Didi Goodman

Didi Goodman is chief instructor at Cuong Nhu Redwood Dojo, a school she founded in 1992 in Oakland, California. She has been training in martial arts for more than thirty-five years, and teaching it to adults and children for more than twenty-five. She holds the rank of rokudan (sixth degree black belt) in Cuong Nhu karate, a Vietnamese martial art that blends hard and soft principles drawn from several Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese systems. Prior to joining Cuong Nhu, she trained for many years in taekwondo and aikido. Some of her earliest martial arts training was in the style of Wu Ying Mun karate under Pauline Short, a pioneer among women martial artists in the U.S.

Outside the dojo, she is a writer and poet whose work has appeared in many publications. Her essay "Learning from Children: Five Easy Lessons for Teachers," appears in the book Martial Arts Teachers on Teaching, edited by Carol Wiley (North Atlantic Books). She was profiled in the book Sharp Spear, Crystal Mirror: Martial Arts in Women's Lives, by Stephanie Hoppe (Park Street Press), and a 2006 interview with her appears on the martial arts website Martial Edge, at http://www.martialedge.net/articles/interviews-question-and-answers/interview-with-didi-goodman/.