Jerry Beasley: Joe Lewis Karate/Kickboxing
Inside Karate magazine called him “the published authority on American karate.” Black Belt magazine recognized him as America’s foremost martial arts educator. Martial Arts...
Isao Obata: Shotokan Karate
Isao Obata was born in 1904 in the Tokyo area of Japan. He was Japanese pioneer master of Shotokan karate. He was a senior...
Judo Gene LeBell Looks Great in Pink
Gene LeBell started young in the world of fighting. Gene's mother, Aileen Eaton, owned and operated the Olympic Auditorium. The Olympic was built in...
Shinken Taira: Modern Kobudo
Shinken Taira called "The Father of Modern Kobudo" was born Shinken Maezato on June 12, 1897 on the island of Kumejima (Kume Island) off...
Jack Hwang: Taekwondo
Jack Hwang was born on July 3, 1931 and he began his study of the Korean martial arts in 1941. His uncle, Soun Gyu...
Bruce Tegner – The Forgotten Pioneer of American Martial Arts
Emil Farkas shares why, to him, Bruce Tegner was the most important person responsible for the spread and the growth of karate in the United States.
Walter Todd: Shudokan Karate
His supporters saw Walter Todd as "a living testament to the power of perseverance and the vitalizing capacity of authentic budo."
Seisho Arakaki: Okinawan Martial Arts
Seisho Arakaki was born in 1840 in either Kumemura, on Okinawa Island, or on the nearby island of Sesoko. He was a prominent Okinawan martial...
Masami Tsuruoka: Chito-Ryu Karate
Masami Tsuruoka was born on January 12, 1929 in Cumberland, British Columbia, Ontario, Canada. He was a Japanese Canadian karate instructor and practitioner and...
Chojun Miyagi: Goju-ryu
Independently wealthy, Chojun Miyagi was able to devote his life to the exclusive study of the martial arts and founded Goju-ryu karate.
Frank Ordonez: Kajukenbo
Frank Ordonez was born February 15, 1927, in Puunene, Maui, Hawaii. As a teenager he trained in Jujitsu and judo from Sam Luke Sr.,...
Hirokazu Kanazawa Passed Away Peacefully
Hirokazu Kanazawa was a world-renowned Japanese master of Shotokan karate and the Chief instructor and President of the Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation, an organisation...
Gilbert Tenio
Grandmaster Gilbert Tenio taught Tenio Decuerdas Eskrima. The system was developed on the island of Bohol in the Phillipines. He incorporated 19 systems into...
Kanbun Uechi: Uechi-ryu
Kanbun Uechi was born in Deikusaku section of Okinawa, but grew up in the Takintō section of the mountain farming village of Izumi on...
Shoshin Nagamine: Matsubayashi-Ryu
In 1952 Shoshin Nagamine opened Matsubayashi-Ryu Kodokan Karate and Ancient Martial Arts Studies, in Naha City teaching his Matsubayashi-Ryu style.
Aaron Banks
Aaron Banks was a Grand Master in the martial arts and he made it his personal mission to share the different forms of martial...
