Kita Kaze Karate Kai offers Traditional Okinawan and Japanese Warrior Arts for Adults and Children

Each year, the Gwinnett Daily Post hosts its highly respected Reader’s Choice Awards, inviting local residents to nominate and vote for their favorite businesses, attractions, and community institutions throughout the Atlanta area . Nominations for the 2025 awards concluded at the end of 2025, and the top nominees in each category advanced to the voting phase, with Winners being officially in the new year on February, 16, 2026.

For more than a decade, the Gwinnett Daily Post has sponsored the Reader’s Choice Awards, with nominees and winners chosen entirely by local readers. According to research there was over 100,000 votes with 90% coming within the last 30 days of the campaign.

Kita Kaze Dojo members, together with Renshi Sensei Steve Carbonneau, proudly displayed the 2025 Best Dojo in Gwinnett County Award, recognizing the dojo’s outstanding commitment to excellence in martial arts instruction and community leadership

A Proud Moment for Kita Kaze Karate Kai

After humbly accepting responsibility of Kita Kaze Karate Kai from from his sensei Kyoshi Mike Hoffman, Renshi Sensei Steve Carbonneau got busy with recruitment, students, and campaigning to prove that Kita Kaze, teaching KoToSu-Ha Shito-Ryu is still the Top Traditional Okinawan and Japanese Dojo in the area.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Gwinnett Daily Post and to every supporter who voted for Kita Kaze Karate Kai as the Best Martial Arts Training Facility in the Atlanta Area. Your votes paid off with accolades to the students, the instructors, and the art.

Okinawan and Japanese Arts Lineage

Kita Kaze Karate Kai is a sanctioned dojo under the International Karate Kobudo Union (IKKU), an organization established in 1986 and dedicated to preserving and advancing the highest standards of traditional martial arts. The IKKU is proud and honored to witness the lasting and positive impact that Kyoshi Mike Hoffman (retired), Renshi Sensei Carbonneau, and Kita Kaze Karate Kai continue to have on the Sugar Hill community.

This recognition speaks not only to the strength of the dojo, but also to the superior level of instruction, discipline, and character development that both IKKU and Kita Kaze Karate Kai strive to provide to every student. Kita Kaze Karate Kai is led by Renshi Sensei Steve, who brings over 10+ years of experience in Traditional Warrior Arts.

Under his leadership, students receive instruction in:

• Kotosu-Ha Shito-Ryu Karate
• Katsu-Ryu Kempo
• Koga-Ryu Kobudo
• Iaido

Renshi Sensei understands that children are the lifeblood of the martial arts tradition. He dedicates countless hours of personal time to helping shape young practitioners into disciplined, respectful, and capable karateka. Through consistent training and traditional values, students are taught the importance of discipline, respect, honor, and perseverance, qualities essential to becoming strong role models within their families, neighborhoods, and communities.

Congratulations to Renshi Sensei Steve Carbonneau and all of his students on this remarkable accomplishment. This award is a reflection of unwavering dedication, authentic traditional training, and a dojo culture built on integrity and excellence.

OSU!

Additional Kita Kaze Karate Kai Information

For information about class times at Kita Kaze Karate Kai, please visit Kita-Kaze-Karate-Kai.

For information about the Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation Department, please visit CityOfSugarHill.com.

Additional IKKU Information

To learn more about joining the IKKU – International Karate Kobudo Union, please visit our IKKU Registration Page. We welcome new members into our organization and host 6 to 10 scheduled events each year. This provides each participant with direct access to Soke Joseph Ruiz, Founder of the IKKU and Hanshi Ron Downton, as well as other high-ranking instructors within the organization.

For a full listing of upcoming training opportunities, please visit our Events Page, where we feature upcoming clinics, camps, and additional opportunities for engagement with the IKKU community.

The post Kita Kaze Karate Kai Wins Gwinnett Daily Post 2025 Reader’s Choice Award appeared first on INTERNATIONAL KARATE KOBUDO UNION.

The first English article published on Karate for the western world – Oct 1947

The October 13, 1947 Life magazine article featuring the Waseda University Karate Club represents more than an early English-language introduction of karate to a mass audience, it also documents the exact institutional environment that shaped Sensei Kiyoshi Aihara and, through him, profoundly influenced Soke Joseph R. Ruiz.

Kiyoshi Aihara (1932–2017) was educated at Waseda University, where he trained within the same karate tradition founded in 1931 under Funakoshi Gichin. The Waseda Karate Club was known not only for its technical rigor but also for its intellectual and philosophical approach to karate, emphasizing disciplined kata study, linear power generation, and the cultivation of character through budō. This academic environment preserved prewar Shotokan principles while simultaneously refining karate into a modern pedagogical system, precisely the version of karate captured in Life magazine’s postwar portrayal.

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Karate’s Introduction to the Western World

Waseda University Students showcasing Karate for Life Magazine

When Aihara later relocated to Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, he carried this Waseda-based Shotokan framework with him, becoming the first Shotokan karate instructor in Hawaiʻi and founding the Butoku Karate Club. In Hawaiʻi, Aihara’s teaching bridged Japanese university karate with the older Okinawan traditions already present in the islands, creating a rare synthesis of formal Shotokan structure and pragmatic combative understanding. His work in Hawaii would quietly shape the next generation of karateka during a period when the art was still largely unknown on the American mainland.

Among those most deeply impacted by Aihara’s instruction was Soke Joseph R. Ruiz, who trained under Aihara and absorbed not only his technical knowledge but also his historical perspective and analytical approach to karate. Through Aihara, Ruiz inherited a direct intellectual lineage to Funakoshi’s Waseda-era karate, including the emphasis on kata as a repository of combative principles rather than mere performance. This foundation later enabled Ruiz to recognize and contextualize older Okinawan and Chinese-influenced systems—most notably through his exposure to Kanki Izumikawa and Kojo-family traditions—without abandoning the structural clarity of his Shotokan roots.

Funakoshi’s Students

The significance of the 1947 Life magazine article, therefore, extends beyond media history. It visually and culturally captures the same institutional lineage that would flow from Funakoshi → Waseda University → Kiyoshi Aihara → Joseph R. Ruiz. This lineage explains the distinctive synthesis found within the International Karate Kobudo Union (IKKU) today: a system grounded in classical Shotokan methodology, enriched by Okinawan kempō, animal-form traditions, and kobudō, yet unified by the academic discipline and ethical framework characteristic of Waseda karate.

In this way, what the Western public first encountered in Life magazine as a “gentleman’s sport” ultimately became, through Aihara and Ruiz, a living transmission, one that preserved karate’s intellectual rigor while restoring its deeper combative and philosophical dimensions within the IKKU.

The post 1947 Life Magazine featuring the Waseda University Karate Club appeared first on INTERNATIONAL KARATE KOBUDO UNION.

Photo provided by the Hawaii Karate Seinenkai

This remarkable photograph, taken during Kanki Izumikawa’s first trip to Hawaii in 1961, marks a pivotal moment in karate history. The visit coincided with the opening of his first Goju-Ryu Senbukan Dojo on U.S. soil, a milestone that helped establish Okinawan karate’s presence stateside.

In the back row of the photo stand two men who, for decades, were listed as “unknown”, a mystery that puzzled Hawaiian karate historians. After detailed study and verification by Soke Joseph Ruiz, it has now been confirmed that the second person from the left in the back row is none other than Kiyoshi Aihara.

The Aihara Connection

Photo provided by the Hawaii Karate Seinenkai

According to Soke Ruiz, Aihara Sensei, besides training with Gichin Funakoshi and Egami, also trained with Kanki Izumikawa while living in Japan. This connection gave Aihara access to both Katsu-Ryu Kempo and Koga-Ryu Kobudo, traditions that would later become essential components of the International Karate Kobudo Union (IKKU).

This photo provides historical evidence of the cross karate pollination occurring between the masters of the era. This historical link not only enriched Aihara’s own martial foundation but also helped seed Soke Ruiz’s later experiences training at Izumikawa’s dojo overseas, creating a living bridge between the Okinawan, Japanese, and Hawaiian karate lineages.

The Early Senbukan Legacy in Hawaii

Local newspaper advertising Izumikawa’s Hawaii Senbukan in 1961

Among Izumikawa’s early students was Kenneth Murakami, who trained under him while stationed in Japan with the U.S. Air Force, and George Miyasaki from Hawaii. When Murakami returned home, he continued spreading Izumikawa’s teachings, first from his aunt’s garage, and later through dojos hosted at the old Jikoen Temple, Daijing Temple, and Aiea Hongwanji.

Miyasaki frequently taught alongside him, ensuring that Izumikawa’s Goju-Ryu principles took firm root in Hawaiian soil, a legacy that continues to shape the region’s martial arts community to this day.

A Rediscovered Link in the IKKU Lineage

This discovery does more than solve a long-standing historical mystery,  it solidifies a critical link in the IKKU’s lineage, connecting Soke Ruiz’s modern teachings directly back to the roots of Kanki Izumikawa’s Senbukan and Aihara’s Zen Shotokai.

By confirming Kiyoshi Aihara’s presence in that historic 1961 photo, we gain a deeper appreciation for the interconnected nature of karate’s evolution, a lineage that flows from Okinawa to Japan, to Hawaii, and ultimately into the hands of the IKKU’s practitioners today.

We have reached out to the Hawaii Karate Seinenkai for additional information sharing.

Join the IKKU Family

We invite you to subscribe and be notified as we release more kata from the KoToSu-Ha Shito-Ryu system. This is a rare opportunity to train with us—virtually and in person—while preserving the authenticity of our art for future generations.

If you are interested in joining the IKKU and gaining access to live events, training camps, and detailed instructional materials, click here to begin your membership. Enrollment is currently open to qualified practitioners.

For upcoming training opportunities, visit our Events Calendar and plan your next step toward mastery. We look forward to seeing you on the dojo floor.

The post Uncovering History: Kanki Izumikawa’s 1961 Visit to Hawaii and the Hidden Link to Kiyoshi Aihara appeared first on INTERNATIONAL KARATE KOBUDO UNION.

To Penetrate a Fortress

Few kata embody the fighting spirit and heritage of Karate as powerfully as Bassai Dai. Literally meaning “To Storm or Penetrate the Fortress,” this form has been passed down through the hands of legends, Ankō Itosu, Kenwa Mabuni, Chōki Motobu, Kanki Izumikawa, and Shōgō Kuniba — before finding its home within the International Karate Kobudo Union (IKKU) under Soke Joseph R. Ruiz. It represents centuries of refinement, evolution, and unbroken tradition from Okinawa to modern Japan.

In its earliest roots, Bassai Dai was taught as a kata of courage, a physical manifestation of breaking through defenses and fear. Under Kiyoshi Aihara, Soke Ruiz first learned its disciplined Shotokan form in Hawaii, where it symbolized precision, perseverance, and inner strength. Later, through Kanki Izumikawa’s Goju-Shitō perspective and Shōgō Kuniba’s Motobu-Ha Shitō-Ryū, the kata grew into a complete study of balance: hardness and softness (Go and Ju), power and control, technique and intent.

Today, within the IKKU, Bassai Dai stands as more than a kata, it is a bridge between lineages. It embodies the energy of Okinawa’s Shuri-te, the refinement of Japanese Shitō-Ryū, and the adaptive realism of Motobu-Ha practice. Every sharp stance, turn, and strike tells a story of perseverance and unity, connecting modern practitioners to the masters who shaped the art generations ago.

When we perform Bassai Dai, we are not just training a kata, we are honoring the spirit of budō itself: the will to face obstacles, to grow through adversity, and to master the self. Within the IKKU, this kata reminds us that the greatest fortress to overcome is always within.

Bassai Dai   ← Click Here for Kata Webpage

Join the IKKU Family

We invite you to subscribe and be notified as we release more kata from the KoToSu-Ha Shito-Ryu system. This is a rare opportunity to train with us—virtually and in person—while preserving the authenticity of our art for future generations.

If you are interested in joining the IKKU and gaining access to live events, training camps, and detailed instructional materials, click here to begin your membership. Enrollment is currently open to qualified practitioners.

For upcoming training opportunities, visit our Events Calendar and plan your next step toward mastery. We look forward to seeing you on the dojo floor.

The post Bassai Dai Video Now Available appeared first on INTERNATIONAL KARATE KOBUDO UNION.

This channel is designed for those who value the YouTube learning experience, featuring individual kata demonstrations, multi-part training series, curated playlists, and special programs coming soon.

With over 20 videos already available, practitioners can now watch, train, and refine their kata anywhere, anytime.
We invite all members and martial arts enthusiasts to like, share, and subscribe — and make these lessons part of your daily training routine.

Join us as we continue to preserve, promote, and pass forward the traditions of KoToSu-Ha Shito-Ryu under the IKKU banner.

http://www.youtube.com/@IKKU-Karate  ←  Click Here for the YouTube IKKU Channel

Additional IKKU Information:
For information about joining the IKKU—International Karate Kobudo Union—please visit our IKKU Registration Page. We welcome new members to our organization and have 6-10 scheduled events each year. This will allow you direct access to Soke Joseph Ruiz, the founder of the IKKU, and other High-Dan Instructors from the IKKU.

For a complete listing of upcoming scheduled sessions, please visit our Events Page. Here we showcase our upcoming Clinics, Camps, and other opportunities for engagement with the IKKU.

The post Introducing the Official KoToSu-Ha Shito-Ryu YouTube Channel appeared first on INTERNATIONAL KARATE KOBUDO UNION.