Description
Osu! I've been a lifelong student of Kyokushin Karate. My first Kyokushin class was in 1980 while living in Florida. My first teacher was Sensei Jim (Swanny) Swanson (RIP). I earned my shodan in 1986 and nidan in 1989. Sosai Masutatsu Oyama passed away in 1994.
In 1996 I joined the newly formed USA-IFK Kyokushin organization under Shihan Mike Monaco and Hanshi Steve Arneil. In late 2001, following 9/11, I closed my Florida dojo for active military service.
My next 20 years were largely outside the United States. I trained alone or sometimes at local Kyokushin dojos. Once Kyokushin is in your blood it will always be with you!
I returned to Texas (my home state) in June 2021. Since coming home I've rejoined the USA-IFK Kyokushin organization and travel frequently to continue my training.
On October 1st, 2020 I created the Kyokushinkai Karate Facebook group. In just over 18 months it grew into the largest Kyokushin group on Facebook! Currently, we're over 35k members! Osu!
