Tuition
SENSEI DARRIN FREE
Sensei Free started his karate training in August of 1989 at the age of 19 while attending classes at Collin County Community College. He studied under Sensei Diana Worthen in Wado Shinzen Kai Karate. Sensei Free joined Sensei Worthen’s karate academy and was extremely active, often training 6 six days a week. In the spring of 1994 Sensei Free earned his Black Belt in Wado Shinzen Kai. He was an active competitor competing in hundreds of tournaments. He has won numerous State Championship titles from both the Amateur Organization of Karate (AOK) and the Traditional Karate League (TKL). In 1996 he was selected by the United States National Karate Team to represent the US at the World Karate Championships in Florida. Sensei Free earned the United States a Silver Metal in kumite. January 1, 1995, Sensei Worthen retired from teaching karate and passed ownership of the dojo to Sensei Free. Sensei Free asked his close friend and fellow karate ka, Brody Burns to become a partner in the dojo and help in the running of the business. The dojo was subsequently renamed the Academy of Classical Karate-do and remains open today in Plano, Texas. Sensei Free began training under Sensei Worthen’s instructors, Shihan Tom Sergent and Shodai John Hawk out of Waco, Texas and was promoted to Nidan in 1997 and was award his Sensei title in 1998. In November of 2000, Sensei Free was promoted to Sandan by Shihan Sergent. On September 1, 2001, Sensei Free and the Academy of Classical Karate-do joined the Wado International Karate Federation (WIKF) under Suzuki Tatsuo Sensei.
Sensei Free is the Vice President of the Southwestern Association of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Traditional Karate League. He is a certified National Level Judge and has refereed at the AAU National Karate Championships.Sensei Free has an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science from Collin County Community College and attended advance programming courses at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is currently the lead programmer for Willow Bend Communications in Dallas, Texas. Sensei Free married Shodan Lisa Ervin in 1999.