History

The early history of Kyoshinkan parallels the history of traditional karate. Recorded history shows the migration of an early form of karate from India to China; the Chinese fighting arts that developed soon traveled to the island of Okinawa. By the early nineteen hundreds, karate had landed on the mainland of Japan. Then with the involvement of outsiders during WWII, karate was carried throughout the rest of the world.

The roots of Kyoshinkan are found in the Matsumura line of karate, passed down through such karate masters as Yasuzato, Kyan, Higaonna and Itosu. Major influences came from knowledge gained from Motobu, Otsuka, Nagamine and Kuniba.

Sensei Jordan’s training began in Hanshi James Herndon’s dojo back in the early 70’s at Old Dominion University studying Shorin ryu karate of the Nihon Shorin Ryu Karate Kenshin Kai. This system of Shorin ryu was based on the teachings of Nagamine’s system of karate. The Current director of Kenshin Kai is Shihan Nakano, who is both a certified instructor in both wado ryu and shorin ryu. And the international division is lead by Shihan Tsutomu Watanabe, now residing in Montreal, Canada.

Next, sensei Jordan trained with Shogo Kuniba, Soke of the Motobu-ha Shito ryu karate Seishin kai. Motobu-ha is based on two main karate influences, Motobu and Mabuni. The first taught to Kuniba by his father; who was a student of Motobu. The second was taught by Mabuni after coming to the Kuniba dojo in Osaka.

Sensei Jordan next trained under Shihan Watanabe. Watanabe is the senior student of Shihan Nakano and Kenshin Kai. Watanabe left Japan early in life and migrated to Montreal, Canada where he teaches shorin ryu to this day and heads the Kenshin Kai international division.

Kyoshinkan has been influenced by the ideals of each of Shihan Jordan’s sensei, as much can be learned from their teachings.

The next step in the growth of Kyoshinkan comes from several of sensei Jordan’s students having set up dojo in different areas of the country and all work together as a karate alliance.

This alliance of the schools is now known as Kyoshinkai; under sensei Jordan’s direction. With each others support and the support of the students; Kyoshinkai has become a group with 7 independent schools in 4 states with over 300 students.

Kyoshinkan has a belief that karate should based on philosophy, not merely on technique. Kyoshinkan is not the end, but the beginning of what is to come – the final destination will be up to all those who choose to follow the path.