I began training in Kyokushin Karate in 1980 under Sensei Jim “Swanny” Swanson at Naval Training Center Orlando. More than forty years later, many of the things I write about still begin with lessons he gave me when I was young — lessons I sometimes understand very differently now than I did then.
Kyokushin Karate Blog grew out of that experience.
I write about training, fighting, teaching, history, and the people who shaped Kyokushin. Some articles begin with a question. Others begin with an old photograph, a tournament, a conversation, or something one of my teachers told me decades ago that suddenly makes more sense today.
I began training in 1980 at Swanson’s School of Karate. My early kyu certificates bear signatures including Darrell Wilson, my teacher’s teacher and a branch chief under Mas Oyama, and Jim Swanson. For a brief period in the early 1980s, Shihan Yasuhiko Oyama served as our branch chief, prior to him and his brother Saiko Shihan Shigeru Oyama leaving Kyokushin to form World Oyama Karate. That connection is why my Nikyu certificate was signed by Shigeru Oyama in 1983. My Nidan certificate, which came through Darrell Wilson, was signed directly by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama in 1989.
Swanson would later be promoted to Shihan, 5th Dan, and the foundation he built still influences the way I train, teach, and think about karate. Over the years, I have also had the privilege of training with many respected instructors, including Hanshi Steve Arneil, Saiko Shihan Shigeru Oyama, Shihan Yasuhiko Oyama, Shihan Bobby Lowe, Shihan Akiyoshi Matsui, Shihan Mike Monaco, and Shihan Bill Richards.
My own background is firmly rooted in Kyokushin. I joined the USA-IFK in 1996 after my teacher retired and have remained part of the IFK ever since. But I have never believed that Kyokushin belongs to any one organization. I try to support good karate wherever I find it and to preserve the stories, experiences, and lessons that connect the broader Kyokushin community.
I served 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and another 10 years in the Navy Reserve. My first decade on active duty was spent in photography and photojournalism, and I continued in that field during my Reserve service. Following 9/11, I returned to active duty in the U.S. Navy and served as a Master-at-Arms until retiring in 2012. During those years, I taught non-lethal weapons, defensive tactics, use-of-force, and related skills in real-world security environments. That experience shaped the way I look at martial arts as well. There is a difference between understanding a technique in theory and understanding what happens when another person is actively trying to stop you.
Over the years, I also trained in Tai-Jitsu, Kobudo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. None of those arts replaced Kyokushin for me, but each gave me another way of looking at movement, position, control, timing, and resistance.
In 2021, after returning to my home state of Texas, I reconnected with USA-IFK and founded Texas Kyokushin Karate in Bryan. Today, my involvement in Kyokushin extends well beyond my own training. I am the founder and Chief Instructor of Texas Kyokushin Karate, Chairman of the USA-IFK Media Committee, a member of the IFK Media Committee, and administrator of the USA-IFK website.
I also moderate r/kyokushin on Reddit and am the creator/Administrator of Kyokushinkai Karate, one of the largest Kyokushin communities on Facebook. I also post content on the Kyokushin Karate Blog YouTube channel, where I share kata, syllabus material, seminar footage, tournament coverage, and other Kyokushin content. Those roles have given me the opportunity to interact with instructors, fighters, students, and organizations from across the Kyokushin world, and they have reinforced something I have believed for a long time: Kyokushin is stronger when we support one another rather than retreat into organizational boundaries.
I also completed 116 credit hours toward a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Although I didn’t finish the degree, those studies gave me a lasting appreciation for scientific research and the importance of critically evaluating evidence. I’ve also maintained a lifelong interest in kinesiology and human movement, which has influenced how I approach martial arts training and teaching. After decades of practicing and teaching Kyokushin, I’m still interested in understanding not just how techniques work, but why they work, and whether scientific research supports what we’ve learned through experience.
That outlook carries into this blog.
I am interested in technique, but just as often I find myself writing about the lessons behind technique — movement, position, timing, distancing, discipline, awareness, teaching, aging, history, and the way old lessons continue to reveal themselves over time. I still consider myself a student first. The longer I train, the more often I find myself returning to things I was taught decades ago and asking whether I really understood them the first time.
That is mostly what this blog is about.
It is not meant to be the voice of any one organization, and it is not meant to tell everyone else how they should train. It is simply a record of what I have learned, what I am still learning, and what I think is worth preserving and passing on.
Osu!
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