Rafael Gutierrez

RH Gutierrez, MD has been involved in martial arts from an early age but considers his real training to have started in 1997 when he graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) with a degree in Biology and left for Belize where he enrolled in St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine. It was there that he met Cyrus Gordon, a fellow medical student who prior to enrolling had owned a Shito-Ryu Karate school.

Since graduating Medical School in 2001, RH Gutierrez has continued his martial arts training while perusing a career in education. In 2007, while teaching Anatomy and Physiology, he took his first trip to Okinawa where he met Kensei Taba Sensei, the founder of Shogen Ryu. That month long trip changed RH Gutierrez’s life and he began to train with what he had been taught on Okinawa. In 2011 he returned to train directly under Taba Sensei for another month.

With the passing of Taba Sensei (2012) and Dr. Gutierrez Sr (2013) RH Gutierrez left a job teaching Clinical Anatomy at SDSU’s Doctorate in Physical Therapy program to train in Karate full-time under Tokashiki Sensei and Tamake Sensei as well as all the Yodansha at Tokashiki Sensei’s dojo.

Currently RH Gutierrez, MD has return to teaching pre-health professional programs in San Diego where he opened his dojo, the Three Coral Dojo (San Diego Dojo). His articles have been published magazine (Classical Fighting Arts and Master’s) and he has to date written two books. Breaking points, which shows how clinical data show how Kata can teach techniques which conform to Ikken Hissatsu, and Cereus and the Rarest Thing, a novel based on his travels to Okinawa (slightly fictionalized).

Please visit his extremely interesting Karate Dr website he shares his knowledge through many videos.