Grand Master Yuichi Kuda was born in Chinen Village on the southern tip of Okinawa in 1928. He was descended from a line of Okinawan samurai. His family genealogy dates back over five hundred years to one of the early Okinawan kings of the Sho Dynasty (1407-1477). He first received instruction in karate from his father. Grand Master Kuda’s father also taught him the family style of bojutsu, the art of using the Okinawan staff. At age ten he also began training in kendo. When he was about twenty years old he began studying karate under a man named Yamashiro while serving in the Japanese Navy. Grand Master Kuda credited this man with teaching him the true spirit of karate. In the 1960s Grand Master Kuda became a student of Shigeru Nakamura and was admitted to Nakamura’s Okinawa Kenpo Association. While in the Okinawa Kenpo group he trained with other well-known masters such as Fusei Kise and Seiyu Oyata. After Nakamura’s death in 1970 Grand Master Kuda began studying Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu under Grand Master Hohan Soken (1889-1982). He then became a dedicated teacher and a Grand Master of Shorin Ryu karate. Later, after Soken Sesnei’s death Yuichi Kuda founded his own organization called Matsumura Kenpo Shorin Ryu Karate. Grand Master Kuda was a quiet man and proved himself to be a man of wisdom and serenity. He developed some unique kobudo kata including the Nitan bo kata that features the use of two short sticks. His legacy continues today through the teachings of his student George Alexander and the International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation.

Grand Master Ken Penland, Hanshi 10th Dan is an avid martial arts practitioner and enthusiast. He is the Chairman and founder of the International Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu Federation. He began studying martial arts as a boy in the 1950s. His first instructor was his father who was a member of the U. S. Army and a black belt in both Karate and Judo. In 1962, Sensei Penland met Ed Parker and started training in Kempo Karate. About this same time he struck up a friendship with Harley S. Reagan and began training under his direction in Judo and Jujitsu. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and was an Airborne Ranger serving in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. Later, in the mid 1970s Sensei Penland trained under Grand Master Fusei Kise in Kenshinkan Shorin Ryu Karate and Kobudo. He eventually served as a regional director for this organization. He then became affiliated with Grand Master Yuichi Kuda of the Shorin Ryu Matsumura Kempo Karate Association and served as a director of this organization as well. He has also been an advisor for many other martial arts organizations. Currently, he is the Chairman of the International Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu Federation and a director of the International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation. He has done extensive research on the martial arts and co-authored two books. The first is the Bubishi Martial Art Spirit and the second is the Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu training manual entitled Warrior Jujitsu. He has also been featured in a series of videotapes on Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu. Through his efforts in his martial arts career, he has attained the rank of Hanshi 10th Dan, the highest rank in Jujitsu and 9th Dan in Shorin Ryu Karate and Kobudo, 5th Dan in Kendo and 6th Dan in Judo. He is currently the chief martial arts instructor for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Jujitsu and defensive tactics dojo.

George W. Alexander was born in Bay Shore, New York on March 23,1947. Later he moved to Delray Beach, Florida and grew up in Palm Beach County.He established Japan Karate School there in 1986 and taught at the Palm Beach Recreation Department and Florida Atlantic University and was a regular demonstrator at Morikami Park. He is thePresident and Founder of the International Shorin Ryu Karate Kobudo Federation and is acknowledged as the “World Pioneer of Shorin Ryu Karate.”  He began his martial arts training in Combat Judo in 1960 and later in 1964 karate while serving in the United States Marine Corps.  His Marine Corps assignments enabled him to journey to the orient including mainland Japan, Okinawa and Southeast Asia. George Alexander began training in Shorin Ryu Karate while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  He quickly earned a reputation as a rugged fighter in the Marine Corps where he also trained in Judo, Kyokushinkai and Goju Ryu karate under Sensei Charles E. Clark and Takeuchi Sensei. In the 1970s George trained in Shotokan, Renbukai and Goju Ryu karate. During his career he has trained with a host of noted masters some of them include Ken Ogawa (1949-1982), All Japan Karate

Champion and legendary student of Goju Ryu Master Morio Higaonna, Seikichi Odo (1926-2002), Fusie Kise (b. 1935), Yuichi Kuda (1928-1999), Yoshimasa Matsuda (b. 1939), Tetsuhiro Hokama (b. 1944), Iken Tokashiki (b. 1940) and Seifuku Nitta (1942-2012). Most recently he has trained with Eiki Kurashita Sensei, 10^th Dan Hanshi in Shodokan Goju Ryu in Okinawa. A decorated veteran, he served as a team leader with the US Marine’s 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company in Vietnam.  In 1967 and 1968 while stationed at Dong Ha, Vietnam he led jungle teams which gathered intelligence information. His military awards include Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (May, 1965 Dominican  Republic), Vietnam

Campaign, Vietnam Service, Combat Action, Good Conduct, National Defense, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and two Presidential Unit Citations. Since then he has become a uniquely qualified and popular instructor with international teaching credentials and experience. He has traveled widely to spread the teachings of the martial arts.

RANKS AND TITLES

• 10th Dan Hanshi Shorin Ryu Karate & Kobudo Soke Menkyo Kaiden Hakutsuru Kenpo Karate 10th Dan Hanshi Shorinji Ryu Jujitsu (USA)
• 8th Dan Kendo (Japan)
• 3rd Dan Judo (USA)

 

 

George Alexander earned a Baccalaureate Degree in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida in 1979 and did graduate work in Asian history under the supervision of Dr. Tsung I. Dow. Later he received his Ph.D. in political science. Additionally, he trained in Shorin Ryu with Sensei Mike Hancock (1948-2006) and Sensei Ron Lindsey (b.1944). He received his Master Certificate and teaching credentials in Shorin Ryu Karate and Kobudo in 1983 from the All Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate and Kobudo Association.  He now holds the rank of 10th Dan Hanshi in Shorin Ryu Karate and Kobudo awarded in 2007 by Seifuku Nitta, 10^th Dan and Seiki Toma, 10^th Dan. He would ultimately earn the accolade, “The fastest hands in Okinawa” and was awarded the title “Bushi” or warrior by the Myobukan Karate Association in Okinawa. George is acknowledged as an expert in Jujitsu and Kendo, the Japanese form of swordsmanship. In the 1980s he studied Kendo and Itto ryu kenjutsu in Japan under Hiromasa Takano, 10^th Dan Meijin and Iaido and Kendo under Tatsuo Yamaguchi, 9^th Dan.

George developed a relationship with Dr. Gordon Warner, 8^th Dan Kendo who served as his mentor in Kendo. George also studied jujitsu with Grand Master Ken Penland (1947-2006) who became his long time friend and colleague. George is also a member of the All Japan Seibukan Martial Arts Association, Kyoto, Japan.

After rigorous research and traveling to Okinawa many times and to China he founded the Okinawa Hakutsuru Kenpo style of karate and was awarded the Menkyo Kaiden, the certificate of full proficiency in this art by Grand Master Seifuku Nitta. George trained in China with the Shaolin monks at the Quanzhou Zen Temple and in Yong Chun Village with Grand Master Su Ying Han of the White Crane style. He is a defensive tactics instructor and has taught members of the armed forces in the U.S. and abroad and LAPD, LAPD SWAT, Dept. of Homeland Security, and other agencies.

In 1989 George Alexander founded Yamazato International, a company specializing in martial arts publications and video productions.  In this capacity George produced over 200 martial arts instructional, documentary and fitness DVDs. George has been featured in over 60 martial arts instructional DVDs and has been inducted into and received several martial arts hall of fame awards.

Hall of Fame Awards  1991 World Martial Arts Hall of Fame 2000 the Action Martial Arts Hall of Honors 2003 Masters Hall of Fame 2005 World Head of Family Sokeship Council 2013 World Headmasters & Sokeship Council 2013 World Organizer of Martial Arts USA

 

George Alexander has competed in Tournaments and was the 1997 National AAU Karate Champion and voted one of the world’s top 100 martial artists by the International Martial Arts Federation and Grand Master Che Cheng Chiang. George has won many titles including USA Karate Champion and World Karate Champion. He has competed in many Kendo tournaments in the U.S. and Japan (Edogawa Dai Kendo Federation, Chiba Prefecture) and was the first Florida State Kendo Champion. He has served as a director and advisor for many martial arts organizations including the International Martial Arts Federation (Kokusai Budoin) under the supervision of Dan Ivan and Shizuya Sato and the World Union of Martial Arts Federations whose directors included Chuck Merriman, Bruce Heilman, Spartaco Bertoletti, Rudy Crosswell, Ron Yamanaka and Robert Clark, all friends and colleagues of the highest order. In the 1990s George coached a competition team that was successful in international competition.

George Alexander has taught various martial arts seminars around the world including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and China as well as Police Defensive Tactics. Further, he is a regular instructor and lecturer at many annual national and international events. He has given martial arts demonstrations in Miami, Florida, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia; The Morikami Museum in Delray Beach, (appeared as a lecturer and demonstrator for twenty years) Florida; World Union of Martial Federations in Toronto, Canada, Carole, Italy, Dragonfest in Fullerton, California and at the Glendale Civic Auditorium; London, Manchester, Liverpool and Essex University in Essex, England as well as Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has done many seminars in Italy, established schools in Milan and Florence and participated in a tour of ten cities in Italy with an International Martial Arts Demo Team in 1994 called Pasqua Del Budo. He has done demonstrations in Japan and at the Okinawan World Full Contact Tournament held in Naha, Okinawa in 1997 and again in 1999. He has appeared on Japanese television as an interviewer of Sakayama Sogen, Roshi at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Okinawa, Japan in 1997. Additionally, he was a guest speaker and demonstrator at the First Black Belt Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, California, 2004.

In 2005 George traveled to China and did extensive field research and lectured at the International Kung Fu Conference. The result of the research was a book published in 2009 entitled The Way of White Crane Karate and a video documentary entitled, In Search of Shaolin. He appeared on the Discovery Channel in the show The Art of War Alexander the Great in 2006 as an expert commentator and has been featured on the television show Hanshi’s World. George has lectured on business strategy at National American University in 2010 and at Brookwood Institute in New York in 2012. He traveled to Japan in 2008, 2012 and again in 2013 and has done further research.

George Alexander has always been fascinated with the history of the martial arts and is an oriental art collector. As a result of this fascination, he has done much historical research and translation work and written numerous articles and books on the martial arts. According to George Alexander, “History and technique seem to intertwine themselves.” He has written two of the leading books on Okinawan karate history. The first, Okinawa Island of Karate is an in-depth study on Okinawan Karate history. The second book is a translation of a secret text known as the Bubishi (Martial Art Spirit).

George Alexander Publications:  Okinawa Island of Karate 1991 Bubishi Martial Art Spirit 1993 The Shorin Ryu Karate Training Manual 1995 Warrior Jujitsu Training Guide for the Art of Jujitsu 1998 Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Japanese Martial Arts 2002 Sun Tzu The Art of War for the Modern Executive 2008 The Way of White Crane Karate 2009 Japan’s Warrior Nation–The Samurai in the Twentieth Century 2010 Essential Kendo The Way of the Sword 2013 Seeking the Way 2013

 

George Alexander teaches at the Budokan Martial Arts Training Center in Philmont, New York and is a professor of East Asian History at the State University of New York. He is also a distinguished research fellow (FIMAS) and member of the faculty at the Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences in the United Kingdom. He is active in his community and in helping veterans who suffer from PTSD as a result of their combat experiences. He is committed to teaching others the “martial way” as well as the philosophy of the martial arts that includes courtesy, discipline and respect as embodied in the Neo-Confucian ethics of the dojo kun Character, Sincerity, Effort, Etiquette and Self Control. He continues to travel and teach seminars worldwide.