When 47-year-old Kris Wilder walks around his West Seattle neighborhood he never fails to hear the respectful words of "hey, Sensei!"

Wilder, owner of West Seattle Karate Academy located in High Point and author of five martial arts books, has earned this title, a form of respect towards someone who has achieved mastery in an art form, which he has in his 32 years practicing and earning black belts in Goju-Ryu, tae kwon do and judo.

His love and interest for the martial arts began when he first set eyes on the judo skills of Race Bannon of "Johnny Quest."

"Race Bannon could do judo and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world," Wilder says. "A lot of people talk about Bruce Lee being their inspiration and that's all well and good but mine was a cartoon character."

At 15, Wilder's training in the martial arts began when a friend from Okanogan, Wilder's hometown, invited him to learn tae kwon do at the military armory on Sunday afternoons. This went on for a year, despite his parent's wishes. Wilder filled his mind with the knowledge of karate through books he bought with money he earned through doing chores for his parents

It wasn't until college where he first attended Washington State University that Wilder got serious about martial arts and involved himself with Goju-Ryu karate at the dojo on campus. Goju-Ryu is one of the four original Okinawan styles of Karate. Goju-Ryu teaches both hard and soft techniques and a number of hand and foot methods.

After graduating from Eastern Washington University with a degree in General Studies, Wilder moved to West Seattle in 1985. He trained with the likes of Hiroo Ito, a student of Shihan Kori Hisatake, founder of Shorinji-Ryu Kenkokan Karate which is a mix of arts such as Okinawan kobudo and Japanese aikijujutsu. Wilder was also mentored by John Roseberry-Shihan, a seven-time All-Marine Corps Judo Champion and was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Judo Team in 1964.

After a number of years training and competing, Wilder opened his dojo in 1993 - which today is the West Seattle Karate Academy.

"A dojo (translated as 'hall of the way') is different from a health club, because this is a place where kids and adults find things in themselves that they didn't know they had."

He encounters parents who are initially afraid of the idea of fighting but see the benefits of it once their kids create relationships with the instructors and other students. Wilder explains that when one gets to a certain level of skill through the martial arts they know what is right and wrong when it comes to fighting.

"Martial arts are good for self-defense, and that's the doorway for people to get into it but they then discover that it is more than self-defense," says Wilder.

An example Wilder gives of martial arts being more than just for self-defense is of a student who before attending the dojo regularly went to physical therapy due to cancer that had distorted her body. After joining the dojo she stopped going to physical therapy because gained control of her balance because of the skills she had learned at the academy.

"It's not magic, it's just diligence and application of the methods," says Wilder.

With an array of students, Wilder sees kids and adults coming from families as far as Olympia, Issaquah and also as close to home as Gregory Bassiliou, 10, whose family owns Sun Fish on Alki.

When asked what his favorite thing about the dojo is Bassiliou says, "Being a green belt and doing a lot of kata (specific martial arts movements)."

Teaching classes for both adults and kids, Wilder has students like Tom Rossman and son Spencer, 6, a father-son duo who are both in the Beginning Kids and Adult classes.

"I had done judo as a kid and thought it was a generally good thing for kids to learn how to control and respect their bodies," says Rossman.

Being both a teacher and avid author of the martial arts, Wilder also travels around the world teaching and speaking about his works and skill. He takes pride for starting in West Seattle and makes sure that the dojo has a presence in a small community and worldwide.

Wilder says, "A lot of people want to write the great American novel and change the world and I just want to be a little shining light in West Seattle, this is where I live this is my home."

Allison Espiritu may be reached at 932.0300 or allisone@robinsonnews.com