Master Couture started her training at age 8 in Meriden, CT. at the Sattler Academy of Karate. She trained under Master Mark Sattler until she reached the rank of brown belt. At that time the school was handed over to Master Antonio Rivera and became the Meriden Academy of Karate. Master Couture enjoyed hyungs (forms) the most as a child. She is very artistic and loved working on the turns and remembering the patterns.
Master Couture continued her training 4 days a week and earned the 1st degree black belt in 1991. In high school she started teaching others; she developed a self-defense after school program. This also began her love of sparring. She joined in on a fight club every Tuesday night in the cafeteria of her high school.
At the age of 17 Master Couture earned her 2nd degree black belt. She traveled with her instructor and family to many great places for tournaments, clinics, and training. One of the first trips was to Toronto, Canada to compete in the first Canadian WTSDA championship in 1991. Master has always loved to compete and has traveled to all of the WTSDA World championships winning many trophies, plaques, and medals throughout her career. In 1998 Master earned her 3rd degree black belt and became a certified chief instructor. She taught 2 – 3 days a week at the Meriden Academy of Karate and continued to compete. Living in Cheshire, Ct. for a few years and building her career in the veterinary field she worked as a veterinary nurse at the Yalesville & Cheshire Veterinary Hospitals. In 1999 her Instructors school had to close and Master Couture decided to open JC Karate in Cheshire, Ct.
The first studio was small, only enough room for a few students but it was a start. After six months a bigger space was needed to accommodate the student enrollment. The school moved to the Cheshire Center building at 130 South Main St. and only a few years later we began knocking down walls to take even more space in the building, going from 750 square feet to about 3,000 sq. ft. today.
In 2005, Master Couture was invited by Grandmaster Jae c. Shin to begin the testing process for Masters Rank. She attended 2 years of Masters training before attaining the 4th Dan instructor rank. With 2 more years of masters training she was presented her certified Master’s degree from Grandmaster JC Shin in 2008. With another 7 successful training years she began her 2 year testing process for the 5th degree Senior Master Rank in 2015. Master Couture received this prestigious rank in July 2016 at the WTSDA World Championships.
Over the last 34 years of training Master Couture has enjoyed traveling to many great destinations to teach and train. She has gone to Puerto Rico, Aruba, Maui, Canada, and Argentina. Master enjoys meeting amazing people within the WTSDA from all over the world and loves being part of the association and everything it stands for.
