Koré Grate
Preferred Title: Shifu/Sensei Began training: Styles/Arts: Wu Chien Pai-"Empty Space Style" (Judo, DanZanRyu Jujitsu, Taiji, Qigong, Gong fu)- 8th degree black belt, AikiToho Nishio Ryu Iaido-2nd degree black belt, Sosho Ryu Iaido-2nd degree black belt, Naginata-5th Kyu (Sensei for all Japanese arts, Shifu for all Chinese arts)Hall of Fame Award: 2012 - 40 years 2023 - 50 years Other Awards: Email: Location: Minneapolis, MN Dojo: Five Element Martial Arts and Healing Center (FEMA) Website: www.femamartialarts.org | Biography:
Shifu/Sensei Koré has been training in the martial arts since she was 16. She was inducted into the AWMAI Hall of Fame in 2012 for 40 years of teaching and training. She has been serving as the Executive Director of the Association of Women Martial Arts Instructors from 2013 to present. Supporting what she believes in, she is a founding board member of PAWMA, served as PAWMA Vice-President, created and served as a PAWMA Elder Counsel, she received the PAWMA Martial Artist of the Year in 2005 and the esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. in 1994-1996, Koré served as Chair for NWMAF (National Womens Martial Arts Federation) and is one of the founding mothers of the ARC Council (Anti-Racism Council/All Races Count). She is on the Keiko Fukuda Foundation Board of Directors as a link to AWMAI, NWMAF and PAWMA. In November 2016 she traveled to India with Sifu Sonya Richardson and Dr. Shelley Fernandez representing the Keiko Fukuda Judo Foundation to teach girls much needed self-defense in twelve schools in Patiala in the Northern Punjab Province. With deep gratitude for her teachers whom she still trains with, Koré is a branch of Zhi Dao Guan - Grandmaster Alex Feng, Midwest Manager for Master Su Zi Fang, and Branch Manager of Jian Mei -Grandmaster Wen Mei Yu. She trained in Naginata with the late Miyako Tanaka Sensei, and trains in Nishio Ruy Aikitoho Iaido under Koji Yoshida Shihan and Michelle Benzamin-Miki Sensei. To further deepen her roots in the arts, she traveled to China three times and trained with Professor Wang Pei Kun and his International Wu Shu Team. The late great Professor Coleen Gragen of Hand to Hand Kajukenbo in Oakland will always be one of her heroes and inspiration to "Stay True to the Path-Never let anyone or anything stop you from training” and ultimately “It’s all about LOVE”. Head Instructor/Executive Director of Five Element Martial Arts & Healing Center Eighth Degree Black Belt in WU CHIEN PAI (founded in 1973 by Dr. Alexander Feng)=Traditional Judo, Jujitsu, Gong-fu, Taiji, Qigong, Healing & /Meditation Two Second Degree Black Belts in Nishio Ryu Iaido and Sosho Ryu Iaido Branch Manager for Jian Mei Internal Arts under Grandmaster Wen Mei Yu Executive Director of the Association of Women Martial Arts Instructors |
Shifu/Sensei Koré is Founder & Executive Director and Head Instructor of the Five Element Martial Arts and Healing Center (FEMA) formerly Feminist Eclectic Martial Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota founded in 1989 then established in 1994 as a 501c3 non-profit organization. The first Branch of FEMA is in Jerusalem, Israel under Shijie Sarah Gordon-Lavine.