Our Instructors have spent many years devoted to the art of Karate and other martial arts and have attained an undeniable level of expertise to qualify them as teachers and also mentors. Through extensive testing, certification and tournament level competition, our staff has attained a high level of skill.

Here are the instructors of West Seattle Karate Academy:

Kris Wilder, head instructor, is the author of several books on the martial arts, including most recently Way of Sanchin Kata (YMAA, 2007) (see Books and Media for more titles). He started practicing the martial arts at the age of fifteen. Over the years, he has earned black belt rankings in three styles, Goju-Ryu karate (4th dan), tae kwon do (2nd dan), and judo (1st dan), in which he has competed in senior national and international tournaments.

He has had the opportunity to train under skilled instructors, including Olympic athletes, state champions, national champions, and gifted martial artists who take their lineage directly from the founders of their systems. Kris has trained across the United States and Okinawa. He is a founding member of the Hokusei Yudanshakai.

For more information, visit his Personal Website, subscribe to his blog, The Striking Post, or email him at thedojo@quidnunc.net.

You can find more about Kris, his thoughts about training, and much more in this insightful article: An Interview With Kris Wilder From Iain Abernethy.com

Lawrence Kane has also authored several books on the martial arts, including most recently, Surviving Armed Assaults: A Martial Artists Guide to Weapons, Street Violence, and Countervailing Force. (see Books and Media for more titles). Over the last 30 or so years, he has participated in a broad range of martial arts, from traditional Asian sports such as judo, arnis, kobudo, and karate to recreating medieval European combat with real armor and rattan (wood) weapons. He has taught medieval weapons forms since 1994 and Goju Ryu karate since 2002. He has also completed seminars in modern gun safety, marksmanship, handgun retention and knife combat techniques, and he has participated in slow-fire pistol and pin shooting competitions.

Since 1985 Lawrence has supervised employees who provide security and oversee fan safety during college and professional football games at a Pac-10 stadium. This job has given him a unique opportunity to appreciate violence in a myriad of forms. Along with his crew, he has witnessed, interceded in, stopped or prevented literally hundreds of fights, experiencing all manner of aggressive behaviors as well as the escalation process that invariably precedes them. He has also worked closely with campus police and state patrol officers who are assigned to the stadium and has had ample opportunities to examine their crowd control tactics and procedures.

Email Kane at lakane@ix.netcom.com

Jeff Stevens started his GoJu-Ryu training in 1989. In his earlier years he competed and placed in events locally and in Europe. He was voted Pacific Northwest Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan's "Student of The Year" in 1993 just before receiving the rank of Shodan. He received his Nidan in 1998 and Sandan in 2004. He has taught GoJu-Ryu Karate for several years at various local Parks and Recreation Departments. He is a contributing instructor at the West Seattle Karate Dojo and is a member of the Hokusai Yudanshakai. He is employed as a supervisor in flight operations for an air transport company.

Bud Shasteen assists with instruction at the West Seattle Karate Academy. He was born in the Midwest, raised in Seattle during WWII, and lived in worked in Hawaii for most of his life. He earned his Karate black belt in 1962 and holds an Ii-kyu in Judo as well. All three of his children earned their black belts in karate as well. His grandson carries on the family legacy training in karate at the West Seattle Karate Academy, often alongside his grandfather, Shasteen Sensei.