Our History

 

Our History 

In 1999 Sensei Nima Mazhari founded a small karate school in Virginia.  He started the school out of a passion for teaching martial arts, and has seen the school grow because of that passion and dedication to teaching others.

As a child, Sensei Nima was a troublemaker and a poor student.  Like many of his childhood friends, he could have taken the easy way through life and not changed.  In classic martial-arts-movie-fashion, while walking home one day, he stumbled upon a martial arts school.  Apprehensive, but wanting to give it a try, he found the start of the path that would begin his lifelong journey of self-development.  In that school he began to know discipline.  He learned that in order to get better he had to accept that there is no substitute for a good work ethic.  In that school he began to learn about respect.  In order to improve, one must humble oneself to those who command respect and to learn from them. 

Over the course of a year, a troubled and poor student became not only respectful to his parents and teachers, but one of the few people in his school to pass his college entrance exam and then later, to attend college.  The practice of martial arts made him not only a better martial artist, but a better person as well.  It transformed his life in such a dramatic fashion that he decided to dedicate his life to helping others transform their lives as well.

Sensei Nima has competed in over 100 full contact tournament fights against some of the best fighters in the world, but now wants nothing more than to foster the development of his students.  Virginia Karate was founded upon helping students grow as human beings, and through that, as martial artists.  We have trained some of the best karate fighters in the world, with some going on to win international tournaments in Japan.  Athletes can always complete with some success in martial arts if they choose to, but it takes more to turn them into a complete martial artist and achieve the success that they are capable of.  We have that, and we have the students as proof.

 

Sensei Nima Mazhari in 1996 World Open Knock Down Karate Championship on pay per view: