About us
Samurai Martial Arts is located on the corner of Spencerport and Elmgrove Road on a sprawling 2.25 acre property. Our 8,100 square foot building includes 3 dojo floors, a weight room, parent waiting area, 2 locker rooms and a martial arts supply store!
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In the late 70's, Sensei Curt Sawyer began training in Isshin-Ryu Karate under Master Joseph Jennings at Jennings Karate Academy in Gates. Sensei Sawyer fell in love with the art of karate and spent as much time as he could at the dojo. After managing the dojo for a year, Sensei Sawyer bought one of the Jennings Karate Academy locations from Master Jennings in 1983, thus starting an amazing career and business building.
In 1985, Sensei Sawyer moved the dojo to a different location. The school was growing and needed more space! In the late 80's a second location was created in Spencerport.
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In 1994, Sensei Sawyer purchased property on the corner of Spencerport Road and Elmgrove Road. He built a new dojo from the ground up and created the largest martial arts facility in Rochester. The Gates and Spencerport locations were combined into one school.
1995 was the first year of The Ultimate Karate Kid Camp. With the new property, we were able to build an amazing Confidence Obstacle Course and have room for sports, games and outdoor classes!
Shortly after, Sensei Sawyer changed the name of the business to Samurai Martial Arts and added Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Cardio Kickboxing to our available programs.
We encourage students to take advantage of all that we offer and to cross-train and utilize our weight & cardio equipment.
Our current location allows us to provide so many opportunities to our students including hosting area-wide tournaments, guest instructor seminars, outdoor sparring tournaments, kids karate birthday parties, and more. We are also able to have a fully stocked martial arts supply store that we call "Samurai Supplies". The store provides cold drinks, snacks, protein shakes, uniforms, weapons, sparring equipment, workout-out clothing, and everything else a student could need!
