The Samurai of Pico-Robertson

Sandwiched in between two Jewish eateries on Pico Boulevard is the unassuming Rokah Karate studio — a one-story, plain white storefront with a large window that permits passersby to observe class from the sidewalk. 

The modest nature of the establishment belies its importance, and few outside who come and go would guess that the white-robed, black-belted man teaching inside is a world-class champion martial artist. 

Israeli-born sensei Avi Rokah, 55, is a world champion (1994) and five-time U.S. champion (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2000) in traditional karate, according to his website (rokahkarate.com), but the walls of his studio are glaringly empty. The only thing adorning the walls — actually, resting on the floor, propped up against a wall opposite some paneled mirrors — is a picture of his late mentor, grandmaster Hidetaka Nishiyama.

“When he was 80, I still couldn’t beat him,” Rokah said. 

A seventh-degree black belt, Rokah has a chiseled jawline that could cut bread, but his normally tight-lipped smile ruptures into one that reveals his teeth when remembering Nishiyama, his first teacher in Los Angeles and the founder of the International Traditional Karate Federation. 

Born in Tokyo in 1928, Nishiyama, who died in 2008, was one of the most respected practitioners and teachers of traditional karate in the world. In 1961, after being invited to teach in the United States, he moved to Los Angeles and opened his own dojo in downtown Los Angeles, which he operated for nearly 50 years. 

Raised in Ramat Gan, Rokah began karate lessons at age 14. He rode two buses daily from the suburbs into the heart of Tel Aviv for class. A wiry kid, he was intrigued by the possibilities karate affords someone lacking brute strength, as well as by the mystique surrounding the art form. 

“Karate was this thing with a lot of mystery. I knew there was a lot of history and that many generations have practiced it,” he said. “I liked the idea that it was about being skillful rather than strong. Karate is intelligence and less power winning over more power.” 

After his service in the Israeli army, Rokah moved to Los Angeles at age 21 with a plan to stay for six months and train with one of the grandmasters he’d heard about back in Israel. He looked up the Karate Federation in the Yellow Pages, visited in person and asked for Nishiyama. Much to his surprise, a secretary introduced him to the legend on the spot. Minutes later, Rokah was in the back of Nishiyama’s car on the way to his dojo. 

“I trained with him for five or six hours a day, staying every night until midnight, going into extreme detail with him,” Rokah said. “After six months, I realized I had just scratched the surface.”

Rokah ended up staying well beyond the six months and made Los Angeles his permanent home. He and his wife, Ruth, have four children and run their dojo together. During those first six months, a time Rokah looks back on fondly, he credits Nishiyama with helping him understand the significance of anticipation, a key to mastering karate. 

“Wayne Gretzky wasn’t necessarily the most athletic guy out there, but what made him so great was he could see three or four plays ahead. In karate, you’re systematically learning how to develop that skill,” Rokah said. “If you’re a good listener and you have a good teacher, you’ll be good.”

Rokah, who started his dojo in 1982, told the Journal that other young Israelis soon followed him to Los Angeles, where they too received world-class training. Some of them returned to Israel to teach, helping to improve the quality of karate in the country. 

Rokah continues to coach and teach worldwide — including, he said, serving as the coach of America’s national traditional karate team — and attendance at seminars can often reach into the hundreds as students crowd rooms to pick his brain. 

“Sometimes, he’s in a room here with 20 kids,” his wife said. “Other times, he’s in Poland surrounded by 300 black belts.” 

Here in Los Angeles, Rokah’s pedigree has attracted the likes of Oscar-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix to the studio. His students are young and old, constituting a wide range of experience levels, and his wife estimates that on any given night, roughly 80 percent of the children in class are local Orthodox Jews.

Josh Klugman, a devoted student of Rokah’s for the past eight years, said he appreciates Rokah’s modest approach.

“He refuses to be flashy or kitschy. Instead, he is teaching his students how to create a potentially devastating amount of power regardless of strength or size,” Klugman said. 

Rokah’s wife, who teaches most of the children’s classes, agreed that humility is part of his philosophy.

“He’s old school. No big pictures or trophies. He’s not into promoting himself,” she said. 

Now, with his own competitive career behind him, Rokah enjoys coaching and teaching as a way to keep improving. A physiology and kinesiology enthusiast, Rokah is borderline obsessed with how physical intention informs actions. The idea he preaches is that, in karate, your physical intention must harmonize with your physical movement. 

“I love teaching. It’s another way to get better,” Rokah said. “This is something you can still be excited about when you’re 70 or 80. You can always get better, as it’s about quality of movement, following intention.”

Rokah is mum about going back to the competitive world of karate. He smiles and hints there’s a possibility, but he really is content with teaching and coaching for now. That said, he explained, one can excel in karate for many years. 

“In exhibitions, I still fight European champions half my age and win,” Rokah said. “I fight differently now. I enjoy winning. I don’t like to lose.”

To Klugman, his mentor’s journey — from Tel Aviv to Pico Robertson — mirrors that of great men of rabbinic study.

“Sensei is like a lifelong talmudic scholar who, having received the oral tradition from his master, is never done learning.”