Kondo No Shokai

 

Background

 

 

 

 

 

The KONDO NO SHOKAI, (J. New Pine Tree Society) is a karate organization dedicated to the preservation of Shorei-ryu Karate and its descendants as taught by the late Grandmaster Robert A. Trias.  Shorei-ryu Karate has historical influences in China, Okinawa, Japan and Hawaii. Our art is both ancient and vast and it must continue. Without a strong organization, Shorei-ryu Karate is in danger of becoming a mere collection of techniques borrowed from other systems. To prevent this end, we have formed the Kondo No Shokai.

Our Purpose Includes:

  • Compiling a history of Shorei-ryu Karate since WWII
  • Identifying authentic students of Grandmaster Trias and those of his line
  • Assembling a comprehensive library of Shorei-ryu Karate terms and techniques
  • Publishing a professional journal of Shorei-ryu Karate
  • Establishing a yudanshakai (J.black belt holders group)
  • Standardizing the forms and techniques
  • Providing technical assistance to individuals and schools
  • Recognizing and promoting outstanding practitioners of Shorei-ryu Karate
  • Promoting koryu (J.ancient warrior arts)
  • Certifying authentic karate schools

With the dissolution of the United States Karate Association, many Shorei-ryu Karate practitioners have been without a source of leadership. We hope to recruit you and any other Shorei-ryu Karate stylists that you may know to our expanding family. Please contact us and be prepared to discuss your history of involvement in our style.

We would like you to help us locate practitioners of Shorei-ryu Karate, Shorei-Goju Karate and martial artists who claim the late Grandmaster Robert A. Trias as part of their karate lineage. If they are on the net, please give them our e-mail address. If they are not, please give them our land address. Further, if you wish to join, you are welcome to apply. All styles are welcome. If you resemble me, you are a martial artist who has visited hundreds of karate-related web sites. These sites are variously, entertaining, inane, and sometimes extremely egotistic. Here at the Kondo No Shokai we hope you will find a different approach. There will be no video clips, music, animation or hi-tech devices designed to entertain or capture your money. Rather, we will provide some background information, a bit of history and an invitation to join us. Karate associations perform a variety of services to their members. We claim to be:

  • Apolitical
  • Authentic
  • Efficient
  • Expert
  • Inexpensive

 

Master Trias became my first karate sensei on June 7, 1961. My assignments within the U.S.K.A. included Regional Director and Shorei-ryu Karate Stylehead. My name is Mr. Terry B. Sanders. If you identify with the Trias Shorei-ryu Karate lineage and are interested in preserving it and joining us, please contact me by sending email to:  t144@swnm.com.

 

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

 

 What does Shorei mean?

  1. The karate taught by Robert A. Trias in the early 1960s.
  2. Japanese for ‘Encouragement’: 
  3. Used by Okinawan karate historians to describe the earliest kempo/chuanfa brought there from southern China, reputed to have originated in the southern Shaolin Temple.

 

Why did Robert A. Trias switch emphasis from Shorei-ryu to Shuri-ryu?

 

Two main explanations have been put forward:

  1. One or more Japanese/Okinawan karate masters asked him to popularize a style that was dying out.
  2. During the later 1960s, many teachers took Shorei-ryu karate and mixed it with other styles. In establishing Shuri, Master Trias was able to exert greater control over his teachings.

 

Related Links:  Robert A. Trias Lineage , Kondo No Shokai Seal , Shorei-Ryu Seal

 

 

 

 

Autobiography of a Style Head:
It has been my good fortune to have had excellent martial arts teachers. My mother taught me to shoot, box, and fence during the first five years of my life. In 1961 Robert A. Trias began teaching me Shorei-ryu Karate and Kodokan Judo. Mr. Duk Sung Son taught me the Tae Han school of Tae Kwon Do during 1965 - 1966. Intensive study of Shindo Muso Ryu Jodo and Jojitsu along with Shinkage Ryu Iaido in Japan occurred during the early 1980's. Mr. Jeff Cooper instructed me in the use of handguns in combat at his American Pistol Institute in Paulden, Arizona in 1986.
Shortly before his death in 1989, O-Sensei Robert A. Trias appointed me Style Head for Shorei-ryu Karate. His daughter and heir, Dr. Roberta Jane Trias-Kelley confirmed this appointment and assigned me to the position of Regional Director of the United States Karate Association, a position held until the Association's dissolution on January 1,1999. My dojo in New Mexico has been in operation since 1987, but karate practice and instruction have been a part of my life since 1961.
Two degrees and numerous post-graduate courses from the University of Arizona (B.A. 1969, M.Ed. 1972) have provided me with the credentials to counsel, administer and teach in public schools. To date, my career has included teaching social studies, special education, and English conversation, administering a junior high school and counseling at secondary and elementary schools in the American Southwest and Japan.

Terry B. Sanders
Style Head (Kaicho)
Shorei-ryu Karate

D.O.B. August 16, 1947

 

 

 

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