Instructors: Andy Pacejka
Andrew
J. Pacejka, 2nd Dan
Andy began training in 1990 while a college
student at Illinois Wesleyan with the Central Illinois Shotokan Karate Association
(http://www.ciskarate.com), an affiliate of the American Shotokan Karate Alliance.
Under the guidance of instructor Elston Flowers and chief instructor Carl
Hartter, Andy achieved the rank of ni kyu (brown belt) and also became president
of the Illinois Wesleyan Karate Club.
After relocating to Salt Lake City in 1996, he began training with Michael
Berger (http://www.wayoflifekarate.com/), chief instructor and founder of
the Ken Zen Ichi Utah Dojo of the International Karate Association. In the
year 2000, Andy achieved the rank of shodan with the International Karate
Association, with Soke Kubota and a panel of international judges presiding
over the test.
Since then, Andy has trained under the tutelage of Marius Gilca, current head
instructor of the Ken Zen Ichi Utah Dojo (http://www.kenzenichi.com/) and
Doug Jepperson, head instructor of Shiyu Sui Wado. Andy is the head instructor
for the University of Utah Karate Club and helped to found Shiyu Sui Kai,
a confederation of Utah traditional Japanese karate dojos.
Throughout his career, Andy has had the privilege to attend seminars taught
by a number of karate greats, including Hirokazu Kanazawa, Osamu Ozawa, Stan
Schmidt, Tak Kubota, Tatsuo Suzuki, Randall Hassell and Cyrus Madani.
Andy also has competed in a number of tournaments including:
1990s - SKC's Chicago
Classic
2000 - All-World Millenium Kubota Cup, 3rd place brown
belt kumite
2001 Wado International U.S. Championships in the kata division
runner up
2002 - AAU Regional, 1st place kata; national
qualifier, kumite
2003-2007 Ozawa Cup, 4th place, team kumite 2007
2007 Rocky Mountain Championships
2005-2007 Utah Open;
1st place black belt kata; 2nd place black belt kumite 2007
2008 Utah Open - 2nd place heavyweight black belt kumite, 3rd place black belt kata
First WSKO World Championships, El Salvador 2008 - 3rd place heavyweight black belt kumite; 4th place black belt kata.
Andy received a B.A. in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.S. in Biological Sciences from Illinois State University.