Dojo Events – USA Kenkojuku Shotokan

2025 Mt. Kisco Dojo Toy Drive & Holiday Party

December 13, 2025

The Mt. Kisco Dojo celebrated the start of the 2025 Holiday Season with our traditional pot luck get together where everyone brings a special dish to share with the rest of the group. It was an amazing collection of delicious appetizers, main dishes & desserts.

Keeping with tradition, the Dojo was nicely decorated with colorful garlands and lights, along with Holiday music playing in the background along with Holiday scenery using the TV monitor. The Dojo was full of animated & fun conversations, good energy, and a strong Dojo Spirit.

While the adults enjoyed the food and each other’s company, Lisa organized a variety of games and activities for the kids, including the whacking of the Pinata, and a fun version of musical chairs using the punching bags on the floor. Amelie helped out with the music, and did a great job. Amazing how much the kids love this activity year after year.

Rafael Algarin, our Dojo Captain, took a moment to review some of the exceptional highlights and project activities for the Mt. Kisco Dojo in 2025, along with a very special thank you Holiday card to Sensei Takahashi for keeping our amazing training going, and our Dojo spirit strong. Solange Valentin, our Dojo Co-Captain, presented our 2025 Dojo Picture (masterfully created by Naoto Kihara). This was followed by a uplifting speech by Sensei Takahashi, who shared his appreciation of those who help with the Dojo, and that we should continue to focus on maintaining our dedication, and keep on training together.

This was another great year for our traditional Holiday Toy Drive, taking a moment to do something for those who are less fortunate. We collected four very full bags of toys and gifts. The donations were made to a local charity, the Open Door Foundation (https://opendoormedical.org/). The Mt. Kisco Dojo is appreciative of our student’s donations, and their thoughtfulness & generosity. This marks the 31th anniversary of the Mt. Kisco Dojo Toy Drive, which represents our continued Dojo spirit of giving during the Holidays.

It was an exceptional day, and everyone had a good time, and it was a great start to the beginning of the Holiday Season. Enclosed below are some additional pictures from Rick… Enjoy the nice memories!

Looking forward to the 2026 event ! Wishing you a very Happy New Year ! OSS !!

Contributor: Rick King (Jan 9, 2026)

Dojo Events

2024 Mt. Kisco Toy Drive & Holiday Party

December 7, 2024

Each year the Mt. Kisco Dojo celebrates the beginning of the Holiday Season by getting together, and enjoying wonderful food, good conversation, and strong Dojo spirit. As in past years, the Dojo was decorated with colorful lights & garlands, along with Holiday music playing in the background.

Each of the students brought all kinds of tasty pot luck food to share with the group, along with their family members or friends. The variety of appetizers, main dishes and desserts was very representative of our diverse backgrounds from around the world.

In addition to keeping the annual Holiday Party tradition going, we also have another special tradition, a Holiday Toy Drive for those who are less fortunate. This year we collected several very full bags of toys and gifts. The donations were made to a local charity, the Open Door Foundation (https://opendoormedical.org/). The Mt. Kisco Dojo is very appreciative of our student’s thoughtfulness & generosity.

Note: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Mt. Kisco Dojo Toy Drive, which was originally established in 1994 by one of our most memorable Dojo Captains (Craig Sirett).

It was a wonderful day; everyone enjoyed the beginning of the Holiday Season. Enclosed below are some additional pictures from Rick & Michael… Enjoy !

Already looking forward to next year’s event ! Wishing you a very Happy Holidays ! OSS !!

Dojo Events

2023 Mt. Kisco Dojo Toy Drive & Holiday Party

December 9, 2023

Each year we celebrate the Holidays at the Mt. Kisco Dojo by getting together, and enjoying each others company. The Dojo is decorated with lights and colorful garlands to add to the festivities. Students bring delicious pot luck style prepared dishes to share with the group, and our diversity of backgrounds adds something quite special to the mix.

In addition to the great food, we also have a Charity Toy Drive for those who are less fortunate, which was originally established in 1994 by one of our Mt. Kisco Dojo Captains (Craig Sirett). This year we collected three very full bags of toys and gifts. The Mt. Kisco Dojo is very appreciative of our students generosity. The gifts are already on their way…

It was a special day, and everyone enjoyed the Holiday Spirit. Enclosed below are some of the pictures from the event.

Looking forward to next years event ! Wishing you a very Happy Holidays !

OSS !!

Dojo Events

Mt. Kisco Takahashi Dojo Annual Picnic

September 9, 2023

We kept this wonderful tradition going, and even though heavy rain was forecasted, we dodged the drops and had a really wonderful day together.

We were once again graciously hosted by Howard & Carol Citron at their beautiful lake house in South Salem. Thank you for sharing your little slice of heaven.

Here are a subset of the pictures taken by Sojin and Solange, which helped to capture special moments from the great day, and our strong Dojo Spirit.

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Here are all the pictures:

Please join us again next year to help keep this fine tradition going.

OSS !!

Dojo Events

3 Year Zoom Training Anniversary; Apr 2, 2023

From April 2, 2020 (3 weeks after closing the Mt. Kisco Dojo due to Covid-19 Pandemic) until February 12, 2022 (when the Mt. Kisco Dojo was fully re-opened), we had ~286 Zoom training sessions lead by Sensei Takahashi; from the Mt. Kisco Dojo, or his home.

We all agree, this was an extraordinary time. There is absolutely nothing to compare it to. It was a completely unique experience for everyone who has been part of the Mt. Kisco Takahashi Dojo.

Accordingly, we took a moment to commemorate the 3 year anniversary of our first Zoom Training, with a gift to Sensei Takahashi, and the following thoughts:

“On behalf of the entire Mt. Kisco Dojo, we want to thank you, Sensei Takahashi, for your unwavering commitment to keep the Mt. Kisco Dojo together, and “to keep the fire burning.” We want to express our deep appreciation for your outstanding leadership through this unprecedented chapter of our life of training in Kenkojuku Shotokan Karate. It is remarkably clear that very few people on this earth have had a similar experience. OSS !!”

The gift was a photomosaic picture of Sensei Takahashi leading us in a training session, to commemorate the 3-year anniversary of our first Zoom training; Thursday April 2, 2020. The photomosaic is comprised of 300+ screen captures during our 2020-2022 Zoom trainings.

At first glance, this picture is a bit unusual; a bit abstract, like an impressionist painting by Claude Monet… Nevertheless, this collection of 300+ pictures comes together to tell the unique story of a remarkable experience during an extraordinary time for the Mt. Kisco Takahashi Karate Dojo.

Enclosed below are a few pictures from this special celebration.