About the U.K.A. Instructors

Chief Instructor, Steve McCann, began his karate training in 1976. Sensei McCann was a victim of a violent crime at the age of 17 and decided to learn self-defense. He soon realized that Karate was much more than self-defense and has since dedicated his life to learning and teaching the "do" of martial arts. He is the Martial Arts Director at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA.   

He is a 6th degree (Rokudan) Black Belt in Shotokan Karate. He was awarded the rank of Renshi personally by I.S.O.K. (International Society of Okinawan/Japanese Karate-do) founding members, Dr. Bernie Weiss and Professor Leroy Rodrigues. He has formal training and experience in other martial art forms including Boxing, Kickboxing, Kenpo, Judo, Aikido, and Jujitsu.

He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business-Accounting and has a Master of Arts Degree in Kinesiology from San Jose State University and has written a thesis on a karate reverse punch.  He has most recently written and published a beginning karate textbook entitled, Karate Everyone , Hunter Textbooks, Inc.  He is a former karate tournament competitor and a current referee and promoter. He has taught at several martial arts seminars and clinics over the years.

Instructor Henrik Ingvardsen began his karate training in 1983 with Sensei McCann. He is currently a 4th degree (Yondan) black belt in Shotokan Karate.

Sensei Ingvardsen currently teaches Cardio-Kickboxing at West Valley College and teaches at National Semi-Conductor in Santa Clara. He is an assistant karate instructor at West Valley College. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Performance/Physical Education from San Jose State University. When not training or teaching karate, he works full-time as a sales manager for Chem-Aqua, Inc.

Sensei Henrik Ingvardsen

Instructor Brian Kuhn began his martial arts training with UKA at West Valley College in 1991. He holds the rank of 4th Degree (Yondan) Black Belt in karate.

He actively trains in MMA and Judo. He has competed and now trains competitors for kickboxing and MMA events. He teaches Karate, Kickboxing, and Bootcamp at West Valley Community College. He also teaches "Karate for Kids" at the Saratoga Community Center. He has his B.S. degree in Physical Education at San Jose State University.