shorei goju ryu leadership

Hanshi Morgan, 10th Dan, started training in 1975 under Hanshi Herb Johnson, 10th Dan. He trained under Hanshi Johnson until Hanshi Johnson’s passing in 2015 . From 1983 through 1988, he taught and managed studios for Hanshi Johnson. From 1988 to 2016, Hanshi Morgan owned, operated and taught out of his own dojo in Plainfield, Indiana. After Hanshi Johnson's death, the title of "International Style Head" for Shorei Goju Ryu was passed on to Hanshi Phil Morgan by Hanshi Herb Johnson which was documented prior to his death by Hanshi Johnson himself. The title of "Style Head for Shorei Goju Ryu " was given to Hanshi Johnson by Grand Master Trias in 1979.

Hanshi Morgan's title has been recognized and endorsed by Hanshi Glenn Keeney, 10th dan, founder and president of "The Professional Karate Commission", Hanshi Robert Bowles, 10th dan, founder and president of the "International Shuri Ryu Association", Hanshi John Vincent, 9th dan, Shuri Ryu and Kyoshi Eddie Bethea, 8th dan, Shorin Ryu Shorin Kan.

In 2014, Hanshi Morgan was inducted into the PKC Elite as an Inaugural member.

Hanshi Sensei Mike Kincaid started his Karate training in February of 1977 with Master Herb Johnson at the Olympic Karate Studios.  Hanshi Kincaid earned his Grandmaster Degree (9th Dan) and Hanshi title in 2015.  He also holds a Master’s degree in Okinawan Kobudo, the ancient art of weaponry.

Hanshi Kincaid’s most  memorable victory came at the United States Karate Alliance World Championships in 1995 when he won the Master's Kumite division and then when on to the finals to win the overall World Championship in Kumite. From 1996 through 2000, he was Captain of the PKC Black belt team and competed on the team while it won the Black belt Team competition at the USKA World Championships 5 consecutive years.

Mr. Kincaid was a PKC certified referee for professional kickboxing and for ten years was the PKC’s Director of competition for tournament karate responsible for writing the rules for tournament karate in Indiana and overseeing the certification of all tournament judges and referees. 

Hanshi Kincaid was voted to the USKA Hall of Fame in the class of 1996.

O”Sensei Herb Johnson began his Martial Arts training in 1963 as a high school wrestler. In 1968, he went to Ball State University to pursue a teaching and coaching degree. This is where he met his first teacher Hanshi Bill Wallace, who introduced him to Shorin Ryu Karate, and they became roommates for the next three years. When Bill Wallace left Indiana to do his graduate work at Memphis State University, O’Sensei Johnson trained with Hanshi Glenn Keeney in Goju Ryu Karate. Upon Bill Wallace's return to Indiana, December 1973, he opened the Olympic Karate Studio where he was working for Ken Knudson and teaching Chi Do Kwon Tae Kwon Do, which he had learned in Memphis. O’Sensei Herb Johnson was again his first pupil. In June of 1974, Hanshi Bill Wallace returned to Memphis to work for Elvis Presley at the Tennessee Karate Institute. O’Sensei Herb Johnson started working for Ken Knudson, owner of Olympic Karate Studios, and now learning and teaching Shorei Goju Ryu. In order to research this style further, in 1975, O’Sensei Johnson started attending seminars taught by O’Sensei Robert Trias, the founder of Shorei Goju Ryu. By 1979, O’Sensei Robert Trias appointed O’Sensei Herb Johnson as Style Head of Shorei Goju Ryu. 

O'Sensei was promoted to 10th Dan/Degree Black Belt on August 31, 2014 by his instructors.  Sadly O’Sensei Johnson passed away November 20, 2015.

While stationed in the Solomon Islands during World War II, O'Sensei Trias was the Middle Weight Boxing Champion of the U.S. Navy. It was there, in 1942, that he met Master T'ung Gee Hsing, who was to become his first Karate instructor. Master Hsing had learned Hsing-Yi from his father, Master Shang Tsao Hsing, as well as studying with Okinawan Karate Master Choki Motobu. Master Hsing was promoted to Shodan in 1910 by his father. Master Hsing offered to teach Robert Trias in exchange for learning American boxing in what was to become a famous exchange. O'Sensei Trias was promoted to Shodan in 1942 in the Shuri Ryu System. Later during the war, in 1944, O'Sensei Trias was able to train with his second instructor. Hoy Yuan Ping, in Kempo-Ju Jitsu, while stationed in Singapore.

O'Sensei Trias is widely recognized as the Father of American Karate, and his accomplishments have been many. He opened the first Karate school in the United States in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946. He created the United States Karate Association in 1948. He prepared the first competition rules and organized the first Karate tournament in the U.S. in 1955, as well as the first World Karate Tournament (Chicago in 1953) and the first Professional Karate Tournament (San Antonio in 1968)."

O'Sensei Trias also formed the Shorei Goju Ryu System in 1948, having studied the Goju System from Master Gogen Yamaguchi in Japan and later perfecting his techniques with Roy Oshiro.  O'Sensei Trias was promoted to 9th Degree Black Belt on July 16, 1964, by his instructor, Grand Master Yasuhiro Konishi (10th Dan and former Chief Instructor for Choki Motobu).

During this same period, Master Konishi also appointed him as the International Style Head of the Shuri Ryu System and they began discussion on standardizing the Shuri-Te System. Master Trias converted from Shorei Goju Ryu to Shuri-Te about 1953.  Grandmaster Robert Trias died in July of 1989.