Who's Who

Who’s Who in the martial arts on USAdojo.com shares biographies and articles about the Founders, the Masters, the Pioneers, the Competitors and the “Stars” of the martial arts.

Ed McGrath Isshin-ryu

Ed McGrath: Isshin-ryu Karate

Ed McGrath began his martial arts studies under Sensei Don Nagle in 1958 training in the first Isshin-ryu dojo established in America. The dojo...

Masami Tsuruoka: Chito-Ryu Karate

Masami Tsuruoka was born on January 12, 1929 in Cumberland, British Columbia, Ontario, Canada. He was a Japanese Canadian karate instructor and practitioner and...
Chuzo Kotaka

Chuzo Kotaka: Kotaka-Ha Shito-ryu Karate

Chuzo Kotaka was born on November 11, 1941 in Hyogoken, Japan. He began studying karate at the age of seven under Sensei Genryu Kimura....
Alan Goldberg Wiing Chun Kung Fu

Alan Goldberg: Wing Chun Kung Fu

Wing Chun Kung Fu Master Alan Goldberg has been training in the martial arts for over forty years. He has studies Wing Chun, Five...

Ed Parker Sr: Teacher, Author, and Promoter

On March 19, 1931, Ed Parker Sr was born to Arthur and Eva Parker in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was the sixth of seven children...

Wally Slocki: Canada’s Best Fighter

When Wally Slocki began teaching karate during the 60s, challengers occasionally sauntered into karate schools. They would grin derisively, size up the instructor, and...
Kenjutsu

Iso Aisu: Kenjutsu

Iso Aisu was a Japanese kenjutsu master and the founder of Aisu-kuge-ryu who was born in 1452 and died in 1538.
Caylor Adkins

Caylor Adkins: Shotokan Karate

Caylor Adkins is one of Mr. Tsutomu Ohshima’s first American-trained black belts in Shotokan karate. He is a pioneer in karate and a legend...

Billy Blanks: Tae Kwon Do

Billy Blanks is a world karate champion, actor, author, motivator, philanthropist and humanitarian. Billy Blanks was born the fourth of 15 children to Isaac and...

Yoshiaki Ajari: Wado Ryu Karate

Yoshiaki Ajari was Chief Instructor of the U.S. WadoKai KarateDo Federation (USWKF). Yoshiaki Ajari was born in 1933 in the Japanese village of Minato Mura. At...
Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson: Father of Sport Karate and Kickboxing

Mike Anderson has become known as the "Father of Sport Karate and Kickboxing". He is one of the foremost authorities on competitive combat sports,...

Gary Alexander: Isshinryu Karate

For those of you too young to know the real history of the Martial Arts in the U.S., in particular Isshinryu Karate, the main...

Teruyuki Okazaki: Shotokan Karate

Teruyuki Okazaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1931 and began karate at the age of 16, studying under Gichin Funakoshi, the founder...

Masatoshi Nakayama: Shotokan Karate

Masatoshi Nakayama was the first Shotokan practitioner to be awarded his 9th dan while still alive and he was awarded his 10th dan after...
Joe Hyams

Joe Hyams

Joe Hyams was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 6, 1923, and he grew up in nearby Brookline, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, but...

Ernest Lieb: American Karate System

Ernest Lieb was born in Berlin Germany in 1940 as Hitler’s armies were devastating the European country side.  He, along with his mother and father,...