Kodokai Dojo

D. Branchaud 
I began karate training in 1978 when I was a U.S. Marine on the island of Okinawa, Japan. My main karate teacher was Master Seikichi Odo, but I am also influenced by my first teacher, Master Eizo Shimabuku.

After leaving Okinawa I was reviewed many times as Master Odo frequently traveled to America to teach his students. He visited the Kodokai in 2001 and I last practiced with him on Okinawa in 2002. He passed away six weeks later.
My Karate and Kobu-jutsu rank is Hachidan, 8th degree black belt.

I now practice Motobu Udundi. I was fortunate to be a student of the late Taira Sensei and I continue to train under Takamiyagi Sensei on Okinawa.

They can't teach you what they don't know.

Martial arts are an oral tradition. A legitimate teacher will have enjoyed a long relationship with a master instructor and will have plenty of documentation of their experience.

If you are checking out a school and don't see any documentation, there probably wasn't much to document. Many local teachers got their rank in the franchise karate schools known as "belt factories". They usually choose to hide their history.


Here is some evidence of my experience.