Kimo Wall

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William James "Kimo" Wall was born in 1943 in Cherokee County, Ga. and raised in Hawaii. ("Kimo" is the Hawaiian equivalent of "Jim".) At the age of six he began training in Goju-ryu karate under teachers who had emigrated to Hawaii from Okinawa and had studied with Miyagi Chojun during his year stay in Hawaii. In 1961 he joined the US Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa, where he trained Goju-ryu karate in the dojos of Higa Seiko and Toguchi Seikichi. Matayoshi Shinho taught kobudo (ancient weapons) in the same building, and Kimo studied under him as well. He became a friend of both families, and through them he met and trained with other karate masters who had been students of Miyagi, such as Kina Seiko.

In 1970, after several years in south east Asia, Kimo Wall founded his own organization, which he named Kodokan in honor of Master Matayoshi's school. He traveled a great deal and he and his students founded schools in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, New York, California and across the US. In 1981 he began teaching for the Physical Education department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Today Kimo Wall continues to travel and teach Karate and Kobudo, as well as Thai massage, across the United States and around the world through his seminars.