About Us

A Commitment to Traditional Shotokan Karate

Guerrero’s Shotokan Karate is a traditional karate school in Blue Springs, Missouri, devoted to teaching authentic Shotokan with care, structure, and respect for the art.

Our Mission

Why We Teach

To develop confident, disciplined, and respectful martial artists through authentic Shotokan karate, personal attention, and earned advancement.

Our Commitment to Students

Every Student, Seen

Every student is seen as an individual. Our Senseis observe, correct, and encourage each student, and promotion is based on what a student can genuinely demonstrate.

Our Values

Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Discipline, and Ethics

Perseverance
Continuing with effort and patience when training becomes difficult.
Respect
For instructors, training partners, the dojo, and oneself.
Integrity
Doing what is right, inside the dojo and beyond it.
Discipline
Building the focus and self-control to train with purpose.
Ethics
Using what we learn responsibly and with sound judgment.

Our Senseis

The Instructors Who Guide Every Class

Sensei Roberto Guerrero

Founder · 7th Dan Black Belt, Rokudan Renshi Sho

7th Dan in Shotokan Karate-Do · 3rd Dan Shin Nagari Karate · 2nd Dan Okinawan Weapons

Sensei Guerrero began his training in 1973 in his hometown of Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico, under Sifu Juan Villalobos Trujillo (7th Dan), studying Chinese Pakua. His lineage runs through Ronald L. Rogers, Hanshi, and Kenneth J. Baker, Hanshi. In Mexico he was a high school teacher, a drug- and gang-prevention counselor, and ran an after-school karate program to keep kids off the streets. He earned his 1st Dan in Shotokan in 2000, opened Guerrero’s Shotokan Karate on January 6, 2006, and earned his 6th Dan in 2020. He also taught drug prevention and family values to inner-city children at Operation Breakthrough. He relates to students of all ages and abilities and has a tremendous gift for teaching karate to the disabled.

Sensei Julie Haskins

Senior Instructor · 5th Degree Black Belt, Renshi

5th Degree Shotokan · 4th Degree Aikido · 1st Degree Okinawan Weapons

Sensei Haskins began studying Aikido and Shotokan at age 49, earned her black belt at 53, and her second-degree black belts in Shotokan and Aikido at 55. She has since been promoted to 5th Degree in Shotokan and 4th Degree in Aikido, and was named Renshi. She instructs the Aikido and Lil’ Dragons programs, assists with marketing and public speaking for demonstrations and self-defense classes, and serves as Office Manager. A retired Registered Nurse of 40 years, her goal is to show that you are never too old to start training.

Our Dojo

A Place of Focus and Respect

Our dojo is a place of focus and respect. Students bow on and off the floor, train with attention, and learn to carry those habits into school, work, and home.

Dwell/Well Magazine feature on Guerrero’s Shotokan Karate

In the Community

Local Spotlight: “Building Leaders, One Student at a Time”

Guerrero’s Shotokan Karate was featured in the July 2026 edition of Dwell/Well Magazine. Written from the perspective of a parent of current students, the article reviewed the history of the school, its founder Sensei Roberto Guerrero, and senior instructor Sensei Julie Haskins.

“As we celebrate the freedoms and opportunities that have defined our nation for 250 years, Guerrero’s Shotokan stands as a local example of what can happen when hard work, dedication, service, and opportunity come together.”

Real Skills. Stronger Character. A Brighter Tomorrow.

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