On This Page

• A Brief History of Our Style of Tae Kwon Do
• Texas Blood and Guts Karate
• Tae Kwon Do in Upstate New York
• My Instructor, Kurt Staple
• Mr. Couch's History in the Martial Arts
• The Return to Texas

A Brief History of Our Style of Tae Kwon Do

Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, 10th Degree Black Belt, is generally considered to be the "Father" of American Tae Kwon Do. He worked with notable figures from Bruce Lee to Presidents of the United States and members of Congress. My school practices in his tradition.

Jhoon Rhee brought Tae Kwon Do to America. He began teaching the art in Texas in 1956 while Tae Kwon Do was still in a somewhat developmental stage. Because the terms Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do were not recognized in America at the time, it was generally referred to as "Korean Karate." Rhee was a student of the fouder of modern Tae Kwon Do, General Choi. At that point, General Choi had kept many elements of his Japanese Shotokan (he was a black belt in Shotokan) training in the system. Because of this, Rhee taught these Japanese elements to his Texas group, which was eventually headed by Rhee's first American black belt, Allen Steen. These Japanese elements were later purged by Choi's organization, the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF). However, because Rhee taught the Texas group before those elements were removed, Steen and his students retained many Japanese forms and hand strikes that are typically no longer found in more modern, stripped down incarnations of the various other Tae Kwon Do federations.

Texas Blood and Guts Karate

Although Grandmaster Rhee moved to Washington, D.C. in 1962, he had created a strong and independent line of students based in Texas that continued to spread the art as it was first taught in America. Rhee's first American black belt, Allen Steen, went on to train generations of world-renowned martial artists and competitors including Skipper Mullins, Pat Burleson, Keith Yates, Roy Kurban, and Demetrius "Greek" Havanus. Due to their "rough-and-tumble" training, brutal black belt tests, and record-breaking domination of the national tournament circuit, this lineage came to be known as the "Texas Blood and Guts" karate group.

Tae Kwon Do in Upstate New York

Now, tracing the lineage of my school back to Jhoon Rhee himself is more problematic. Like much martial arts history, the history of my lineage is generally oral and prone to many "fish stories." The following is what I feel reasonably sure of.

Although I do not know the exact lineage from Jhoon Rhee to my teacher, it seems to me that my school must trace its lineage back to the Texas line of black belts based on our style and the forms that we use. Blue Cliff Tae Kwon Do is one of the very few Tae Kwon Do schools that still teach the Japanese Heian forms. Since these forms were eliminated from even the syllabus of the Texas schools in 1968, it seems likely that our link to Allen Steen comes from one of his earlier black belts who may have left that area of the country before those forms were eliminated. There are additional Japanese forms in our syllabus, such as Basai, that remain in both my program and the Texas programs.

In terms of how far I can accurately track my own lineage, my instructor traced his training back through his instructors to Al Cannella, a black belt from New York. I have had little luck in finding information on Mr. Cannella, and I doubt that he is still teaching.

Two of Al Cannella's students — Bill Hameline and Mike Lintz — formed their own school in Rome, NY, a small city that is about 45 minutes from Syracuse in Central New York. They taught on the basketball court of the city's YMCA. This was in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Bill Hameline took the lead in the instruction, and the school was named Hameline's Tae Kwon Do.

I never had the chance to meet either of these men. Mike Lintz, by everyone's account a physical monster of a man standing about 6'7", moved to Georgia. Legend has it that he accidentally hurt someone badly while sparring and decided not to pursue martial arts any more.

Bill Hameline, sadly, passed away tragically at a young age. In a safety lesson we can all benefit from, he was putting up window screens in a lightning storm and was struck by lightning. He passed away as a result of the injuries sustained in the lightning blast.

My Instructor, Kurt Staple

At the time of Bill Hameline's death, the man who would one day become my instructor — Kurt Staple — was the senior student at the school. He was only a red belt at the time, and was quite young: only about 16 years old. This did not sit well with black belts in the region who did not appreciate a red belt leading a school on his own. This was during a a much more "hard core" time in American martial arts history, and some disputes were actually solved with physical challenges and violence. To resolve this dispute, Mike Lintz came back from Georgia and put together a black belt testing board for Mr. Staple. He passed with flying colors, and no one questioned his authority to teach after this point.

My History in the Martial Arts

I began my martial arts training in Tae Kwon Do in 1984 at the age of 8 and worked with Mr. Staple until I was 11. Over that time, I achieved the rank of 2nd degree green belt. At that time, I decided that I wanted to try a different style of martial arts, and switched to a Kenpo school in Syracuse, NY. I spent seven years practicing Kenpo, and achieved my second-degree black belt in that style. However, I maintained my friendship with Mr. Staple during this time, as well as with some of his higher ranking students. It had always bothered me that I hadn't "finished" what I started by earning my black belt from this instructor with very high standards. Finally, in 1995, I decided to go back and complete my black belt training.

Based on the skills I had achieved earning my 2nd degree black belt in Kenpo, I was allowed to return to Staple's Karate Studio — Mr. Staple's school — as a "no belt." This meant that I could test for whatever rank I felt ready for, as soon as I felt ready. Due to my very strong martial arts background and previous knowledge of the system, I took and passed my black belt test after approximately 10 months of intense training and private classes. That was in June of 1996.

Since that time, I have continued my relationship with Mr. Staple and passed several advanced black belt ranking tests. I am currently his senior student and his highest rank. He remains one of my closest friends to this day. Our relationship has been forged over two decades of training, friendship, and commitment to integrity and the arts. I am proud to be one of the very few black belts who has passed his demanding requirements and lived up to his high standards of quality. I am proud to call him my friend and teacher.

The Return to Texas

I spent August 16th - August 21st, 2006, in Dallas, Texas with Grandmaster Keith Yates and met many members of the American Karate and Tae Kwon Do Organization (A-KaTO), of which Keith Yates is the president. I felt immediately comfortable with Mr. Yates and his group of exceptional martial artists. Mr. Yates received his black belt from Allen Steen at just 17 years of age, was a national tournament champion, and has written over 400 published articles and several books, including one of the most definitive books on Tae Kwon Do forms. He is one of this country's original master instructors.

After spending the weekend training under Mr. Yates, I applied for membership to the A-KaTO and Mr. Yates accepted me as an A-KaTO instructor, an honor for which I am very grateful. This membership will open up many new training opportunities for both me and the students of Blue Cliff TKD. This new affiliation makes it a very exciting time as we look toward an amazing future by returning to the roots of our past in Texas and the American Tae Kwon Do tradition!