Jesse Clark, sandan (3rd degree black belt), officially started practicing in Boise in 1999 when he enrolled at Boise State (he unofficially started practicing as a young child in the early 1980’s with his dad, Glenn Clark, shodan). Mr. Ohshima granted Jesse permission to start a new dojo in Twin Falls, Idaho in 2011. Jesse is the head instructor for both the Karate class and Self Defense class at the College of Southern Idaho.

Crissie Gard, ikkyu (1st degree brown belt), became a member of Twin Falls Shotokan Karate in 2016. After enrolling her two sons in karate and watching them practice for a few months, she decided to start practicing with them. Now both of her sons and husband are all brown belts. Crissie is an elementary school teacher and also volunteers as an assistant-instructor to Jesse with the College of Southern Idaho’s Women’s Self Defence class. She enjoys sparring with her family at home, practicing Kata, and longboarding in the summer.  Crissie is now the head instructor for the kids Karate class.

Courtney Gard, ikkyu (1st degree brown belt), started practicing at the Twin Falls dojo in the fall of 2016. He joined, along with his wife Crissie, about 6 months after their two boys got started in the kids class. He appreciates that he has been able to practice with his family and make training an enjoyable family affair. Outside of class he enjoys being able to pursue various interests, such as his job of working on computers and his hobbies including photography, longboarding, and racecars.

Dale Mallows, shodan (1st degree black belt), joined SKA in January 2018 after looking for a positive lifestyle change. He competed in his first martial arts tournament in April of 2019. He regularly volunteers his time to assist the CSI Women’s Self Defense class and the occasional kids’ karate class. A highlight of his martial arts career was getting to have tea with Mr. Ohshima after a group from the Twin Falls dojo completed Summer Special Training in June 2019. One of his favorite aspects of karate is the Zen-like method that has spread to other areas of his life as well.

Nick Baker, shodan (1st degree black belt), has been in the Army Reserves for 14+ years, so when he started training at the Twin Falls Dojo he instantly fit in with the structure and lifestyle of martial arts.  Nick has really stepped up the last few years and has taken up a leadership role in the Twin Falls Dojo.

Mark England, shodan (1st degree black belt), has been a member of Twin Falls Shotokan since the spring of 2015. Prior to that, he trained at the College of Southern Idaho in their Karate program, while attending business classes. After graduating in 2004, he continued training in Wu Wei Gung Fu at CSI until making the move to Shotokan Karate. He finds the change to SKA challenging and enjoys the physical requirements. Mark has already attended several senior visits to the Twin Falls Dojo and looks forward to learning from many more high ranking members in the SKA organization. He feels up to the challenges ahead and plans on attending several special trainings in the future. He has been married to his wife, Lorie, for over 20 years and together they have three successful children. His hobbies include motorcycles, bicycling, skiing, hiking, and working in his garden.

Shealyn Mallows, ikkyu (1st degree brown belt), has been training with Twin Falls Shotokan since January 2018. Aside from training at the Twin Falls dojo, Shealyn volunteers her time to assist the women’s self-defense class at the College of Southern Idaho which has become an important aspect of her life. Shealyn began taking karate lessons as a means to learn self-defense but has come to realize that karate is much more than a form of fighting; it’s a challenging and rewarding way of life. After her first Special Training in the summer of 2019 Shealyn was fortunate enough to meet Ohshima Sensei. When Shealyn isn’t training, she enjoys traveling with her husband, cooking, and spending time with her pugs.