CoVA Karate is an independent Virginia Beach martial arts school built upon decades of Okinawan karate training, study, and instruction.
CoVA Karate is the public-facing name of Cova Kai Karate LLC. Our central system is Okinawan Shorin-ryu karate, taught through foundational movement, kata, kobudo, controlled partner training, practical application, and self-defense awareness.
The school is designed primarily for adults and serious teens 17+ who want thoughtful instruction, steady development, and a mature place to train.
Students are not rushed through techniques or promotions. They are encouraged to understand how posture, balance, timing, coordination, distance, breathing, body awareness, and body mechanics affect the way karate works.
For many adults, that makes karate more than the study of punches, blocks, and kicks. Training becomes a way to develop movement, focus, coordination, mind-body awareness, confidence, and physical capability over time.
Learn more about adult martial arts training at CoVA Karate.
CoVA Karate did not begin in isolation.
Before CoVA Karate was established, Sean Schroeder and David Colaizzi spent decades training at Okinawan Budo Institute, commonly known as OBI.
Their years at OBI formed an important part of their foundation in Okinawan Shorin-ryu karate. That training influenced their understanding of kata, fundamentals, movement, practical application, discipline, and martial arts instruction.
When Sean opened CoVA Karate, he built upon that foundation while allowing the new school to develop its own identity, priorities, and approach to teaching adults.
CoVA Karate is an independent school. Okinawan Budo Institute is not a former name for CoVA Karate and is not a branch of the current school. It is an important part of the history and training lineage from which CoVA Karate developed.
Learn more about Okinawan Budo Institute and the roots of CoVA Karate.
We respect the karate that was passed down to us, but we do not treat tradition as the mechanical imitation of outward movements.
Kata provides a framework through which students study posture, balance, alignment, weight transfer, timing, distance, breathing, coordination, transitions, and the relationship between one movement and the next.
Students first learn the structure. As their understanding grows, they begin to recognize the principles within that structure and learn how those principles apply to their own movement.
The outward technique matters, but so does what is happening underneath it: how the feet interact with the floor, how the joints align, how the body maintains balance, how the core stabilizes movement, and how one action transitions into another.
Kata teaches movement.
Movement builds body awareness.
Body awareness builds trust.
Trust reduces hesitation.
Less hesitation allows better response.
This process extends beyond kata. It influences partner training, practical application, kobudo, self-defense awareness, and the student’s ability to move with greater control.
The goal is not to make every student move identically. Karate provides the structure and principles, while good instruction helps each student understand how those principles work through his or her own body.
Learn more about our Okinawan karate training in Virginia Beach.
A martial arts school should be experienced before you decide whether it is right for you.
Our two-week audit gives you time to participate in the regular class environment, meet the instructors, train alongside our students, ask questions, and experience how CoVA Karate actually teaches.
CoVA Karate is taught by three instructors whose backgrounds include different ranks, disciplines, organizations, and areas of martial arts study.
Martial arts credentials are not always interchangeable. An instructor may hold one rank in Okinawan Shorin-ryu, another in Karate-do, and additional recognition in kobudo, jujutsu, or another discipline.
For that reason, each credential is identified according to the system or discipline through which it was awarded.
Senior Instructor
8th Dan, Karate-do
Hanshi
7th Dan, Okinawan Shorin-ryu
David brings decades of training rooted in Okinawan karate. His shared history with Sean at Okinawan Budo Institute remains an important part of the knowledge, experience, and lineage represented at CoVA Karate.
Owner and Director
7th Dan, Karate-do
6th Dan, Okinawan Shorin-ryu
Sean began martial arts training as a child in the early 1970s. His teaching emphasizes Okinawan Shorin-ryu karate, kata, kobudo, body mechanics, body awareness, practical application, and the continued development of movement throughout a lifetime of training.
His approach focuses on helping students understand how karate works through the body rather than simply copying the outward appearance of a technique.
Instructor
5th Dan, Karate-do
Renshi
3rd Dan, Okinawan Shorin-ryu
Vinh brings experience and recognition across more than one martial arts discipline. His separate ranks reflect study through different systems and organizations and contribute additional perspective to the CoVA Karate instructional team.
CoVA Karate is designed for adults and serious teens 17+ who want a focused, respectful, and low-ego training environment.
Students include complete beginners, returning martial artists, professionals, veterans, military families, business owners, and adults who want to improve how they move while studying a martial art with depth.
Students are expected to train seriously, but they are not expected to arrive already fit, flexible, coordinated, or experienced. Those qualities are developed through training.
Our training is not centered around creating competitive fighters or chasing constant novelty. Students develop through understanding, repetition, correction, progressive study, and consistent effort.
For adults who are thinking about what their bodies will be capable of years from now, karate can also become a long-term practice for maintaining movement, balance, coordination, awareness, and confidence.
The CoVA Karate instructors are members of the National Karate Jujutsu Federation, commonly known as the NKJF.
The organization provides recognition and connection across Karate-do, jujutsu, and related martial arts disciplines. Credentials awarded or recognized through the NKJF are identified separately from Okinawan Shorin-ryu ranks.
This distinction is important. CoVA Karate identifies ranks and credentials according to the system or organization through which they were earned rather than treating different martial arts credentials as interchangeable.
CoVA Karate
Public-facing name of Cova Kai Karate LLC
3157 Shipps Corner Road, Suite 106
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23453
CoVA Karate serves adults and serious teens 17+ from Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, and surrounding Hampton Roads communities.
Take the time to experience the school before making a decision.
Spend two weeks inside our regular adult martial arts environment. Meet the instructors, train alongside our students, experience the teaching method, and decide whether CoVA Karate matches what you are looking for.
There are no pressure tactics and no expectation that you already know how to move like a martial artist. The audit is simply an opportunity to experience the school and make an informed decision.
Call or Text: 757-745-9041
Email: uchinate@protonmail.com
3157 Shipps Corner Road
Suite 106
Virginia Beach, VA 23453
Tuesday & Thursday
7:00–8:30 PM
Arrival by 6:45 PM