There are many aspects of fighting taught at the Karate Institute of America, a few of which are distance, angle, guard, posture and alignment. However, the most critical of all fighting skills is TIMING. This principle is corroborated by the great Japanese swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in his following quote. Students of the Kiado-Ryu will remember the Seven Timings taught in our fighting curriculum: Up Back Backside Welele Draw Cross Change Once these critical timings are mastered, the student is well on his way to becoming a Master Fighter of great skill.

Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. Sun Tzu How true are these words from Sun Tzu—one of the greatest military minds in history! When we have a defense that is skilled in strategies, tactics, techniques, movement, stealth and strength, it is invincible. When these same martial precepts are applied to an aggressive, intelligent and unrelenting attack, the warrior will be victorious. These two excellent principles of war should be paramount in the mind of great fighters and great generals.

The attached screen cap of a parking lot surveillance tape tells a haunting story of a parking lot attack, an attack that may have been avoided if the female victim had known of the Color Code of Awareness (see below). The news video (courtesy of CBS Boston) is 2:21. The full attack is not shown, just the first of 39 punches to the young woman. From the photo, it appears she is not paying much attention to the man about to assault her.

A simple stick is a dangerous, even lethal, weapon in the hands of a skilled weapons expert. This short 1 minute YouTube video shows four ways to defend against a stick attack as taught at the Karate Institute of America. Two of the techniques show how to use the stick offensively, if necessary, after the opponent is disarmed. The Black Belt playing the role of the “scary bad guy” in the video, is 5th Dan Master Kim “Cultivator” Thomas, the only Black Belt at the KIA holding a “Master” dan title in its 40 year history.

It was a fun day with a fun group! Chip Robinson, owner of The Management Works and a Karate Institute of America fighting and forms champion, hosted a self-defense workshop for his employees on 12 February 2019. The following photo was taken at the end of a four hour, jam-packed session of self-defense knowledge, kicks, strikes, techniques, tactics and strategies. Chip, aka Hawk (his KIA call sign), has surrounded himself with a host of excellent and professional individuals who have all contributed to the success of The Management Works - a real estate property management company located in Newport Beach, CA.

One of the major criteria in evaluating the excellence of martial artists is their form, i.e., the structure of their basic fundamentals, techniques, kicks, punches, hand strikes, movement, etc. If their form is faulty, so will be their art. If their form is perfect, so will their art be also. Throughout the history of the Karate Institute of America, the form of our competitors has been responsible for literally hundreds of championships in all areas of martial arts competition on a local, state, regional and national level.

It is not the size of the man in the fight that wins. Rather, it is the size of the fight in the man that proves victorious, and the size of that fight depends on the size of the spirit in the man. On 23 March 1775, Patrick Henry, an American lawyer and patriot, delivered a speech to the Virginia Convention urging his fellow countrymen to wage a war for independence against Great Britain and King George.

The following excerpt is from Chapter 8 of The Karate Consciousness: From Worldly Warrior to Mystic Master by Kiado-Ryu Grandmaster Richard Andrew King. The “D and C” are the initials for Discipline and Control respectively. They generate the “Discipline-Control Factor” – an idea basic to all principles of achievement, without which there could be no accomplishment. The relationship between Discipline and Control is that the former generates the latter. Control is regulation.

Who are these cuties? If there is one thing in this world that is certain it is that time marches on and we all get older. The photo with the two cuties above was taken in August of 2009. Pictured are Sofia “Cannon” Dale and brother Jake “Achilles” Dale, the children of Green Belt Annette “Warrior” Dale. In the photo below we see these very focused and talented dynamos doing kicking drills during The Karate Institute of America’s Kids Power Self-Defense Workshop on 7 November 2010, Sunday.

The Karate Institute of America is home to a multitude of talented, extraordinary, one-of-a-kind individuals. It even has its own Norse Deity, Odin, God of wisdom, magic, poetry, healing, battle, war, death and divination. Meet Dr. Tim McCord, Kiado-Ryu Black Belt #25; call sign, Odin. Tim “Odin” McCord, now in his early fifties, began his KIA journey in his late teens. A stalwart fixture, fighter and presence of the studio from mid 1980s to mid 1990s, Odin, a 2nd Dan KIA Black Belt, received his 1st Dan ranking on 25 June 1993 at our Lake Forest studio.