Mojukai Karate aims to make positive impact on community
Simon Brown
Mojukai Karate celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday.
Pike County community members assembled as Lennis Darby, the senior instructor of Mojukai Karate, chopped the scarlet ribbon in half with a jumbo-sized pair of scissors.
While Mojukai Karate is new to Pike County, its roots trace far back. Mojukai stems from Yosjukai, a school under the American Karate Association.
“In the mid-90s, due to some conflicts in the American organization, I started my own school independently,” Darby said. “The director of the American organization called me and asked me not to call it by the same name, which was Yoshukai.
“I agreed to call it something different, so I re-named it Mojukai.”
Darby, who is also a fifth-degree black belt, created Mojukai to teach his students the art of self-defense.
Darby explained that “Mojukai means ‘fierce animal family,’" Darby said the reason that he picked that name is because he wants his students to approach self-defense like an animal.
“Animals don’t fight unless they’re forced to,” Darby said.. “If they're forced to, they fight all the way all the time.
“That’s the principle behind self-defense.”
The ribbon cutting was a way to honor Mojukai’s opening. The Pike County Chamber of Commerce was eager to mark the occasion.
“One of the things that we do at the chamber that we enjoy the most is ribbon cuttings,” said Chamber of Commerce President Bethany Allen. “It’s so exciting to have the community come together to celebrate a new business.
“We are excited about Mojukai Karate because it’s a new and unique business to Pike County.”
While Mojukai may be a karate school, Darby believes it is about more than just about karate.
“In your lifetime, you’re going to have five or six opportunities to choose a positive path forward,” Darby said. “When you get the opportunity to find that positive path, if you don’t latch on to it, you’re going to have a negative path in front of you.
“Japanese karate gives you an opportunity to make a positive path for yourself ,b. Because it's about more than about the ability to defend yourself. It's also about developing your personal character too.”
Those interested in getting involved with Mojukai Karate can call (334) 475-3899 or pay a visit to the dojo located in the Southland Village shopping center.
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