Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms

Earl Smith, Jr.
Shodan 1st degree black belt
Ryu-Kyu Karate Federation
Ryu-Kyu Christian Martial Arts Federation

I must first start by writing about how fortunate I am to have a wonderful wife and three beautiful, healthy children. I realize every day how blessed I truly am when I am around them. For the past twenty years I have worked for the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. I am currently a Lieutenant and I am responsible for supervising the Communications Bureau and the SWAT team. I am also a certified academy instructor and certified firearms instructor. In addition to working at the Sheriff's Office, I spent fourteen years in the United States Army reserves. When I left the Army reserves in 1994, I was a Captain and I was certified to teach many subjects in the military, but was considered a subject matter expert in the field of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare.

In 1986, I became interested in the martial arts, and I studied Tang So Do and Bando. While I found these arts to be excellent and interesting, I also found it was very expensive, and that most instructors were just out to see how much money they could make. If it wasn't the money situation that aggravated me, it was certainly the emphasis that was put on tournaments. I soon found this was not for me and stopped going to classes.

In 1994 a sheet of paper hanging on a bulletin board in the SWAT office changed my life. The paper read "free Karate classes, for more information contact Kelly Keys". I knew Kelly Keys fairly well at that time as he was on the SWAT team and I had worked with him for a number of years. I also knew Kelly to be an honest and trustworthy person, so I decided to call him and inquire about the classes. When I did Kelly invited me to a class, which he taught at his home. When I arrived at his home, I found what I saw hard to believe. Kelly actually built a Karate Studio on the back of his home! I really had a hard time understanding why Kelly built this studio and was offering free Karate lessons. However, I soon found out why, and that reason changed my life forever. At that point in my life I knew who Jesus Christ was, but I didn't know him. However, today I do know him and it is because of this karate school and the people that train there.

I have learned that Karate isn't about how much money an instructor can make, how many tournaments you can win or about how many people you can beat up. Karate is a way of life. A way to improve concentration, self-discipline, to develop a sound calm mind and to learn respect for others. The great warrior Sun-Tsu said "to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill. I think this statement sums up what Karate is about.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Pages by UNKEI