Shotokan Karate For Everyone Ages 4+

The All Canadian Karate Union (ACKU) teaches traditional Japanese Shotokan karate to individuals and families in our ACKU Clubs in Calgary and Strathmore.
We also teach karate during the summer at our lodge on the ocean in the beautiful Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia.

Whether you want to get in shape, learn self defense, work out with your family or want to compete internationally, we can help you with your goals.

  • Students train at any club anytime, for one affordable monthly fee.
  • Individuals train for $59 per month.  You are welcome to train individually.
  • Or, if you have two or more family members, the family rate is just $99 per month.
  • This price of $99 includes everyone in a family!
  • This allows you all unlimited training at any of our clubs.
  • Register any time at any club. See Starting/Prices.
  • Friend us on Facebook ACKU 
  • We have separate classes for children ages 4 – 6 (“Chops Karate”).
  • Our regular class is suitable for ages 7 years and up
  • Students each pay $50 membership fee annually.

Who are we? What do we do?

ACKU is an independent karate entity with roots in Canadian karate going back to the 1960’s!
We belong to the World Karate Union Federation  www.wukf-karate.org
We have an extensive karate history of over fifty years.
ACKU interacts and co-operates with many other karate groups and organizations.
We have martial arts friends who live and train all around the world.
We offer tournaments within the ACKU and we also compete in local, provincial and international tournaments.
For over ten years, we attended the Las Vegas Ozawa Cup Tournament, which was the largest all styles Tournament in the world. This will now be the WUKF North American Championship, Easter 2024.  We also attend the World Union of Karate-Do Federations World Karate Championships. We sent a team to Fort Lauderdale in 2022, Dundee, Scotland, in 2023 and everyone is welcome to join our team going to Monterey, Mexico, in July 2024!

The History of ACKU

Founder Soke Jim Bray

Soke Bray started his training in the first karate club in Calgary in 1964.
Soke Bray was the first Albertan to represent Canada internationally with the National Karate Association Alberta Branch (now called Karate Canada) at the Pan Americans in 1974.
He is a leader in Canadian martial arts.
All of our instructors have been trained by Soke and many of them have trained with him for decades.
Jim is proud to be a fourth generation Calgarian, earning a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary.
For more information about Soke Bray, visit JimBray.ca

Learn Karate in Your Community

What do we do in an ACKU karate class?

  • We want all students to feel encouraged, have fun and learn correct Japanese Shotokan karate.
  • In a class, we learn basic stances, blocking, punching, kicking and moving.
  • We put them together in forms (“kata”).
  • We develop power through increased strength and speed.
  • We learn partner-work which is controlled and by agreement.
  • We work towards goals of earning colour and black belts.
  • Students also study the jo, bo, nunchaku, tonfa, bokken, sai and kama.