The official website can be found here. The ASDF was officially founded earlier this year in February of 2022.
They chose the name American because all of the founders and the group operate here in the United States. And the Self-Defense portion made it easier to include a vast number of different martial arts styles. A large number of the founders are teachers and practitioners of Okinawan karate, but the Federation is not limited.
The ASDF is about traditional martial arts, instead of the McDojo style that you often get from some other schools. It’s not about the money or the rankings. Not that I’m speaking ill of any martial art schools like that, but for those of us who desire something more akin to learning the art and spiritual side of things, it’s important to differentiate.
Actually, it would probably be good if I quote the Facebook post one of my instructors posted advertising the group:
I am sure we are all thinking what the world needs now is another karate organization. I know, right?
But, what if we could create an organization with the mission of bringing traditional martial artists together in a kind of loose federation to share ideas, training methods, and knowledge? And we, as an organization, worked to provide the vehicle to facilitate this sharing and maintained the quality by ensuring member instructors were the real deal – solid, knowledgeable, and skilled in the traditional system or style they taught.
A few like-minded martial artists and friends began talking. We discussed past disappointments and bad experiences. Several of us had not been a member of an organization for many years because of this. Eventually, the conversation turned to what we would hope to see in such an organization. A few were very reluctant after past experiences, and I felt that way for years. But, over time, I came to believe we could harness that disappointment, using it to ensure we stayed on course and stuck to our mission.
That mission is:
– Less focus on rank and privilege and more on service to its
members.– Affordable seminars and training opportunities and the
sharing of knowledge and skills.– Instructor / Dojo Referral services.
– Instructor Certification – if you train with an instructor who is
a member of our organization or we refer you to a member
instructor in your area, you can be sure the instructor is solid
and teaches a traditional martial arts program.Eventually, we decided to try.
Enter the American Self-Defense Federation.
We founded the ASDF with a mission. That mission focuses on providing quality training opportunities and support for our members. While at the same time, our member instructors continually strive to provide an exceptional training experience for their students by maintaining a “student mindset” themselves and continuously working to improve their knowledge and skills in their chosen art.
Currently, we have a Board of Directors consisting of six founding members; four senior Isshin-ryu instructors and two senior Uechi-ryu instructors. Each board member lives the traditional training approach and has trained with top recognized instructors in the US and Okinawa. Furthermore, each board member is pledged to make the ASDF precisely what its mission statement says it will be.
You can learn more about us by visiting our website at https://myas-df.com.
While the website is a work in progress, it has information about the ASDF, its mission, instructors, and how to join.
Our doors are open to any traditional martial artist looking for other like-minded martial artists with which to train. We hope you will give us a chance.
Knoxville Uechi Ryu Karate
I’ve got the Youtube Channel up here. Hopefully, after the seminar in North Carolina, I’ll be able to put some videos up. I’m not a professional videographer, but I really do enjoy taking footage and photographs.
I’ll probably share some of the footage once I get back and have a chance to edit it into something presentable. For now, I’m going to cut this post short. I’ve been having a really hard time focusing lately so posts have been a real struggle. Thanks for stopping in here today and reading!
Atelier Whootique 