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The History of Shidosha Saiko Shihan:
Jayron David Robinson - a.k.a. 'Jake'

Big Ugly Shoes
His students call him Shidosha, respectfully, and his journey through the world of martial arts has been a long, difficult and lonely one.

Shidosha was born in St. Charles, Missouri and the youngest of seven brothers. His first steps in life were more difficult than most others as he was born a cripple; double-club footed. The doctors said he would never walk normally and would have to go through several surgeries to correct his feet and ankles whereas the end result would be that he would have to wear braces on both legs for the rest of his life.
Shidosha's parents could be classified as common and simple people who worked hard and strived to raise and educate their children they best way they could. Nonetheless, they were very knowledgable of the world and possessed many skills that they passed on to their children. Being thus, the findings of the doctors was not acceptable. Shidosha's parents were also rather stubborn about accepting these things as the only way, therefore, they set out to prove the doctors wrong...and they did.



After thirteen years of massaging Shidosha's feet in buckets and tubs of hot water with Epson Salt, along with wearing heavy corrective shoes designed by his mother and made by his father, Shidosha stepped into his first pair of regular shoes. No surgery, no scars, no braces. Yes, there was another way and they found it. (It would probably be more difficult in todays world to maintain such a rigorous routine for so long and to accomplish these same results, but, it can be done with both dedication and discipline). It should also be mentioned that his entire family was involved in all of this home therapy and treatment until he learned to do it himself.

In school his grades were above average and he joined track & field events, took up the art of fencing, soccer and football. Out of school he went surfing, hiking, mountain climbing and joined a boxing club.

As a boy growing up in the mid-west he was constantly picked on by other kids because of his big ugly shoes. They often called him names and pushed him around because nobody wanted to hang around with a cripple kid. But, nobody really knew how tough this little kid was...but they were soon to found out. He minded his own business as he was a little shy due to his being different than others, but he was always polite, curtious and respectful to all he came into contact with and would walk or try to run-away from unruly confrontations. He didn't mind being called a chicken when he thought about everything else he was being called, but, when they pushed too far...POW!!...he went off like lightning. After numerous fist fights, some he lost - most he won, a new respect was paid to the kid with the big ugly shoes...and the fast hard fists.
Shidosha had no way of knowing that these particular events would prove to be very helpful in his future as an instructor.



Shidosha's first pugilistic teachers were his brothers. In a family of seven boys is there any wonder? He grew up knowing what it was like to be out-numbered.
When he moved from Missouri to southern California in the late 1950's he was still wearing his big ugly shoes and the teasing and the fighting started all over again.
His family settled in Santa Barbara and he was about to learn a whole new set of rules about fighting. Before, back in Missouri, he had learned that when you knocked somebody down you waited for them to get back up, if they didn't it was over, or for them to call it quits...now there were new rules and things were just the opposite. When you knocked somebody down you jumped on them and didn't give them a chance to get back up or call it quits. To Shidosha this approach was rather brutal and disrespectful. Where was the honor in this?
After encountering his first fight of this nature, which he lost badly, he went home and told his family that fighting was quite different in California and after explaining the reasons why - their reaction was, "Okay, time we change the way we do things."



Shidosha watched many school yard and street fights and it was during this time he noticed something that most of the winners of these fights were doing that the losers were not...kicking.
It was mostly the Mexican people who were doing all the kicking and since he was friends with many of them from school he asked them to teach him how to do that. They were more than willing to teach him how and they kicked the hell out of him. You could say he learned the hard way...but he learned.
Shidosha lived across the street from a Chinese family, the Marr, who had two sons, Steven and Parry. They went to school together and hung out from time to time. The Chinese were still a close-knit society and did not venture into other social realms outside of their own during these days. When goofing around one day, sparring, the Marr brothers noticed that Shidosha could kick. They laughed at him because of the way he did them and decided to show him the way they kicked. Now he learned what technique was all about and his kicks got a whole lot better, stonger and more powerful.



Shidosha would not have to wait too long before his new found skills were put into practice. Being only 5' 8" tall at the time and weighing a mere 135 lbs. his opponant was an arrogant, foul-mouthed racist kid full of hate that stood at 6' 2" and weighed over 200 lbs. Their argument began at school but so not to get suspended they chose to meet after school at the 'junkyard'. This was a place on top of a hill about three blocks from the school and was covered with all types of car parts, cans, broken bottles...you name it.
The fight was on and the entire school knew about it...and almost everybody showed up to see Shidosha get pounded by this guy.
Two of his best Mexican friends at the time, Juan Castillo and Smoky Casteneda, talked to him before everything began relating that they had seen this guy fight before. "Hey man, don't let this big pig get you on the ground," they said, "he'll sit on you and hurt you."
They were surrounded by all the other kids from school and the fight began. He backed Shidosha up with a flurry of wild punches, none of which made any contact, and Shidosha tripped over an old car wheel sticking up out of the dirt...he went down and here the big guy came. Yep, he sat on him and had his arms pinned so he couldn't move them. Shidosha saw this guys fists rise up to come down on his head and there was nothing he could do to stop them...well, that's not quite true. He did the only thing he could do. He used his teeth and took one big bite (you guess where) and this kid jumped up so fast that the momentum stood Shidosha up with him. "You bit me!" he screamed. Then he came at him again. This time Shidosha began to kick and he jumped back saying, "You kick like a Mexican and I hate Mexicans." He came at Shidosha again and hit him with two punches, one on each eye, but on the third punch is when Shidosha broke his arm at the elbow. The entire crowd heard it break, covered their ears and left the hill real quick. The kid laid on the ground looking at Shidosha and said through his tears of pain, "You broke my arm, you broke my arm!" Shidosha told him it's over and went home. The kid never bothered anybody else after that.

After that fight another of Shidosha's Mexican friends, Bobby Cortez, talked him into coming to his boxing club to check it out. Within a few weeks Shidosha joined this club and he, along with Bobby, became the clubs two best welterweight boxers.
Their trainer and coach, Stephan Blanco, brought these two boys up the ranks and, after a few years, to qualify for the California Golden Gloves, but, neither of them went. Their reasons were that this wasn't something they wanted. Needless to say, but, their coach was very upset with them.
Bobby Cortez = 256 bouts - No losses.
Shidosha = 247 bouts - Two (2) losses.



One day while walking down the street Shidosha was jumped by five Mexicans who felt he was in the wrong neighborhood. Shidosha knocked out three of them and chased the other two off. All of this was seen by another Mexican, a man who was sitting on the hood of a truck just down the street several yards away. When Shidosha walked by this man he slid of the truck and said, "You handle yourself pretty good." Shidosha replied that he only did what he had to do to survive the situation. The man invited him to look at his place around the next corner, that he wanted to show him something. Shidosha was reluctant to follow this man because he was just jumped on by five other Mexicans and now this guy, out of the blue, was inviting him to look at something around the corner? What something? Was he going to be jumped again? For whatever reason, Shidosha followed him. When he went into the building he saw a big punching-bag hanging in the middle of the room and many items from the orient. At first he thought he was in some kind of oriental import-export shop. He soon found out that he wasn't. This man went up to the bag and began punching and kicking it. He said, "I want to teach you what I know." Shidosha said that he already knew how to punch and kick and no thank you. He turned to leave and the man introduced himself, "Excuse me. I am Ray Salazar and this is my Dojo where I teach Martial Arts." - "Martial Arts?" asked Shidosha, "What's that?" Mr. Salazar said for him to come back that evening and he would show him more. Shidosha did come back and he watched with a new curiosity. After class was over Mr. Salazar asked him what he thought and Shidosha said that he liked what he saw and wanted to join. This is where Shidosha began his formal martial arts training...in Shihan Ray Salazar's Shotokan Dojo.



The Crest of the Twin Jade Cat Martial Arts.
The lower half of this crest represents the systems foundation
and is derived from the Kyokushin emblem.
The upper half represents the Family and is divided into two sections:
The upper section is the Parents/Teachers
The lower section is the Children/Students.
The colors:
Red over Blue are derived from the formal court colors
of the Tokugawa Samurai while the yellow represent the Sun which
encompasses and gives birth to all life and lights the Way.

This is the journey Shidosha traveled before establishing the Twin Jade Cat Martial Arts School in Northeastern Nevada. This particular school, under this title, is no longer and is now known as the Shin-ryu. Even though the name has changed the method and the content of instruction has not.
Shidosha was once critisized by a leading componant of a nationally recognized organization for operating a "Dusty old dungeon Dojo, hung up on old traditional ways." What this gentleman did not realize is that he paid Shidosha one of the highest compliments he has ever received.
And the 'dusty old dungeon Dojo hung up on old traditional ways' continues to this day...

At the end of 1969 Shidosha moved to Elko, Nevada and took a job as a Buckaroo/Cowboy at the Allied Ranch (IL). Little did he know at the time when he arrived at the ranch that the winter was going to be so harsh. He and two other cowboys were assigned the duty of going out in a blizzard to bring back several thousand head of cattle that were wandering all over the place. The snow was up to their knees on horseback, the winds were hitting up to 60 mph and the temperatures were 30 below zero. The job took them three days to accomplish. They slept out in the open in hollows walked out in the snow by their horses and laid wrapped in canvas at their horses bellies. All their food was cold until the second night when they were able to find materials to build a small fire...it was enough. If you asked Shidosha if he would ever do this again he would smile politely and say, "Absolutely not. You'd have to be insane to want to do that and I think I was insane to do it in the first place."
When he returned to town he took a security job at the Commercial Hotel Casino and this is where he met Shihan Jose C. Tolbe, Sr. Shihan Tolbe operated a small dojo inside of an abandoned airplane hanger where most of the windows were broken out and the floors were concrete and cold. Shihan Tolbe invited Shidosha to visit his dojo which he did and this was the beginning of a life-long relationship of teacher and student that developed into an unbreakable friendship.
Shidosha joined Shihan Tolbe's dojo and was introduced to the art of Kyokushin. It was real, to the point and training was serious. At this time there were only 12 students including Shidosha. After three months training in these conditions Shihan Tolbe announced that he had found a new place to train and the next class would be held there. He also informed the class that there were no broken windows and the floors were made of wood. Within a few months after moving into this new building class enrollment began to grow and Shihan Tolbe had to make new training schedules. It seemed that where ever Shihan Tolbe was so was Shidosha.
Shihan Jose C. Tolbe, Sr. was sanctioned by Saiko Shihan Edward Bobby Lowe in Honolulu, Hawaii before moving to the mainland. Shihan Tolbe received official sanction in 1970 as the First Kyokushin School in the State of Nevada awarded by Shihan Tadashi Nakamura. (This section will be continued the Masters Page).

Shidosha Robinson has over 48 years of experience as a martial artist, including his boxing, and his street survival and brings all of his former training and experience together under the banner of the Shin-ryu Dojo. (In this Dojo Shin-ryu simply means: Spirit Mind).

Currently, Shidosha only teaches a handful of private students. Once in awhile he ventures out to visit some of his former students to see how they are doing. He never announces his visits - he just shows up because, as he says, "I like to surprise them. The expressions on their faces are worth more than all the gold in Nevada."

There is more to Shidosha's history than is included here and we will be adding bits and pieces of it throughout our other pages. That is, when we can get him to tell us more.

Osu

Front Row - Left to Right: Joshu Rick Smith, Joshu Shawn Kelly, Joshu Robert Woolsey, Joshu Tom Morgan
Back Row - Left to Right: Sensei Patrick Dexter, Sensei Steve Enos, Sensei Richard Carter, Sensei Frank Villa, Jr., Sensei Lisa Abbott, Shidosha
Not available at the time of this photo:
Sensei Mike Sales, Jr., Sensei Harley O. Confer, Joshu Myra Bates, Joshu Jay Duke
Two of our Senior Sensei have passed on:
Honorably, they are: Sensei Harley O. Confer (1987) and Richard A. Carter (3rd from left back row (2006).

The Teachers of Shidosha

His Brothers

The Streets

Boxing: Stephan Blanco
     U.S. Navy - 6th Fleet / SeaBee's / Middleweight Champion
        Port Hueneme Naval Base, Oxnard California

Naha-te / Shoto-kan: Shihan Ray Salazar
     Ret. U.S. Marines / Gunnery Sargeant
        Naha, Okinawa / Paso Robles, California

Kyokushin-kai: Shihan Jose C. Tolbe, Sr.
     1949 Hawaiian Flyweight Champion
Kyokushin / Karaho-kempo / Kodokan Judo / Aikido
Escrima / Kali / Arnis
        Honolulu, Hawaii / Elko, Nevada
Shihan Tolbe's Teachers:
     Saiko Shihan Edward 'Bobby' Lowe / Kyokushin-kai
        Honolulu, Hawaii
     Karaho-kempo: Professor William K.S. Chow
        Honolulu, Hawaii
     Judo: Shihan Henry Seishiro Okazaki
        Honolulu, Hawaii
     Kodokan Judo / Juijittsu: Sensei Ota
        Martial Islands
     Aikido: Sensei Vince Abayon
        Martial Islands

Moo Sul Kwan Hapkido / Yudo: Grandmaster Lee H. Park
        Seoul, Korea / Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Sil Lum Jing Mo Gung-fu (Ching Wu): Grandmaster Wong Jack Man
        San Francisco, California

Pai Hu Jen Kung-Fu: Master Stanley Fong
        Hong Kong, China / Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Kobudo / Kenjittsu: Grandmaster Fujio Ishida
        Kanazawa, Japan / Amarillo, Texas

Buddhist Temple Thai-boxing: Monk & Master Saneh Kiettisamutchi
        Pai Chong / Bangkok, Thailand


Organizations/Associations/Memberships/Training:

United States Kyokushin-kai
1st Nevada Kyokushin-kai Dojo / Sanctioned by: Shihan Tadashi Nakamura - 1970
Japan Karate Association - JKA
Japanese Sword Society - United States
Nevada Karate & Kung-Fu Blackbelt Association
Northern Nevada Alliance of Martial Artists
Intermountain Martial Arts Association

________________

President's Council on Physical Fitness - Martial Arts
Bureau of Indian Affairs/BIA Law Enforcement
FLETC: Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy
Western Shoshone/Wells Band Tribal Police Dept./Police Chief
Law Enforcement Instructor: Tactical, Hand-to-Hand, Close-quarter Combat

Applied Kinesiology, Shiatsu, Acupressure, G-Jo,
Native American Medicine & Sports Medicine:
Shihan Jose C. Tolbe, Sr.,
Dr. Betty Jean Stuber,
Dr. William G. Salter,
Dr. Nancy Durrell,
Dr. Robert C. Tsay

Contact Information:
Shin-ryu Dojo
Shidosha Jayron D. Robinson
P.O.Box 699
Wells, Nevada 89835
(775) 752-3707
Email: shin-ryu@wellsnevada.org

© 2000-2008 "The Martial Arts" by the Shin-ryu Dojo - All Rights Reserved