Barry Wassermen

Meeting Life's Challenges
I had just completed 3 months of cardiac rehabilitation and it has been 7 months since my heart transplant. I needed to keep increasing my level of exercise and treadmills and other equipment were not doing it for me. It has been 25 years since I have been able to do the activities I wanted and some I had never done. Martial Arts were one of those I had never participated in and had always wanted to. It was time; so I started to do my research. I researched the different forms and contacted all the schools in the area. I was beginning to get frustrated and it did not look as though it was going to happen until I received a call back from Sensei Byrnes from BUSHI Karate. He not only encouraged me with his experience helping others rehabilitate from different ailments, but he actually seemed enthusiastic about the challenge of working with someone like me. He asked me to come in to evaluate my level of conditioning which was a lot worse than I could have imagined. I was rehabilitating in a gym like setting and thought I was doing pretty good doing 90 minutes of cardio and weight training until I trained for an hour doing Karate. What a difference I thought to myself; I will never be able to keep up with the class.

Then came the amazing part; Sensei Byrnes offered to work with me one on one until I thought I was ready to join the regular class. If not for this offer I would have never continued. We worked together 3 days a week and I felt my conditioning improving with each lesson. I have since joined the regular classes and continue to go 2- 3 times a week and my doctors are very encouraged at how quickly I am progressing. Each time I meet with a different physician and they ask what I am doing for my regular exercise, I always receive a look of disbelief and then a smile. It has been 14 months now since my transplant and I am doing things I never thought would be possible.

I would highly recommend BUSHI Karate to anyone looking to challenge themselves either from recovering from an injury or illness, or someone looking for a unique way to strengthen your mind and body all while learning valuable self-defense techniques.

All of the instructors are fabulous and I would like to thank Sensei's Older, Stankus, Ulmer, Novak, and especially Sensei Byrnes for all their help and individualized attention.