Columbia Basin Racquet Club values its members and staff. Once a month, the blog will spotlight someone from the CBRC family to give readers an inside scope of the people in the community at the premier health club in town.
Meet Dr. John Jaffe, karate instructor for CBRC since 1993. John earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University and went on to teach physics at Michigan Technological University from 1985-1992. In 1992, John moved to the Tri-Cities, where he was on research staff at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). John retired from PNNL in 2012 and now teaches math at Columbia Basin College.
John started practicing karate in 1980, while he was a graduate student completing his doctorate. From 1981-1985 he was a postdoctoral researcher in Colorado and then in New York State. It was in Denver, that John trained under Master Yaguchi, and in the New York area under Master Mori. John also led a karate group when he moved to Michigan. Within a year of moving to Tri-Cities, John started the karate group at CBRC. When asked why John continues to work at CBRC, his response was, “CBRC offers an excellent physical facility (the Small Aerobics Room) for my class, and a very well run business environment, saving me the trouble of having to be a small businessman as well as an instructor.”
The people are John’s favorite part about CBRC, both staff and members. He enjoys all the positive attitudes and the personal warmth of being part of the club. John says, “The friendly, dedicated, and professionally well-qualified staff is CBRC’s greatest asset.”
To get to know a little personal side of John, he provided information on some favorites in Tri-Cities and responded to a fun question! John loves the weather in Tri-Cities, except for August and December. Enjoying ten out of twelve months makes for a pretty great calendar year. His favorite “go to” restaurant is Ethos Café and Bakery. If John could be doing anything in the world for the next week, he said, “Riding the original Orient Express with my wife and son (that train was restored some years ago as an ultra-luxury experience but I’m not sure if it is still running).”
John is a great contribution to the CBRC family. Consider learning karate from his over 35 years of martial arts experience. To find out more about karate classes, check out the webpage here.
Thanks, John, for being part of the CBRC family!