Word on the Street: Fresno karate studio relocates to new Shaw Avenue site

A husband-and-wife team with more than 80 years of martial-arts study between them have relocated their karate studio to a new site in northwest Fresno.

Fred and Connie Bell opened Bell’s Kenpo Karate in 2008 in its original location on Milburn Avenue hear Herndon Avenue in 2008. In February, they opened their new studio about two miles to the south, at 3622 W. Shaw Ave. The couple will celebrate the new location with a grand opening celebration on Saturday.

Fred Bell said he and his wife each began studying karate as children – he in the Bay Area, she in Selma. Both hold sixth-degree black belts in a style of karate called American karate do. Now the pair have a 3-year-old son, Hunter, who is following in their footsteps and already competing in karate events.

The studio offers classes in basics, kata or forms, and sparring for both children and adults of all skill levels. All of the classes are taught by the Bells.

The Saturday grand opening, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will include a ribbon-cutting with the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, food, face-painting, demonstrations, classes in karate and women’s self defense, and local martial-arts celebrity and instructor Dave Johnson, a 2015 inductee into the All Pro Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame who has appeared in films and television news shows.

Details: Bell’s Kenpo Karate, 559-276-8873.

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Word on the Street: Fresno karate studio relocates to new Shaw Avenue site."