We are located in the Baustein Building at 532 Main Street, #212, on a second floor walk-up. There’s an elevator if you need one, but the stairs were a part of Funakoshi Sensei’s practice until his death, so consider them a part of the training.
Plenty of parking is available along Main Street right in front of the building, and in a large parking lot out back. Bring your own water, though there are some spares in the fridge in case you forget.
You can also reach us via PVTA bus, stopping at Main & Adams or High & Jackson streets, or via Amtrak stopping at the station on Main Street. Walk a few minutes from any of those and you’re here.
精進 (shōjin) - devotion, diligence, concentration
道場 (dōjō) - place of the way
Dojo names mean something. They reflect the spirit of the place. It’s easy to forget that the word dojo means something other than “gym” - place of the way, like tao. Shōjin Dōjō is the physical home of Holyoke Ueshiro Karate here on Main Street.
Austin Hatch (san-dan, shihan) founded Shōjin Dōjō in 2024 after training at Pine Forest Karate under Sensei Dan Gobillot (shichi-dan, shihan) for ten years.
We’ve got a few heavy bags, a handful of hojo undo tools, a half dozen zafus and zabutons, some good books about zen practice, karate and the martial arts more broadly, 200 sq ft of mats for the times we want to explore gravity together, some spare dogi’s, a vibey little changing room, 10 foot windows letting in plenty of natural light, and access to restrooms nearby.
There’s even air conditioning if we need it. “It should be kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” according to Dōgen Zenji, and I’m not going to argue with him.
