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In 1959 O'Sensei Kim arrived in San Francisco and began to teach there on a permanent basis. Throughout the years that followed he taught in San Francisco and Sacramento. He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe teaching the martial arts. As well as teaching the physical aspects of the martial arts O'Sensei taught the philosophy, history, strategy and spiritual aspects of the arts. He was an excellent lecturer and a story teller second to none.
O'Sensei wrote a monthly column for "Karate Illustrated" magazine and wrote a number of books including: "The Weaponless Warriors", "The Classical Man." and a Kobudo series. He was named Karate Sensei of the Year and later inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. He was the Director of the American Amateur Karate Federation and Vice President for the International Traditional Karate Federation. As a testament to O'Sensei's achievements, Master Hidetaka Nishiyama of the International Traditional Karate Federation presented O'Sensei Kim with the rank of Judan at his memorial service.
Grand Masters
| Richard Kim | Hanshi | 10. Dan Shorinji Ryu
1917-2001
He made Yondan in 1941.
Some may find the history of O'Sensei Richard Kim of great interest. The following is only a brief glimpse of the life of O'Sensei Kim.
O'Sensei Kim was born on November 17, 1917, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He began his study of the martial arts with Judo at the age of five in the early 1920s under Kaneko Sensei. At about the same time he began a study of Karate. He studied under Arakaki Sensei (a disciple of Yabu Kentsu) and Tachibana Sensei. Before World War II he traveled to both China and Japan. In China he spent many years studying the internal arts under Chen Chen Yuan and Shorinjiryu under Choa Hsu Lai.
At the Nobori Butai he continued his studies under a number of sensei. As a young man he gained entrance into the Dai Nippon Butoku-kai in Japan. It was then that he was taught the Budoju Happan, the eighteen arts. While in Japan O'Sensei studied Daito-Ryu under Yoshida Kotaro and actually lived with the master for seven years. He became proficient in Japanese weaponry including the sword, spear, tanto and bo as well as in Okinawan weaponry including the bo, jo, sai, tonfa, tecchu, and kama.
