Founder of Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan & Chief Instructor

Shihan Michelle, CMA, RSME is a 6th degree Black Belt, 6-time World Oyama Knockdown Champion and holds many North American Open Tournament Championship titles in Kata (Form) and Kumite (Fighting). She won the Canadian Kyokushin Knockdown Division in 2001 and took 2nd place, plus the Fighting Spirit Award at the Seidokaikan “Knockdown Kings” tournament at Hunter College in NYC 2002. On October 9, 2004 she completed 61 consecutive fights with multiple opponents in the historic, “A Woman’s Right To Fight” held at the Manhattan Ballroom in NYC. The event was created to showcase the fighting spirit of the extraordinary women who practice full-contact karate and the event drew participants from the United States, Japan and Canada.

As a Laban Certified Movement Analyst and Somatic Educator, she is a uniquely qualified instructor and leader devoted to people of all ages and backgrounds discovering and developing grace and power through consistent practice.

She studied Iaido (AUSKF) with Renshi Pam Parker at Ken Zen Dojo and was awarded the rank of Nidan (2004-2009), Yang Style Tai Chi with the late Grandmaster Cheng Hsiang Yu, Embodied Anatomy and Kinesiology with Amy Matthews, Anatomy and Kinesiology with Irene Dowd, 160 contact hours of Integral Anatomy (cadaver dissection) with Gil Headley, PHD, Experiential Anatomy, Embryology, with Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, and Infant Developmental Movement Education courses from the school of Body-Mind Centering.

Her book, Brain Breaks for the Classroom, was written for Scholastic Teaching Resources and published in 2009 and she is honored to have had her article, What’s Your Next Move; Consult Your Reflexes, included in Exploring Body-Mind Centering; An Anthology of Experience and Method published by North Atlantic Books.

Adult Program Instructor

Sensei Diane is a 4th Degree Black Belt who began her training in Full Contact Karate at World Oyama Karate Headquarters in 2001. After Soshu Oyama retired, she continued to train with Shihan Michelle and develop herself as a teacher. She began assisting as an instructor in 2008 and in 2011 was awarded the title of Sensei. She maintains her own consistent, rigorous training schedule and teaches several classes a week. She has also completed The Society for Martial Arts Instruction’s Level One and Two Somatic Based Instructor Training. Sensei Diane continues to train and teach well into her 60s and is a stand that it is never too late to begin martial arts.

Becoming an instructor at Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan has been a wonderful experience to explore the precision and intention of our basic techniques, especially Kata and how they are ultimately utilized in sparring. I’m continually inspired by the progress and growth of our students in their martial arts practice and wowed by their commitment and determination.

Sensei Diane is also a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in the Drama Department with a BFA in Acting. She studied Stage Movement with Jewel Walker and Stage Combat with B.H. Barry. While at CM-U, her class was the first to be certified in the U.S. as proficient in stage combat by The Society of British Fight Directors. Sensei Diane has two children, Max and Chloe.

Adult & Children’s Program Instructor

Sensei David is a 4th degree Black Belt at Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan. He began his study of Full Contact Karate in 1994 under Soshu Shigeru Oyama at World Oyama Karate Headquarters in New York City where he received his Shodan Rank (Black Belt.) He continued his training at World Oyama Headquarters until Soshu retired in 2004. Emboldened by the need to continue to learn and grow, he began his study with Shihan Michelle Gay. After a few years of study, she asked him to begin teaching, and with that, he truly began to learn.

Sensei David feels quite blessed on a daily basis to be part of the truly special environment that is Ken Wa Kan Karate. To say that it is a special place would be an understatement. To be a part of this community with our incredible instructors, all of the wonderful Senpai (senior students), Kohai (junior students), parents and friends is such a joy. It has been a life changing experience to be able to train in an environment where everyone works together, supports each other, pushes each other and helps each other overcome the obstacles on and off the mat. To be able to empower students in all that they face in their journey to Black belt and beyond has been a truly extraordinary experience. BIG OSU!!!!

Adult & Children’s Program Instructor

Senpai Chrissy Rose began her martial arts training at Ken Wa Kan in 2019. Since then, she has earned her first degree black belt, competed and medaled in her first international karate tournament, and become a children’s instructor at Ken Wa Kan! She is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA acting program and a co-founder of Fearless Queers Self-Defense.

Senpai Chrissy believes in the value of a martial arts practice for people of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. Her favorite thing about being a children’s program instructor is getting the opportunity to introduce young people to the power and joy of martial arts!

Adult & Children’s Program Instructor

Senpai Hugo began his training at World Oyama Karate under Soshu Shigeru Oyama and Shihan Michelle. He earned his 1st Degree (Shodan) Black Belt in 2016 and earned his a 2nd Degree in 2019. He was a competitive Knockdown Fighter and took first place in 2019 at the Harlem Kanreikai Tournament. He has been a teacher of adult and children’s classes since 2018 and has returned to being a staff member after taking a short break 2020-2022.

Assistant Children’s & Adult Instructor

Khaing immigrated to New York from Myanmar (Burma) in 2017. She has been a member of Ken Wa Kan since 2021 and has assisted in instructing classes since 2023. She received her Brown belt in December 2023.

Since she was 4 years old, Khaing has been dreaming of becoming a karate martial artist. Khaing practiced karate for a few months in Myanmar after high school but lost the chance to continue hen she went to college.

Khaing’s childhood dream of becoming a Karateka was fulfilled gratefully again at Ken Wa Kan. She competed in Ken Wa Kan’s Inaugural Gotham City Invitational Tournament in 2023 and medaled in both Kata and Kumite. Khaing graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy in Myanmar and is currently pursuing her second bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in New York.

Khaing’s intention as an assistant instructor is to encourage everyone at Ken Wa Kan to practice Karate with passion, intention, discipline, and traditions, but not as a causal life event.

President of Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan, Program Director, Adult & Children’s Program Instructor

Sensei Zelda is a 4th Degree Black Belt at Karate-do Ken Wa Kan and began training in Full Contact Karate at World Oyama Karate Headquarters in 1997 at the age of five. She obtained her Black Belt in 2006 under the guidance and direction of her mother, Shihan Michelle Gay. Karate-Do Ken Wa Kan is a family owned and run business and Karate is a lifelong family love affair!

Though she took a hiatus during high school, she returned to training and teaching during her summers home from Emerson College where she studied Acting & Fight Choreography. After graduating, Sensei Zelda returned to rigorously developing herself as a Martial Artist. Since 2010, she has become a competitive Knockdown Fighter & International Karate competitor. She earned the title of Sensei when her first students became Black Belts in 2019. When not teaching at Ken Wa Kan, she works as the C.E.O of Self Offense, a company she owns with Shihan Michelle that is working to end sexual assault and harassment in the world.