History

THE BEGINNING OF KINNEY KARATE

At the age of 11, in 1963, my father passed away. My scoutmaster started teaching Ju-Jitsu at cub scout meetings. He had been a prisoner of war in World War II and learned his skills during his incarceration. When the loss of my fathers income forced our family to move, the relocation forced the discontinuation of my Ju-Jitsu classes.

Upon moving into the Washington D.C. metropolitan area from the suburbs, I anxiously looked in the Yellow Pages to find a Ju-Jitsu school. To my surprise, only two Karate schools were listed in the entire three state area. One school downtown only taught Tae Kwon Do, and the other, in the suburban area advertised Tang Soo Do, Ju-Jitsu and Aikido. This ad featured the instructor throwing a victim high into the air. I was hooked, now I could continue my Ju-Jitsu and learn Karate too. Unfortunately, further examination revealed a 90 mile drive to and from class twice a week.

My mom, with three jobs and the responsibility of raising two young children alone found the time and energy to entertain my fantasy.

I studied at Kim’s Studio for over a year. My mother came to me one day asking if we could compromise on my instruction. She had found a class near our home, at the YMCA, for only a fraction of the cost. I was devastated, but I understood.

When I entered the new “Studio” for the first time, to my surprise my instructor from Kim Studio was teaching a roomful of beginners. His name was Dale Tompkins and he had just been promoted to Black Belt. Since I was the most advanced in class and knew the material and the instructor, I was elated. School politics had forced Mr. Tompkins from Mr. Kim’s studio to form one of the first community center schools in the nation. Few non-Asians taught the Martial Arts at that time, and hardly any schools allowed children or women. This was about to change, and I was a part of a new generation to bring about future innovations to the Martial Arts.

In 1965, he named his school the ”Tang Soo Do Karate Association.” In 1969, I was awarded the first Black Belt in this new school based in Recreation Centers.

Eventually, with my help as the chief instructor, we built the organization to over 2000 students in 54 locations in three counties. Because of limited supplies of uniforms, Mr. Tompkins began to import specially designed uniforms and belts in containers from Korea to supply our students. Our school held one the first international tournaments on the East Coast. We started the first team competition teams that accepted challenges from other regions.

I developed specialized board breaking skills that were in demand for competition and demonstrations. Mr. Tompkins offered one of the first summer camp experiences with over 300 participants. We offered opportunities for top athletes in the Martial Arts to teach large seminars. Our competitors plastered tournaments over a 500 mile radius. Classes were often over 100 students in size and I was forced to develop specialized skills encompassing the art of entertaining and teaching.

In the late sixties, point Karate was dominant in tournaments on the East Coast. We were among the pioneers that introduced the Korean Kicking techniques to the venue. At the time, tournament techniques were almost strictly hand and fist stikes with a minimal use of low kicks that had been established the decade before by the Japanese and Okinawan systems. Needless to say, we made an influential impact in the development of “Point Karate” with our highly defined kicking style. My friend and competitor, Jeff Smith gave me one of the first sets of protective hand gear designed for tournament fighting. Previously, competitors only wore groin protection in tournaments, and this innovation was the historic beginning of a new type of training designed for the use protective gear in Karate tournaments. This breakthrough prototype punch was the ancestor of modern safety gear seen everywhere today in schools and tournaments world wide.

In addition to the large base of students in community center classes, My instructor and I became business partners and opened a commercial school in the the Maryland Suburbs near the University of Maryland. This school evolved into one of the largest established schools in the Washington D.C metropolitan area. In my early twenties, I established a relationship with Olympic Bronze Judo Medallist, Jim

Bregman. He had a local school and taught Ju-Jitsu. He added many new skills to my repertoire. I studied Aikido and visited other schools as a guest instructor. Additional skills were enhanced by associations with high ranking instructors in the Bando system from Burma. I was also influenced by my friends who had schools in Okinawan and Kempo Karate.

By 1979, I made a heartfelt decision to relocate to Florida to be near my family. In the South I saw my future. The Martial Arts community was just taking hold of the public interest. My timing was perfect and my newly formed school in St. Petersburg, Florida was the first fee based recreation program in the city history. It was and still is the most successful of over 300 programs in the Department of Leisure services.

Since leaving the Washington D.C. area, I have broadened my knowledge. I studied Ju-Jitsu with Wally Jay and Modern Arnis with Remy Presas. I have been on seminar billings with Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, Joe Lewis, Remy Presas, Al Dacostas, Jeff Smith, George Dillman, Wally Jay, Jim Bregman, Mike Bernardo and many others.

Kinney Karate today has over 600 active weekly students in St. Petersburg Florida. Ten’s of thousands of students have been introduced to the Martial Arts through the system Kinney Karate over the last 30 years. Thousands more study with instructors promoted by the Kinney Karate system and even more have been influenced by techniques introduced through my seminars.
Kinney Karate has directly produced Three World Champion Competitors. Hundreds of students have earned National and State Rankings in the NASKA tournament circuit. In 1987, I produced “Kinney Karate World,” one of the first commercial Karate television series in the country.

Since my promotion to Black Belt in 1969, the reputation of Kinney Karate has spread world wide as Black Belts have opened schools though out the world. It all started with my mother’s commitment to my dreams.