Whidden's School of Fitness, Inc

A School of Martial Arts in Marshfield, MA

Whidden’s School of Fitness (WSFI ) was founded by Roger Whidden in 1998. Located in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts, WSFI provides an authentic martial arts experience for the South Shore. The school offers a complete curriculum including classes in Kempo Karate, Yoga, Tai Chi, Wrestling, Qigong, weapons, and Qin Na. WSFI caters to a diverse population of students of many different ages and backgrounds including students with physical difficulties and learning disabilities.

Roger Whidden has trained in the martial arts for over thirty years. In 1980 he earned his Black Belt in Kempo. He has been a student of Dr. Yang Jwing Ming since the early 80’s, and has worked hard to be his highest ranked student in YMAA’s Tai Chi curriculum. Roger earned his mastery in Tai Chi in 2005 becoming Dr. Yang’s first student to do so. Master Whidden teaches most of the martial arts classes at WSFI, and has always been committed to delivering high quality instruction and providing an environment conducive to learning.

Classes for Children and Adults

WSFI runs a very successful kids program that teaches the basic principles of Martial Arts. The children are encouraged in our motto to work hard, play fair, and have fun. At WSFI the children learn valuable lessons in self discipline and self motivation in addition to the important skills they need to protect themselves. Roger’s goal like any other good teacher is to teach himself out of a job by providing his students with the opportunity to enjoy learning and become self motivated to excel on their own. Roger is a master at communicating with children and has worked hard to be able to weave in the deeper teachings of Martial Arts theory into the children’s program. The WSFI kids program has classes for grades K-5, a separate class for grades 6-8, and a seasonal wrestling program for kids K-8. The kids classes generally fill to full capacity with an average attendance of around twenty per class.

The adult program focuses on the basic skills for self protection and efficient movement. Adult classes in both the Taiji and Karate curriculum focus on core strengthening and stretching to increase our power and range of motion. The adults learn qigong and the core movements, so they can work on the finer body movements necessary for smooth efficient movement necessary for self protection. The adult training program focuses on learning to relax within the rigorous movement so that we stay out of our own way and get our power from the root. Our adult programs include classes in Kempo Karate, Taiji, pushing hands, Qigong, Qin Na, Yoga, and weapons. WSFI’s class schedules are available online at www.whiddenschool.com.

The Instructors of WSFI

Roger Whidden and assistants Ian Dashner and Micheal Cermac teach the Karate classes to both kids and adults. Master Whidden also teaches the Taiji, and Wrestling. In addition to martial arts instruction, WSFI also has a healing arts center with Acupuncture by Dennis Wilmont, Chiropractic by Dr. Steven Heney, and mind/body therapy by Roger. Yoga is incorporated into all our classes and is also offered as separate classes.

Academic tutoring focused on reading, writing, and narrative work is offered in conjunction with other healing modalities by Laura Rancatore. Additionally, Laura is a certified practitioner of Dr. Wu´s Head Acupressure Therapy, the first of its kind in the U.S., as well as Oriental Foot Acupressure.

Distinguished Students

Ian Dashner is also a certified public school teacher in the state of Mass. Michael Cermak is earning his Ph.D., and Bryan Campbell, a physics major has joined his Master in California to help build Dr. Yang's home next to what will be the YMAA Retreat Center (www.ymaa-retreatcenter.org).