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Executive Committee

We must remember that our members are interested in karate's relevance to their lives in the real world - not the karate world. They want to study with enthusiastic, well trained instructors who are able bring out the best in them as individuals. They want to learn an effective and serious form of self-defense that is also a demanding and exacting traditional art. Finally, those that compete want to be exposed to fair, intense and challenging competition.
The goal of the AJKA is to meet these expectations.

Edmond Otis

 

Sáfár László

Leslie B. Sáfár, 9.Dan,
International Technical Director,
AJKA Chief Instructor - Europe

Edmond Otis

Edmond Otis, 8.Dan
International Chairman,
AJKA Chief Instructor - North America

 


Leslie B Safar, AJKA co-founder, has practiced Shotokan karate since 1958. He is well known on both sides of the Atlantic for his mastery as an instructor, his intense focus on the core technical principles of Shotokan Karate, and the development of instructor training programs dedicated to building the total instructor. Sensei Safar tours the United States on a regular basis, but spends the majority of his time teaching, directing, and developing AJKA karate in Hungary, and throughout Europe.

 Edmond Otis has practiced Shotokan karate since 1967, and is internationally known as a competitor, instructor, coach, and judge. Sensei Otis is acclaimed for his innovative and dynamic teaching style, and is considered by many to be one of the premier karate instructors of his generation. He has trained numerous individuals and teams to national and international championships, and travels extensively for the AJKA, conducting seminars that focus on all aspects of karate practice.

 

Palkovics László

Dr. László Palkovics
Chairman

 

In addition to being a devoted admirer of technical wonders, László Palkovics took up karate in 1982. Since then, he has been studying this sport with some interruptions, returning to intensive practice 3 years ago. He is a brown-belt, he trains at and heads the Alba Control Karate Club.

László Palkovics graduated from the Technical University of Budapest in 1989, as an automotive engineer. After achieving the degree of Candidate at technical sciences, he became a doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Science and a university lecturer. He was promoted to the leading position at the Automotive Engineering Department of the TUB in 1994. One year afterwards he was appointed the Electronic System Development Director of the R&D institute of Knorr-Bremse. His areas of research are: motor vehicle dynamics and stability, applied regulation theory, modeling vehicle systems. He is the Secretary General of the Hungarian Motor Vehicle Association, a position he fills as a volunteer. He speaks Russian, English, German and Italian, the first three fluently.