Helen Cawley 6th Degree Black Belt, Shin Shu Ho member
Helen has studied, practiced and taught martial arts for close to 30 years. She started her training in 1990 by studying Shotokan Karate, earning a brown belt. She started training with Kyoshi Polander, as one of his original students, in 1992 and earned her black belt in front of Taika Oyata in 1996. Helen has a keen perspective as a women in martial arts and loves how angles of attack and defense can win over strength and power when performed correctly. She also enjoys the study of some of the traditional Okinawan weapons such as Sai, and Eku. The Polander Academy has always been a second home for Helen and Niamh to train together and share their passion for learning martial arts.