Memorial to the Founder
John Earl Doub, Sr. - Soke
Judan (10^th Degree Black Belt)
Born : December 13, 1943
Died: November 16, 1998

Information
This portion of our web site is dedicated to the Soke, or Founder, of Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy. This information has been provided in hope that you, the reader/traveler, will be encouraged to continue on the path and live what you believe every day. It must be further noted that it was his ultimate dream for all of his students to "come to know and love Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, so that we may all be together again." Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy has recognized their founder's contribution and devotion to the martial arts and to his community by elevating him (posthumously) from Hachidan (8^th Degree Black Belt) to Judan (10^th Degree Black Belt) with an effective date of November 17^th, 1998.


His Martial Arts Experience
Our Founder attended Seattle University in Washington. In 1961, while attending school, he began studying a style of Karate known as Shinpuren under the instruction of Nakachi Yoichi-Sensei at the downtown YMCA. Nakachi-Sensei came under scrutiny by the United States Government due to the name of his style, Shinpuren, having links to a right-wing nationalist action in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture circa 1876 and an alleged link to an organization of the same name. He changed the name of the style to Nippon Kenpo Butokukan and changed the patch, but the techniques and forms did not change.

In 1963, while holding the rank of Sankyu in Shinpuren, Doub-Soke took a semester off from school and returned to San Francisco to spend some time at home. During that time, he trained in the Dojo of Duke Moore-Hanshi.

Upon his return to Seattle, and his training under Master Nakachi, he participated in the first open Butokukan tournament. All of Master Nakachi's students were invited to participate as well as a Dojo that practiced Isshin-Ryu and Bill Ruter-Sensei's Goju-Ryu Dojo. At the conclusion of the tournament, Master Nakachi promoted Doub-Soke to Shodan (First Degree of Black Belt). Doub-Soke had been given the nickname of "Spider" by fellow students because of his rock-climbing skills and Master Nakachi picked up the reference: referring to him as "Spider-Sensei."

In 1965, Nakachi Yoichi was deported back to Japan by order of the United States Department of Immigration. In his stateroom, on the boat returning him to Japan, Master Nakachi awarded Doub-Soke (and two other Shodan) a pre-dated promotional certificate for Second Degree of Black Belt (Nidan). In addition, Master Nakachi gave Doub-Soke an another pre-dated promotional certificate for Third Degree of Black Belt (Sandan) and instructed him to "go teach Karate."

Also in 1965 Doub-Soke graduated from Seattle University earning a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and was a Distinguished Military Graduate from ROTC. Accepting a Regular Army Commission to Lieutenant, Doub-Soke left for the East Coast and attended Airborne School as well as both Ordinance and Infantry Officer Basic Courses. He volunteered for combat duty and served in Vietnam as an Infantry platoon leader and as the Battalion Motor Officer in the United States Army's 25th Infantry Division from 1967 to 1968.

After returning to the United States, Doub-Soke was assigned as an instructor at Fort Lee. In 1968, Doub-Soke participated in a USKA tournament. He performed Sanchin Tensho during the kata competition. The judges at the tournament were Masters Robert Trias, Hulon Willis, and Danny Pi. At that time Doub-Soke was recognized by the USKA as a Third Degree of Black Belt in Nippon Kenpo Butokukan. He began training under Master Hulon Willis in 1968 at Virginia State University. It was Master Willis that introduced Doub-Soke to Tai Chi Ch'uan by giving him a book by Cheng Man-Ch'ing and suggesting that "he look into it" since there appeared to be a "connection" with Karate.

In 1969, John Doub-Soke left the military service and took his family to California and entered the construction industry. In 1970, he began his study of Yang Style Tai Chi Ch'uan in San Francisco under Master Choy Kam Man. He continued to train under him (for over 12 years) even after Master Choy had given him permission to teach others Yang Style Tai Chi Ch'uan.

In 1972, he founded Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy as a non-profit martial arts school offering training in both Karate and Tai Chi Ch'uan with an emphasis on providing "training that touches the spirit, mind, and body." Doub-Soke continued to research the history of the martial arts: paying specific attention to Tai Chi Ch'uan and Karate. He had continued to study books and attend seminars by both Doctor Yang Jwing-Ming(Tai Chi Ch'uan and Chi Kung) as well as George Dillman-Hanshi (Tuite and Ryukyu Kempo).


Founding of Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy
As mentioned above, after moving to California in 1972, John Doub-Soke founded the Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy. The Academy was created as a non-profit organization because it was his belief that the martial arts were to be taught to men and women in order to improve the community through the reinforcement of spirituality, morality, and fitness. He meshed the two styles of Karate (Shinpuren and Kyokushin) that he learned from each of his two sensei into, what he believed to be the program that provided the most benefit to his goal. During the middle of the 1990's, after having performed research about the history of Karate, he would change his way of punching to more closely resemble the Okinawan style (prior to 1903) and the Tai Chi Ch'uan punching technique.


His Legacy
John Doub-Soke has left behind more than 30 men and women that have reached the rank of Shodan or higher within the Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy system. While the Academy has remained relatively small in the number of students and accomplished yudansha, Heiwa-Ryu has always made contributions to the local community. After his death, his widow created the John Doub Senior Fund to help people through the Bay Area Rescue Mission located in Richmond, California. The Heiwa-Ryu Martial Arts Academy has pledged to donate 10% of it's annual budget to support the fund holding the Founders name. The Founder's son, John Doub Junior-Sensei, is the Headmaster of the Academy and has pledged to continue what his father and Soke began.