We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shawn & Rebecca Knight. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shawn & Rebecca below.
Shawn & Rebecca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Everyone needs just one person to believe in them! Both my wife and I had a rough childhood. We experienced physical, mental and emotional abuse as well as neglect. We didn’t develop the feelings of self respect and confidence that come with a nurturing and safe home environment and family. Even through the dark times, we each had a lighthouse in our grandparents. They offered (in those precious moments) the love and safety that we were in desperate need of, and worked diligently to cultivate our self-worth by believing in us. It wasn’t until we found the martial arts in our teens that we were able to build upon the seeds our grandparents had planted and develop confidence and personal esteem. It is because of our own struggle, and knowing the feelings of insecurity and fear that we seek – through our martial arts school and the art of Kenpo karate – to empower each of our students to believe in themselves. Our mission is to shape our community, empower each other and build a confident, and compassionate next generation. We have built the family culture within our karate school that we were lacking in our youth, and are grateful everyday to share our passion for the art with our Kenpo family!
Shawn & Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We teach Kenpo Karate in the lineage of Senior Master Stephen LaBounty (RIP). We are grateful for our Master Council Members that have guided us in the martial arts, business and in our daily lives; SMA Sigung Stephen LaBounty (RIP), SMA Bob White (RIP), SMA John Sepulveda, and SMA Lee Wedlake!
Our school (Knight Method Kenpo), located in Tucson Arizona celebrates its 23rd year in business this year. For the last 22 years, we have been teaching life skills such as communication, goal setting and self-control.
Through the art of Kenpo, we also teach situational awareness, strength training, as well as the physical and mental abilities for our students to defend themselves. Our programs include instruction for ages 4-6, 7-14, 15 and up as well as a special class for our older students 50+. In addition, we offer zoom instruction via private lessons and group classes to students worldwide.
What sets us apart from most Kenpo schools is our rotating curriculum. For the last 18 years, we have had a great deal of success with a modified charted curriculum, that consists of three beginner, three intermediate and three advanced tiers that cycle on a four month rotation for our under black belt students. This has afforded us the ability to focus more time, energy and repetitions on a third of our material at a time. This rotating curriculum has proven to augment, polish, and build significant confidence in the dedicated and consistent student.
In 2020, when our school was shut down due to COVID, we got to work! We filmed our entire students’ curriculum. The rapid review videos are proudly posted on Youtube and our website (KnightMethodKenpo.com) for all of our techniques, sets and forms. In addition, we filmed full class videos with all aspects of our lessons to include exercises, basics, instructional models for the techniques, sets, and forms for our students training at home. This year, we will be filming and updated version of our entire Kenpo curriculum to include what we have learned and highlight some of the insights that we would like to share with our students and the greater Kenpo community.
Some of the highlights of our Kenpo journey, so far, have been my induction into the Master’s Hall of Fame by Bob White in 2019. My Wife, Rebecca, was featured in Tom Bleecker’s The Journey – Book 3, which was dedicated to our Teacher, Stephen LaBounty that same year. Both Rebecca and I been invited to teach multiple years at Graham Lelliot’s Wonder Valley Camp, one of our favorite camps. We have hosted a Winter Workshop for the last 18 years to bring the best Kenpo teachers to coach our students and create a consistent event for others to have access to our mentors and to attend their classes.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In 2022 we encountered our biggest challenge as school owners. With many years of wear and tear on my back, in July I visited my doctor due to nerve damage and pain in my leg to find that I had a severely herniated disk in my lower spine that required surgery. Just days after that diagnosis, my wife tore her ACL in training and we were now both awaiting surgery. We were used to being mostly invincible, being physically capable of doing what we wanted to do, teaching all the classes we could handle, but not anymore. It was not only difficult physically, but also mentally to be unable to perform our daily tasks and have to ask for help. This was also a lesson in disguise, as we learned to soften and allow the help that we needed at the time. Our surgeries were five weeks apart. As I healed, Rebecca took care of me the best she could, as she, herself, healed, I tried not to overdo it taking care of her. Our Kenpo mindset and never-give-up-attitude helped us both to make it through the necessary steps to recover, rehabilitate and return to what we truly love – being on the mats with our students! We are also indebted to our instructors and students for their dedication to the school and each other during that time. We had parents bringing us food, instructors handling every detail with great care, and our students showing their dedication and respect by maintaining their passion for the art. After a rough year of recovery, we are both back to our regular routines, physically stronger and hopefully a little more intelligent as well.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Knight Method Kenpo has been in the Gaslight Plaza in Tucson Arizona since September 2001. From 2001 to 2016 we leased a 2,600 square foot building in the center of the plaza. On several occasions, when our lease was coming up for renewal, we discussed our interest in purchasing the building that we were leasing and we were always met with a “Just sign for a few more years and then we’ll see.” In 2015, our building began to suffer major leaks from a failing roof. Our landlords were unwilling to address the roof problems in any real manner and pushed back against us purchasing the building, so we were forced to look at other options. We didn’t want to leave our plaza where we were finding success and building a name for our business. A 4,000 square foot, old and seemingly worn-out, building had been vacant at the end of our plaza for a few years, and by chance, when we had stopped by to take a look the owner happened to be there. He immediately gave us a tour and was excited to hear our vision of turning what had been his original family business over 50 years ago into our growing karate school’s next iteration. After that initial meeting, we were fired up, dreaming of the possibility of this next chapter, and so was he. We signed a lease / purchase agreement that allowed us to apply the first two years lease payments to the down payment. This agreement was signed by the building owner, Reg Porter, and his son. Sadly, Reg passed away just a few months later. Sometimes the right people are there just at the right time to give you an opportunity. We thank Reg from the bottom of our hearts for being that person. Rebecca and I are looking forward to continue to grow our school and to improve our instruction over the next several decades.
Contact Info:
- Website: KnightMethodKenpo.com
- Instagram: @shawnknight4
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Knight.Method.Kenpo - Youtube: @KnightMethodKenpo