Takaya Yabiku, Hanshi, 9th Dan, Okinawa President
Chuck Chandler, Kyoshi, 8th Dan, USA Vice-president
John Griffiths, Kyoshi, 8th Dan, USA Secretary
Our Mission: To teach the classical martial arts that were developed on Okinawa. Okinawa Konanryu Kohokan Karate Kobudo Hakutsuru Kyokai spreads the knowledge of classical martial arts under the guidance of Hanshi Takaya Yabiku through his personal student, Kyoshi Chuck Chandler.
Under the leadership of Chuck Chandler, Kyoshi, International Director for the Konanryu Karate Kobudo Hakutsuru Kyokai Association, the organization's main purpose is to preserve and instruct the old, traditional Okinawan and Chinese martial arts, culture and history. This is achieved through a variety of mediums, including, and not limited to, videos, seminars and private tutelage.
"When I returned to Okinawa, I trained in the old ways, and I did not understand the new methods that were being taught. It appeared to be sport and very commercial. My old ways of training were not accepted by everyone. They thought it to be too hard, old, and crude. I believe it was just that my methods were too severe. Whatever it was, it was the way I learned and the way I taught."
"I made a great effort to master Soken Sensei's karate. Maybe his ideas were number one in all Okinawa. Two months before he died, he asked me to take care of his karate and pass it down to posterity after he was gone."
Hanshi Takaya Yabiku and Kyoshi Chuck Chandler training in Okinawa. Here Yabiku Sensei demonstrates a knock out strike from Matsumura Passai during one of the many trips Kyoshi Chandler has made to Okinawa.
"I keep going back to Okinawa to train so that I can pass on traditional Okinawan karate."
Kyoshi Chandler has trained in Okinawa since 1972. He has returned many times to further his knowledge from the Okinawan source of karate. Kyoshi Chandler has trained with several Okinawan masters including Soken Sensei.
"I don't want the old ways to be lost. That would be tragic. We must pass on the traditional Okinawan techniques and history."
Since 1972, Kyoshi Chandler has been dedicated to the study of the high class arts of Okinawan karate and chose his teachers carefully.