Sensei Ron van de Sandt became interested in martial arts when he was introduced to combat training while serving in the military in South Dakota. He was also the sparring partner of one of his friends who was formally studying Jujitsu at the same time. During the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s Sensei Ron van de Sandt studied some of Ed Parker’s American Kempo but did not seriously begin training in karate until around 1985 when he went to Claypool’s Academy of Martial Arts and began studying a blend of Tracy brothers Kempo mixed with Shorin Ryu karate known as Shorin Kempo.
Sensei Ron van de Sandt earned his 1st kyu brown belt rank in Shorin Kempo around 1988. After the Claypool dojo closed in 1989, Sensei van de Sandt and four other students asked Sensei Thomason to work with them, leading to the formation of the original Sholin Karate Club. Sensei van de Sandt began again as a white belt and worked his way back up to 2nd kyu brown belt. Around 1996 Master Thomason brought Sensei van de Sandt and fellow brown belt, Mark Wiley, to the White Wing Karate Club in Hamilton, Ohio to work with Sensei Bill Reed and his students so they could convert to Sholin Karate. It was there that Ron van de Sandt earned his 1st kyu brown belt rank. In May of 1999 he was assigned by Master Thomason to take the reins of organizing, teaching and operating the Sholin Karate Club at the Fairborn YMCA, where he also began training under Sensei Whitehair in preparation for his black belt test. Sensei van de Sandt passed his black belt test before the Akari-ki testing board in August, 2000.
Sensei Ron van de Sandt was involved in a horrific automobile accident in 2004 leaving him wheelchair bound. He continued teaching and operating the Sholin Karate Club and developed a self-defense system for the disabled called Kurumaisu Jutsu (literally “wheelchair fighting”). He passed his Nidan (2nd degree) black belt test before the Akari-ki testing board during their annual campout in 2006, demonstrating some of the wheelchair self-defense he had developed.
Sensei Ron van de Sandt continues to offer private lessens.
