05/09/2026
In my view, all martial arts are good. But there’s just always been something about Okinawan karate that has been special to my heart for over 30 years. Karate originated in Okinawa and is a very important cultural heritage to the Okinawan people to this day.
I was very fortunate to have been stationed in Okinawa for nearly 13 years with the U.S. Navy where, for a decade of that time, in addition to teaching my own classes, I was the primary assistant instructor for Hanshi 9th Dan, Uechi Tsuyoshi. Uechi Sensei is the Okinawa Prefectural government representative for Isshin-ryu karate and, since 2023, he is the sole Okinawan sensei still teaching Isshin-ryu on Okinawa.
My recently deceased teacher of 24 years, Grandmaster Ed Johnson (1941-2025), trained with Isshin-ryu’s founder, Hanshi 10th Dan Shimabuku Tatsuo (1908-1975) while stationed in Okinawa with the U.S. Marine Corps 1959-1961. He was also the pioneer of Isshin-ryu karate in the state of Texas, and he unswervingly believed in preserving his teacher’s teachings. He formed the Old School Isshin-ryu Brotherhood in 2007 as an offshoot of the defunct Isshin-ryu Brotherhood.
My original Isshin-ryu instructor is Master Harvey L. Kennedy of Shreveport, LA, whose own training in the art goes back to 1967. His Shreveport school is called Kennedy’s Karate USA, which is where I began training in November 1993.
We honor our heritage by carrying our teachers’ legacies into the future. There is a saying on Okinawa: ONKO CHISHIN, which means “to understand the new, first study the old.”
To that end, Sloane’s Karate USA also has a Japanese name. We are also the “Okinawa Isshinryu Karatedo Koryukan”, which means the “Okinawa Wholehearted Method Empty-Hand Way Old School Hall”, and we also preserve “old school” karate as taught by the style’s founder.
We retain our direct link to Okinawa today by being an official branch dojo of Uechi Sensei’s Isshin-ryu Okinawa Traditional Karate-do Association. We are also affiliated with the Japan Budo International Federation and the Universal Martial Arts Association.
As my career in the U.S. Navy draws to a close, I am proud to bring traditional Okinawan karate back to East Texas, and to Longview specifically.
Contact me today if you are interested in training in authentic Old School Okinawan karate!
Andy Sloane
Chief Instructor
8th Dan, Isshin-ryu karate & kobudo
3rd Dan, Dragon Kenpo
2nd Dan, Taekwondo
1st Dan, Jujutsu
[email protected]
(972) 768-1287
