09/03/2023
I was informed today that a photograph of my father (Hanshi Howard Smith) was displayed during a JKO promotion test conducted by Leon Angeles and Minobu Miki (via Zoom, as far as I am aware) and presided over by other JKO black belts. Also in attendance were apparently over a dozen former students of this Dojo.
While I absolutely understand it is everyone's right to choose where they take karate and who their instructor is...I DO NOT appreciate someone arbitrarily displaying a photograph of my father at an event the he would have been ASHAMED to have attended!! This Dojo removed itself from the JKO organization for very specific reasons, and my father would have absolutely agreed with that decision.
I may have been naive as a child, but over the past year I have learned that (at least nowadays) JKO does NOT stand for any of the beliefs and values my father taught me or any of his thousands of students. In fact, it is the polar opposite of how I was raised, and what my father believed and taught!
I have been silent about everything that has gone on behind the scenes in relation to this Dojo for the past several months. I have shared only the information I felt was necessary. However, I will not stand by and allow others to disrespect my father and the legacy he created! No one had any right to use his image to promote this test in any way, or to even HINT at any support of Minobu Miki's organization!
I don't care if those in attendance "wished he was there" or "thought he was watching down over them" during the test. The truth is if he was actually THAT important, this test would have been AT the Dojo, or at least in a temporary location while awaiting building repairs or a new location. Instead, those claiming to miss my father so much, actually made an active effort to dismantle this Dojo with lies and by spreading rumors and pulling students away from the Dojo to a point where it was financially impossible to remain in business after the initial ceiling collapse and resulting damage.
My father poured his heart and soul into every student who stepped foot through his doors. He was the most amazing teacher, mentor, advisor, friend, or father anyone could have ever asked for! If he were still around to see what happened over the past 6 months or so, he would have never stood by and just watched. Unfortunately I'm not my father, and although I fought as hard as I could, I was unable to keep the business going.
After retiring from the military in 2016, I had started a second career in law enforcement with the federal government in D.C. I had a job earning nearly $160,000 per year and a house on 11ac of land. After my father's death, my family and I moved back to the area so I could take over the Dojo. I got a job making about $18,000 per year, and we moved into a 30ft RV, in my uncle's back yard. Money was NOT the reason for this move, nor was it even remotely part of my motivation. I love teaching, and I couldn't bare to see the Dojo close. I've always loved teaching Karate. I've taught for home-school groups on military bases where we were stationed. I've taught children with physical, mental, and learning disabilities. I had never charged for any classes until I moved back to this area and took over the Dojo.
I previously talked to the YMCA about possibly teaching classes there, but it seems that someone else has stepped in to take that option away as well. After all the lies that I've had to endure over the past (at least) 6 months, and after all the rumors and defamation I've been subjected to, I feel as though "the tribe has spoken, and I've been voted off the island".
I thought the unexpected loss of my father was difficult to accept, but it seems the betrayal and backstabbing from those that I considered friends and family is almost as hard to stomach. I'm sorry Karate has become such a politicized activity, with the same childish gossip and social cliques as a middle school lunchroom.
Disappointed,
-Marcus N. Smith
