Jim Kelly, Sensei"The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes, and leads you onto the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth."
Jim Kelly, Sensei began his Karate training in November of 1972, under the late Sensei D. Jenkins. A very good friend of Sensei Kelly, Sensei Kowalski was training with Sensei Jenkins and he asked if he wanted to train also. He said yes and have not looked back since that day. So many life lessons that he learned back then are still with him today. Many times he still says things that were said to him in those early days of his training. Little did he know that over 30 years later he would still be doing karate and sharing what he had learned with his students. He enrolled in college in 1974, but in 1976 he had to stop his karate training as a result of my college demands. He stayed in touch with Sensei during those years and his love for karate never diminished during that time, In fact it grew stronger! While in college he became an accomplished fencer and he applied things he learned in karate training to his fencing. He also enrolled in the ROTC program. Upon the completion of his commitment to the army, in 1980, he began training again with Sensei Jenkins and continued training with him until his untimely death in 1984. He had the honor and privilege to be considered and tested for the rank of Shodan in December 1985. His only regret was that he didn't have Sensei Jenkins there to hand him the black-belt that day, but he knew he was looking down on him and telling him how much more work he had ahead of him. In 1986 he relocated to Cape Coral, Fla. where he continued to train and teach at Mr. Murphy's dojo. he always had a goal though to one day open his own dojo and that goal came true in November 1991 - actually on Sensei Jenkins birthday. Since then he has trained many students, many of whom have moved on in their lives, and others are still active in the Dojo. In 1995 he had the privilege to become a student of Hanshi N.Adler, founder of the Centurions. He currently hold the rank of Roku-dan 6th degree under Hanchi Adler. He also studied Iaido and Kendo under the late Kyoshi J. Bass. Throughout the years he has competed in many local and national tournaments and have placed numerous times. He stills enjoy teaching and sharing his karate with his students and watching them grow physically and mentally from their karate training. He is known as a tough teacher, but despite the exterior he has a definite softness and love for his karate and students."