Over the course of 2023, I have worked with several like-minded martial artists on the development of a style-agnostic organization for the development and promotion of effective, pragmatic, neoclassical karate and kobudo methods the world over. The vision is to have a non-profit organization that actively supports its members, providing training opportunities, educational materials, training modules, curriculum development, and more! Rather than being exclusionary, and rejecting anyone who doesn’t train the way we do, we want to help everyone with an interest bring their training methods more in-line with the original intentions of karate, while remaining informed by modern science and martial practices, as is the “neoclassical” approach. That term was coined, as it relates to karate and kobudo, by my fellow co-founder, Nathan Ogden (Rokudan, Shihan, Tengoku-Ryu), and much like neoclassical music, the idea is that neoclassical karate should be seeking what the past masters sought, and building on it so it can evolve and live on, rather than trying to preserve it in amber, unchanging and dead. I am excited to announce that, as of 2024, the International Neoclassical Karate Kobudo Society was officially recognized as a non-profit organization, and we have begun taking applications for membership. Additionally, we have scheduled our first training event!
All five of the co-founding members of the INKKS Board of Directors will be teaching sessions over the course of the day on Saturday, February 17th, 2024, in West Plains, MO, and there is no cost to attend the event, although donations are welcome to help cover the costs of the event and startup costs for the organization. Additionally, while we always prefer that folks attend in person, we will also be streaming this event via Zoom for those who cannot make the trip. We felt that this event gives us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the karate and kobudo world in a united manner that showcases the intentions of our organization. The event, and the INKKS, are open to all practitioners of karate and kobudo, regardless of style or organizational affiliation, and even those outside of Okinawan martial arts who have an interest in learning more about them. In the future, we intend to hold additional training events, be they individual seminars with notable instructors, combined seminars such as this one, or full weekend-long training camps, as well as tournaments that truly exemplify neoclassical/practical karate, unlike what is seen in mainstream sport karate. In the meantime, we hope to see you at our Inaugural Karate Seminar Event in February!
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Register for the event through the INKKS website: CLICK HERE