Owner, Director & Head Instructor
Sensei Linda Donner started her karate education in Hawaii at the age of 6 and continued her training in Florida at 18 years old where she went to college and achieved a Bachelor of Science Degree at UCF. Upon going back to Hawaii she attained her group fitness and personal training certification as well as attaining a massage therapist certification.
Currently, as a fitness coach and karate instructor she has been managing a large group fitness and karate program, along with her assistants, through the park district in Lake Zurich, Illinois for the past 18 years. As an athlete, she was a member of the United States National Karate Team. As such, she traveled internationally and has successfully represented the USA as an athlete for 15 plus years.
She competed under the auspices of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States and has captured at least one National Championship title every year since 1992. Internationally, she won 4 World Championship titles and a Pan-American Title. When not competing, she serves as one of five USA National Team Coaches, officiate as an “A” class Senior Karate referee within the USA and serve as one of five members on the International and USA National referee council.Sensei Jo Mirza is the founder and chief instructor of Traditional Karate-Do Organization (TKO). Sensei Mirza is:
- 8th degree Black Belt
- AAU National Karate Chairman
- WUKF Vice President
- TKO Chief Instructor
Sensei Eric Lin studied Tai Chi through the Tai Chi Tao Center in Oak Park, Illinois beginning in the 1980s through Master Liao’s lineage.
In recent years, Eric studies Tai Chi Chuan, Push hand and Tai Chi sword through the Shi-Zhong Academy in Taipei, Taiwan; a school established by Hsu Yi-Zhong, one of Grand Master Cheng Man-Ching’s direct students.
Eric believes in improving health by gaining vital energy Qi through Tai Chi’s dynamic meditation approach in enhancing our immune system and by practice, relaxation and mindfulness.
Assistant Instructor Faith Mirza has been training and teaching Tai Chi with Eric Lin since 2017. Faith is a 3rd degree Black Belt in Karate and former member of the USA National Karate Team. Faith has taught in Lake Zurich for the past 30 years.
Assistant Instructor Gus Standiford has been with Nisei Dojo for around 15 years and has the rank of shodan-ho black belt. He is away for most of the year studying at Lawrence University, but when in town during winter and summer breaks he help with Sensei Donnor's classes and occasionally leads them when she's gone.
Assistant Instructor Amaya Snyder is 16 years old and has been doing karate since she was five years old. Amaya holds a black belt rank (Shodan-ho) and participates with the National Karate Team. Throughout the week Amaya trains and assists during class.
Omar is President, Founder and Chief Karate Instructor of Midwest Karate-Do Association. He holds the rank of San Dan in Shotokan Karate.
Ky is a Shodan in Shotokan Karate. He holds a 5th Dan in Hapkido and a 5th Dan in Taekwondo.
During the late 1930s, Funakoshi’s students built a rather large Dojo for their teacher. Over the front door, one of them mounted a wooden plaque that said “Shotokan.”
In Japanese, the word “kan” means house or building, so “Shotokan” is literally “Shoto’s House,” or “Shoto’s Place” (basically, the Funakoshi Building).
Funakoshji’s students never referred to the karate that they practiced as “Shotokan.” Instead, they only used the word “Karate” or “Karate-Do” to refer to their art. It was Japanese people outside of Funakoshi’s circle who referred to his system as Shotokan.
Since other instructors were naming their styles of karate things like Shito-Ryu, Wado-Ryu, or Goju-Ryu, it must have seemed strange that the other major style was just “Karate,” so they started referring to it as “Shotokan Karate.”
This basically amounts to “The karate they do in the Shotokan.” This came to represent Funakoshi’s system of martial arts as we practice it today.
–The Martial Way
1999 WKO World Karate Championships – Bochum, Germany
1999 AAU National Championships – Orlando, Florida
1998 WKO World Karate Championships – Orlando, Florida
1998 AAU National Championships – Orlando, Florida
1997 As a member of the AAU/USA Karate Team
Competed in the 1stWKO Pan American Championships – Hamilton, Bermuda
As a Member of AAU/USA Karate Team
Competed in the WKC World Karate Championships – Arezo, Italy
Olympic Training Center – Colorado Springs, Colorado
Chosen as a member of the USNKF Karate Team
1996 AAU National Championships – Riverside, California
Won Grand Championship title in the Women’s Kumite Finals
As a Member of the AAU/USA Karate Team
Competed in the WKO World Karate Championships – Toronto, Canada
USANKF National Championships – Seattle, Washington
1995 AAU National Championships – Greenville, South Carolina
1994 AAU National Championships – Chicago, Illinois
1992 AAU National Championships – Cincinnati, Ohio