Thursday, October 1, 2026
Athletes at Glen Head Martial Arts and Fitness returned from the USA Karate National Championship and Team Trials with multiple medals and qualifications for other tournaments.
Co-founded by Brian Ramrup and Gloria Rosendo, the dojo, now in its second operating season, offers karate and cardio kickboxing classes for ages 3 to 70. Ramrup, 38, was a member of the USA Karate National Team for 17 years and an alternate at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He is a 12-time national champion and has medaled at several other competitions, including at the world level.
He and Rosendo met during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Ramrup moved back to Queens after living in Chicago. They began training together, and when the opportunity to open a dojo arose, Ramrup asked Rosendo to teach with him. She began teaching karate in Queens when she was 15, and accepted Ramrup’s invitation to join him in Glen Head.
Rosendo took silver at this year’s national championship after winning gold three years in a row. Rosendo, 22, began learning karate when she was 5, but did not start competing until a decade later. She described becoming a three-time national champion as “pretty intense.”
“The first time, it’s surprising,” she said. “And it feels quite emotionally overwhelming because it’s like ‘Oh my gosh, I did this for the first time, and it’s so exciting.’”
Rosendo added that after the first win, she felt like she had to “beat” herself the following year, performing better than she did the first time. She described feeling like “three different versions” of herself as she won each title, progressing in her karate career and learning to compete for herself, rather than to satisfy others’ expectations.
This year, Rosendo said she was dealing with injuries from other competitions ahead of the national championship.
“This one was just a reminder to myself of why I enjoy doing it,” she said, “why I love the process, why I get excited to just step on the mat and compete.”
Mia Finegan, 13, won gold in the elite division for her age group and weight class. She recently won silver at the Junior Pan American Championship, a competition to which each country sends their top two athletes.
Ariel River, 18, and Braden Fullman, 21, took second and third respectively in the open weight category at the national championship. Fullman met Ramrup around the same time as Rosendo when Ramrup began training at the Queens dojo where Fullman trained.
“I was so happy because I knew he was so respected,” Fullman said. “And I loved to just work with him and challenge myself against him.”
Fullman said he “followed” Ramrup to Glen Head after the Glen Head Martial Arts and Fitness opened. Fullman described taking bronze in the open weight category as “cool” and added that competing on the senior level is very different from the junior level.
He also competed in his weight class but had what he called “a very underwhelming performance.”
“What was extra difficult about that bronze medal in open weight was… having to overcome the mental process of ‘Hey, that one wasn’t good, but I need to still go and compete and put my best self forward and just perform,’” Fullman said. “And it’s not a gold medal, but I was still pretty happy with the bronze.”
In addition to his success as a competitor, Ramrup served on the USA Karate Board of Directors for eight years and was an athlete representative to the International Olympic Committee. He said he was in a “mental rut” after the Tokyo Olympics, for which he was trying to make the team, were postponed due to Covid. He added that working with Rosendo helped him regain his love for the sport.
Ramrup said he was in “the right place at the right time” to open Glen Head Martial Arts and Fitness. The building on Glen Cove Avenue was available, and he was recommended to the owner.” He described the feeling of watching his athletes succeed as “hard to put into words.”
“My favorite thing about being a coach,” he said, “is to watch them have those moments where they did more than they initially thought they could.”
The mission at the Glen Head dojo, Ramrup said, is progress. He added that he applies kaizen, a Japanese word meaning a continuous improvement approach, to his classes. The goal is for all students to leave with more confidence and better skills than they had when they arrived.
“It’s all about growing,” Ramrup said. “It’s all about being a better version of yourself.”
Rosendo and Fullman praised Ramrup for his teaching and the environment he has created at the dojo.
“The community is great,” Fullman said. “I’ve never felt more comfortable in a dojo.”
Rosendo described the dojo as “unique” because the instructors and athletes all bring their own experiences.
“Not only are we still learning,” she said, “we’re still trying our best to share everything that we learn along the way.”
