Johnny Pierra and Richard Kim

[Healthyluckyrichme005]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone is familiar with Johnny Pierra of San Francisco, and where is Richard Kim's Shotokan Karate,or if they are all well retired or who has been continuing their schools?

[aefibird]

Hello Healthyluckyrichme005.

Welcome to Karate Forums.

I've moved your post to the Karate section, as I thought it was more apropriate here - you'll probably get more replies.

Thanks for visiting Karate Forums.

[Ted T.]

Hi,

I don't know of Johnny Pierra of San Francisco.

O'Sensei Richard Kim, a Shorin-ji man died in late 2001. His Zen Bei Butoku Kai was an umbrella organisation that covered Goju, Shorin-ji and Shito Ryu karate but as fas as I know, never Shotokan.

He was friends with Nishiama (I think it was) and they co-taught at seminars and stuff like that, but he always taught Shorin-ji.

One of Sensei kim's oldest students is teachingin Daly city, not sofar fromyou:

INSTRUCTOR: Kyoshi Ken Shockey, 8th degree black belt, Martial Arts Institute of Daly City, Performing Arts Center, Room 11, 200 Northgate Ave.

[Killer Miller]

Richard Kim is dead. Yes, he was a friend of Nishiyama's. The Kim Clan use to have a large group that would attend our JKA/AAKF summer camp in San Diego every year.

His Womens Kata team was very good. His sparring team was not top notch - a couple of good karate-ka, but that was about it. Perhaps things have changed since then, but who knows...

Kim's contribution to summer camp was primarily weapons training (which JKA did not do for the most part), Tai Chi and his famous stories he would tell in the evening hallways of the dorm. They would be stories with topics of levitation and slip-sliding to other dimensions (so-to-speak), Warriors, etc. His clan didn't like us JKA guys too much because we would ocassionally snicker when we would hear the story topics in the dorm hallways and see how seriously the students would believe every word he said - if looks could kill at the afternoon training session, but not much of an issue. The stories were good stories and he was a great story teller, but it was just more of an entertainment value to us and we didn't read too much into the content - we didn't make too many friends with that idealology...

So overall I would give them an OK rating on technical ability and give them a good rating as an organization in general.

- Killer -

[Healthyluckyrichme005]

Thank you everyone for the information.

I was only 8 or 9 years old when I learned a little from Sensei Richard Kim and his brother came ocassionally to teach at the Buddhist auditorium in San Francisco near Octavia Street.

Johnny Piarra(spelling of last name?) taught Judo in San Francisco somewhere on Taraval Street in San Francisco. I saw Sensei Kim's wife do great katas several times ,years ago,think she also did naginata?

What is the method of teaching younger children to be mindfully strong,not be afraid of bullies? Are Teachers these days doing brief meditations with the students before commencing class?

I remember Sensei Richard Kim's style being the Okinawa style kind of "stiff looking," form...I had no idea he taught Shorinji style,as in the style of Chinese Shaolin shorinji origins?

[Jussi Häkkinen]

as in the style of Chinese Shaolin shorinji origins?

No, Shorin/shorinji, when used in conjunction of Okinawan karate, points to the fighting tradtions of Shuri and Tomari area. "Shorin-ryu" or "Shorinji-ryu" (in their various writing forms) as a name, however, was used to refer to Shaolin temple, respecting the Chinese influence to karate history.