by Michael Kinney
My cub scout leader was confined for years as a prisoner of war in Korea. There he learned Ju-Jitsu. Meanwhile, my family had moved to our dream house in Bel-Air, Maryland, near Baltimore. But a short time later, my father passed away. The year was 1964.
My troubles began when I was attacked, beaten and humiliated in junior high school. My Mom had been my tormentor’s music teacher and he took it out on me. It also didn’t help to be gangly, too tall, and skinny for my age. My white-blond hair didn’t help me fit in. I was often the victim. I didn’t realize it, but I was one of the first kids to study a Martial Art.
Summer camp had always been important to me until an incident sent me looking in the back of comic books for ways to “kill with a finger poke.” That fall, and without a male influence in my life, we moved back to the Washington suburbs to be closer to my grandmother. I missed my scout meeting Ju-Jitsu classes. I sent for every book on self defense and decided to ask my mom to let me take Karate and Ju-Jitsu from a local instructor. It was 1965 and I was enrolled into Kim Studio* in Silver Spring, Maryland. I loved it. My instructor had never taught a kid my age. In those days you couldn’t even be a Black Belt until age 18. There were only two Karate schools in the entire D.C. area, and my mom drove over an hour to deliver me to classes twice a week. It cost $35 per month and she had to take on a third job. Just as now, it was really hard being a single mother in the 60s. It didn’t take long for her to ask me if I would let her take me to the YMCA for Karate instead. I agreed, said my goodbyes to my friends, my instructors and then walked into the YMCA gym only to find the same instructor leading the class. Here, I was the top dog, the senior student. a Yellow Belt and ready for bear.
I was a Brown Belt for 3 years until I reached age 18. It seasoned me, and I was able to establish my fighting reputation. I first started competing internationally in 1969. Our Karate school grew to 38 locations in community centers over a 60-mile radius with over 2,000 active students, the largest in the nation. In 1972, while in college, I opened my first commercial studio near the University of Maryland. There, I trained many of today’s greatest Martial Artists. My instructor and I also opened two retail trophy shops and a silk-screen shop before I sold my interest to move to Florida in 1980. My mother and step-father were retiring and moving to St. Petersburg. I had a good offer for my business and it was the right time to relocate. After a rocky start in the Sunshine State, I realized it was absolutely the best decision I ever made.
My career in the Martial Arts started at age 11 and has continued for more than 40 years– all because of the interest shown to a young boy by his scoutmaster.
* Kim Studio is now a Martial Arts mecca and is still operating out of the same location after over 30 years. Grand master Ki Whang Kim is considered to be the Father of Korean Karate in America. He was the first to introduce Aikido to the U.S. At 86 years old, Mr. Kim was still teaching seminars.
