realistic and rewarding karate for everyone. "

Sean

"I started training with Sensei Shawn a number of years back. As an above-knee amputee, I have a natural disadvantage when it comes to learning a sport or participate in martial arts. Or so I thought.

Training in the martial arts has effectively taught me that there are few limits to what I can aspire to achieve. I have learned how to focus body and mind to achieve a physical response with a resonant spiritual impact.

I have found that training with Sensei Shawn at the Denshinkan in particular has been instrumental in moving beyond rote repetition and gaining a truer understanding of karate and martial arts in general. My disability has in no way been held against me during training and has been actively investigated to determine how I can adapt to the syllabus, including leveraging my condition in cases where I may have a natural advantage.

Training at the Denshinkan has proved to be, in many ways, a life-changing experience for me. I have had the opportunity to train in a positive environment with other like-minded students, encouraged to learn from other styles and to cross-train without prejudice and, for me, build mobility skills I had never thought possible."

Suzanne

"I come from a sports based karate system, which I enjoyed a great deal. I have spent 1000's of hours training and teaching over a few years. However, I found myself constantly asking questions but not getting any substantial answers. Which is in no way a slight on sports or competition based karate, I just found myself wanting to know more. For both myself and my students.I acquired a severe injury that caused a few problems in the style of karate I trained in. It adversely affected the techniques required for a sports/competition based style of martial arts. Where everything must be performed to a technically based perfection. As there are a few techniques I could no longer perform as required, I began to question "WHAT" am I performing. I began to look at the effectiveness of the techniques I performed and quickly found that I couldn't get answers that made sense. In time this created a very negative training atmosphere as I was frustrated with the fact I had no answers and my instructor didn't seem to be able to work around my injury, I was quite often told to stand out, as in his opinion I couldn't do what he was teaching. Which he was entitled to do so, however I knew that there must be a way I could do it.I had met Sensei Shawn at a seminar a few years ago, and have trained with him a few times at different seminars, over the years following, even after I acquired my injury.Not once was my injury held as a reason I couldn't achieve something. Sensei Shawn showed me I just did not have the tools yet to be able to adjust to my bodies abilities....not my disabilities.I made the decision to go and train regularly with Sensei Shawn and the Denshinkan team and I found something I wasn't expecting. Not only was I getting answers to questions I'd not been able to get answers to before, but more so, I had better questions to ask.I was standing in a dojo where I was surrounded by such a strong positive environment. It ceased being I can't do that....to....how can I achieve that outcome!Before joining Denshinkan I found myself not enjoying training, I was becoming despondent. Like there was no path anymore, no where to head to.As of today.....I can honestly say through the caring support I have received from Sensei Shawn and the Denshinkan team. The desire to learn is not frowned on, but strongly encouraged.Over the time I have now trained under Sensei Shawn, I have watched him handle both absolute novices to martial arts and those with years of experience behind them, that works to their level of skill and knowledge effortlessly.I realised something recently......much to my own surprise and joy. I have begun to fall in love with my training all over again!"

TESTIMONIALS

Here are some of the things students have had to say about their time with Innovation Karate and Jujutsu Note: Innovation Karate and Jujutsu was previously known as Denshinkan until 2019. Some testimonials refer to the previous name.