Alexander Kisten is known as “The Legend” in the Systema martial art. He is a 1984 graduate from the Ryazan Airborne Command School. Upon graduation, he served in a Spetsnaz Brigade of the GRU. From 1985 to 1987 he participated in combat operations in Afghanistan. There he held the post of Group Commander, and... more »
Born in the 19th year of Emperor Guangxu’s Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1893), Lu Zijian lives in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, China. Despite his age, he is healthy and lithe. He is a well know martial artist, heading the Dragon Gate lineage of Daoism (Long Men Pai). In 2002 Lu was awarded 9... more »
Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi was born on April 25, 1888. He began training in karate under Kanryo Higaonna at the age of 14, in 1902. Like his teacher before him, because of his great natural talent and fierce determination, he progressed very rapidly. The training was severe beyond belief at times but he practiced ever... more »
Christian Tissier (born 1951 in Paris, France) is one of the best known European Aikido teachers, who pioneered the art in France. He started training in Aikido as a child in 1962, and trained under Mutsuro Nakazono in Paris until he left for Tokyo in 1969. He came to Aikikai Hombu Dojo as an... more »
Master Duan Zhi-Liang, is a Wuji Qigong Master. “The essence of all evolution in nature emerges from chaos, by understanding the infinite energy that is always available to us we can flow naturally with the chaotic rythms of the universe. Try to avoid patterns and repetition, mix things up, and let chi flow smoothly.... more »
Senior Grand Master Ed Parker is known worldwide as the “Father of American Kenpo Karate”. Mr. Edmund Kealoha Parker was born on March 18, 1931 in Honolulu, Hawaii where he lived until 1950, when he left to attend college in Utah. He studied and earned his Black Belt in Kenpo Karate under the late... more »
Emin Boztepe (born 17 June 1962) is an American martial artist of Turkish origin who held German nationality prior to naturalization. He first came to prominence for his fight in 1986 with noted Wing Chun practitioner William Cheung, and he continued to gain attention in the 1990s with a public challenge of the Gracie... more »
Gozo Shioda Sensei was born in 1915. His farther, Dr. Seiichi Shioda was known as a famous doctor and a patriot. Gozo was his second son. When Gozo Shioda sensei was 18, he became a student of Morihei Ueshiba Sense (O-Sensei), the Founder of Aikido. He spent 8 years with Ueshiba Sensei, dedicating his life to... more »
Cho Hee Il (born October 13, 1940) is a prominent Korean-American master of taekwondo, holding the rank of 9th dan in the martial art. He has written 11 martial art books, produced 70 martial art training videos, and has appeared on more than 70 martial arts magazine covers. Cho won several national and international... more »
Hirokazu Kanazawa is a world-renowned Japanese master of Shotokan karate. He is the Chief instructor and President of the Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation, an organisation he founded after he left the Japan Karate Association (JKA). Kanazawa was born on 3 May 1931 in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He trained in judo during his school years,... more »
Hironori Otsuka was born in Shimodate City in Japan in 1892. He was the second of four children. His father Tokujiro was a doctor and his uncle Chojiro Ebasi was the official martial arts instructor of the Tsuchiura Clan. At the age of five even though he was in poor health he began training... more »
Isao Okano (born January 20, 1944) is a retired judoka who competed in the middleweight (-80 kg) division. He was born in Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki, Japan. He entered the 1964 Summer Olympics while studying at Chuo University’s law school, and won the gold medal in the middleweight division. He won another gold medal at the... more »
Kanryo Higaonna (March 10, 1853 – December 1916), also known as “Higashionna West”, was a native of Nishi-shin-machi, Naha, Okinawa. He was born in Nishimura, Naha to a merchant family, whose business was selling firewood, an expensive commodity in the Ryukyu Islands. He founded the fighting style later to be known as Gōjū ryū... more »
Keiko Fukuda (born April 12, 1913) is the highest-ranked female judo practitioner in history, holding the rank of 9th dan from the Kodokan and the United States Judo Federation (USJF), and 10th dan from USA Judo, and is the last surviving student of Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo. She is a renowned pioneer of... more »
Kenshiro Abbe (15 December 1915 – 1 December 1985) was a prominent Japanese master of Judo, Aikido, and Kendo. He introduced Aikido to the United Kingdom in 1955, and founded the Kyushindo system. Abbe was a graduate of the famous Budo Senmon Gakko, having studied judo and kendo there. Following an illustrious early career... more »
Kenwa Mabuni (1889 – 1952) was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan and is creditied as developing the style known as Shitō-ryū. Mabuni was born on november 14, 1889 at Okinawa, Shuri in Japan. Kenwa mabuni was descendant of the famous Onikusukuni samurai family. To improve his week body,... more »
Masatoshi Nakayama (April 13, 1913 – April 15, 1987) was an internationally-renowned Japanese master of Shotokan karate. He helped establish the Japan Karate Association (JKA) in 1949, and wrote many textbooks on karate, which served to popularize his martial art. For almost 40 years, until his death in 1987, Nakayama worked to spread Shotokan... more »