<p>Unconventional times call for unconventional measures.</p><p>Due to precautions being taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shodan Academy in Greenwood is offering karate classes online so students can continue practicing routines from the comfort of their homes.</p><p>Shodan Academy, owned and operated by Ricardo and Michelle Guerrero, started online classes on March 19 and now conducts seven per week between Monday and Thursday. Five of the sessions last 40 minutes, while the other two are 30 minutes.</p><p>“Nobody is complaining. We’ve received a lot of support from parents, and right now, Ricardo is the only one instructing, and our two kids (Alexander, 11, and Mia, 5) are doing the classes with him,” Michelle said. “When we first had to shut down, we didn’t know how long this would be.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>“It’s really neat to see the kids and their parents care enough to log on every time they have a class.”</p><p>A week before going online, Shodan Academy had just opened at its new location at 1090 State Road 135, Suite C in Greenwood. The business was previously located at the Gathering Place for eight years.</p><p>The Guerreros hold classes as if conducting a Zoom video conference.</p><p>Sensei Ricardo Guerrero records instruction live on his cell phone while watching the moves of his students on a laptop computer positioned nearby. Michelle monitors every class to make sure it isn’t somehow invaded by hackers or non-paying students.</p><p>Greenwood resident Dan Lewis, 40, a member of Shodan Academy for 18 months, gets plenty of practice setting up a laptop computer at his house. His daughter, Merley, 9, is a blue belt who takes three online classes per week; son Zach, 6, is just getting started on his karate journey.</p><p>“We do it in the living room, and sensei Ricardo has done a really good job of adjusting to a smaller space,” Lewis said. “He does the same exercises he does at the dojo; he just makes them shorter.”</p><p>Like Lewis, another Greenwood resident, Dave Taylor, 41, has achieved orange belt status at the academy. Taylor’s daughter Gwennie, 8, is on the verge of becoming a green belt.</p><p>Taylor connects his laptop to a television set so that he and Gwennie have a larger view of the instruction.</p><p>“I like it. It’s worked out well. I prefer the dojo, of course, but sensei Ricardo does a really good job of keeping it interactive,” Taylor said. “He’ll watch us to make sure we’re doing the stances and forms correctly.</p><p>“Once the quarantine is over, I wouldn’t mind seeing him continue some of the Zoom meeting classes. Maybe a weekly class or something.”</p><p>Michelle Guerrero said the plan is to eventually give students the option of training from home or at the dojo. That would be made possible by doing the classes live on Zoom video conferences and stretching them back to 60-minute sessions.</p><p>“We’re actually going to keep doing the Zoom classes because we know it might be a while before we’re allowed to have (dojo) classes again. And we don’t know if we can have 10 students or five students or three students,” she said.</p><p>“As soon as we can reopen, we’re going to reopen, but we know some people are not going to want to return to the dojo.”</p>
