Arika Struzinsky is a second degree black belt at US Budokai Karate in Clifton Park, NY under Hanshi Russ Jarem. She also has the good fortune to train specifically on breaking with Master Adam Grogin and Sifu Bill Luciano.
Arika started karate when she was 6 and quit when she was 8. After several years of watching friends and family compete, she decided it looked like so much fun that she wanted to start training again. Since US Budokai Karate traditionally does not break, Arika was introduced to breaking at the 518 Circuit Tournaments where several local schools would get together for a friendly series of tournaments.
Arika is currently a Senior at Lansingburgh High School where she is involved with Varsity Bowling, National Honor Society, Student Council, The Knightly News production team, and Girl Scouts. Arika will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall majoring in Chemical Engineering.