Sensei Jose Torres (4th Dan) began his martial arts training during his six years of Military service. He continued his training in Nick Cerio's Kenpo Karate in 1995. Currently, Sensei Jose is training with Grand Master Mart Sheeley (9th Dan) and teach at the Spencer MA location.

James Mitose (1916-1981). James Masayoshi Mitose was born in Hawaii in 1916. At the age of five, Mitose was send to Japan to study his ancestor's art of self-defense, Kosho-ryu Kempo, a direct descendant of the original Chuan Fa. He studied this art for 15 years under his uncle, a Kosho-ryu master, and returned to Hawaii in 1935 to open the “Official Self-defense” club in Honolulu where he eventually promoted six students to black belt. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Mitose had to come to terms with the fact that he was Japanese by birth but American by citizenship, and he began training fellow servicemen and civilians, expounding upon the merits of his Japanese Kosho-ryu Kempo. Much of what is now Kenpo came from Mitose's Kosho-ryu. James Mitose passed away in California in 1981.

Edmund Parker (1931-1990). Great Grandmaster Edmund K. Parker, 10^th degree black belt, is the undisputed father of American Kenpo Karate. A native of Honolulu, Parker was already a black belt in Judo at age 16, when he began studying Kenpo with Frank Chow in Hawaii. Parker quickly learned everything Frank could teach him, and Frank soon arranged for his brother, William Chow, to help Parker reach a higher level. After only two years of training, Parker earned his brown belt. Like Mr. Chow, Parker was a street fighter and adapted what he learned to fit with the type of fighting he encountered in the streets, and Chow imparted in Parker the necessity for change in the Kenpo system to meet the modern needs of the American people. Partker did organize every technique and movement into a format that could be broken down into levels for all students and renamed it “American kenpo Karate.” When Mr. Parker moved to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University, he opened his first studio. After graduating in 1956 with a B.S. In Psychology and Sociology, Parker moved to California, and opened his second school and founded the International Kenpo Karate Association. By 1964, when he held his first tournament, Parker had become a household name in Hollywood, teaching his art to the likes of Elvis Presley and Steve McQueen. Mr. Parker passed away in 1990, at the age of 59 in Honolulu.

Nicholas Cerio (1936-1998). A legend of the Martial Arts, Professor Cerio did more than just continue the lineage, he truly made an indelible mark on it. Through his illustrious career he brought the lines of Kenpo back together from potential splits that could have damaged the system. It all began in the early 1960's when Professor Cerio began training under George Pesare. By the mid 1960's he had opened his first studio and studied Kenpo under Master Ed Parker. A short time later he began studying under Professor William K.S. Chow, and in 1971 received his 5^th degree black belt from Professor Chow. By the early 1980's Ed Parker awarded Professor Cerio his 9^th degree black belt in American Kenpo Karate and the title of Shihan (Master). In 1989, Shihan Cerio was named a Professor by Professor Thomas Burdine and awarded the “Above Ranking Status” by the World Counsel of Sokes (Founders). This elevated him to 10^th degree black belt. Professor Cerio passed away in October 7, 1998. His passing marked the end of a monumental life.

William Chow (1914-1987). William Kwai Sun Chow learned the Chinese ancestral art of Five Animal Kung Fu passed down from Bodhidharma. Mr. Chow later studied Kosho-ryu under James Mitose, and seeing merit in both systems, Chow began to modify Kenpo. He left James Mitose in 1949 to open his own school, and it was Chow who coined the term “Kenpo Karate” to distinguish his system from Mitose's. Mr Chow was a street fighter, and while he learned many circular and flowing movements from his father, he did incorporate some of the linear movements and take-downs he learned from Mitose. Some twenty years later, William Chow renamed his system “Chinese Kenpo of Kara-ho Karate”. Mr Chow died in Honolulu in 1987.

Grand Master Mark Sheeley, began his martial arts training in Tae Kwon Do, earning his Black Belt at the age of twelve under Grand Master Paul T. Cho. In the early 1980s, Grand Master Sheeley, started training in American Kenpo Karate, and ultimately, in 1987, committed to the study exclusively with Professor Nick Cerio. By the mid 1990s, Grand Master Sheeley, had trained hundreds of Black Belts, and served as Master Instructor to several Kenpo Jiujitsu Karate schools in New England. During this time, Grand Master Sheeley, won numerous competitions in both open hand and weapons forms. He was nationally rated in competition for three years in a row and was the first Kenpo stylist to achieve #1 in ranking. He has been inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, 12 times. And 13 National Champions have trained under him. Grand Master Sheeley, is the founder of Kensho Ryu International, and is currently the director of 18 schools. Grand Master Sheeley, holds a 9th Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate, with a 7th Degree Black Belt in Komushin Ryu Jujitsu, and a 6th Degree Black Belt in Nick Cerio's Kenpo Jiujitsu Karate.

Whether you are walking, standing still sitting down, or reclining, in your conduct and manner you carry yourself in a way that exemplifies a genuine warrior.

Code of Samurai

Thomas Cleary