Melissa Yinger

Melissa is a fourth-degree Sensei in the Phoenix Karatedo Association Kyokushinkai International. She began her journey with Kyokushin nearly 20 years ago in Rockville, Maryland, and has been teaching the art for more than a decade. Guided by a favorite lesson from her Phoenix Karate mentors — “have dogi, will travel” — she and Shihandai Brad have trained at dojos in Tokyo and Okinawa, Japan, as well as various countries around Europe. She is dedicated to not only developing the best version of herself through budo karate but helping others pursue the perfection of character through hard training and perseverance in the dojo. 

Melissa has also been doing CrossFit for more than a decade and loves how naturally it complements karate.