How does one become the “architect” of anything? He must first take an idea, draw up his blue prints and then supervise the project to fruition. Kuroshi-do is my idea. Kuroshi-do, literally translated means “The Way of The Black Warrior” in Kuroshinese. This is the language devised by the 3 Kuroshi-do co-founders, which is used during classes to communicate between the instructors and students. It is a combination of a multitude of languages, namely Japanese, Kiswahili and Spanish. Kuroshi-do is the system of martial arts which combines the arts of Shotokan, and Kyokushin Kai Karates, Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do as well as Aiki Jiu-jitsu and Judo. In Kuroshi-do, Soke means founder or builder and is usually the head of a style or system. However, in Kuroshi-do, there are three co-founders. They are Sokes S. Papasan Canty, Haisan Kaleak and Lusayne S. Alston. “Kuroshi-do” came out of a meeting held in1972 in the old Kwanducks Dojo, located at 90 Watkins Street, Brooklyn, NY. This was the boxing gym located in the Howard Houses P.A.L. The move was facilitated by the fact that the school had outgrown its first location at the perambulator room located on Pitkin and Stone Aves. It was at this time, that Papasan changed the dojo name from Kwan Ducks to the current spelling of Kwanduks Dojo. This was in line with the Korean spelling of Moo Duk Kwan. At that first meeting, there were seven young men; S. Papasan Canty, Haisan Kaleak, Lusayne S. Alston, John Keenan, Ken Cooper, Salim Al Rashid and Rickey Washington. It was decided that each of the seven, would return to their respective instructors and after a year, come back and contribute as much as they could to the creation of the new system of martial arts. This was a monumental undertaking as they still had to continue to teach at their respective dojos. It should be noted that when I first suggested that we do this, everyone had a long laugh at my expense. To make a long story short, only three instructors returned and we formed the nucleus of the Kuroshi-do co-founders. I, S. Papasan Canty was trained in; Aiki Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Shotokan and Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do which I taught to Lusayne & Haisan. They also studied Shotokan as well as Kyokushin Kai. The first few years were trying, as Haisan and Lusayne entered the Navy and Army respectively, and the dojo was recovering from a scandal of their Sensei Hilani Chan’s, misappropriating of dojo funds. Rebuilding the community trust was the order of the day. During this time, I was assisted by Hanshi Kumosan “Spider” Turner, who later became my first Black Belt. We now have over 50 black belts and to date have never lost any. I believe this to be the case because I treat our black belts as men and women first, and then as martial artist. During the absence of my partners, my mentor in Aki-
Elmore-Ryu Jiu-jitsu, Hanshi Charles Sparrow and I, went to Manhattan to meet with Grand Patriarch Peter Urban, Founder of American Goju (Urban Goju) in an attempt to find out how to create a new system or style. After a lengthy game of chess between Hanshi and Grand Patriarch Urban, we left with the answers necessary to accomplish our mission. I chose the name Kuroshi-do, in light of the fact that all three cofounders were Viet Nam era Veterans. I had just recently returned from a 4 year stint in the United States Air Force. After a 7 year hiatus from the Air Force, I joined the New York Army National Guard. While in the Army, I graduated from Officer Candidate School and received my commission as an officer in the United States Army. Over the next 18 1/2 years, I received the training to become a platoon leader, company commander and a T.I. (Training Instructor). During Desert Storm, my martial arts training became a value as I was assigned to train the troops going over to Kuwait in the art of close quarters fighting (Jiujitsu). I eventually retired as a Major. I also retired from the Yonkers Police Department, after 21 ½ years. Over the next few years, we began creating the kata and self defense movements. I developed 6 of the 11 empty hand kata, and was also responsible for creating numerous kata more than 16 weapons. I also reunited with a childhood friend Soke Robert “Sugar” Crosson , who introduced me, to Soke Don Jacob. These two men helped me improve my finesse in the Art of Aiki Jiu-jitsu while I continued to study Aki-Elmore Ryu under Professor Charles Elmore and Hanshi Charles Sparrow. Sugar also taught me the art of making weapons and uniforms. Sugar and Don were also very instrumental in helping in the implementation of the spinning and turning movements used in our brand of self defense. In turn, I helped them in the cataloging of their systems. I also cataloged the numerous techniques used in Kuroshi-do. I learned this art from Hanshi Sparrow while serving as his Uchi Deshi (inner student). Next, I along with Haisan went to work on developing the curriculum, to include the written and practical examinations for promotions and the promotion ceremony. First we instituted a grading system. The reading of Peter Urbans’ book, “The Karate Dojo”, which was given to me and autographed by the author, was our model for success. Then we created a time frame for achieving the different grades. I then placed this information into a small booklet which I called, “The Hip Pocket Trainer”. This I borrowed from my military training. As laid out in this document, the minimum amount of time it would take a student to make black belt in Kuroshi-do is three years. The student can also tell at a glance where he is in relation to his training. I designed the