In the early to mid 1960's, Mr. Yamamoto sent Yuki Koda to the United States to
confirm that we were teaching the traditional Yoshu-Kan Katas.
During this time, Yuki Koda met and married Gewin. Not long after his marriage,
Mr. Koda went back to Japan. When Mr. Koda went overseas, Mrs. Koda moved to Lincoln,
Illinois.
At the time of Mr. Koda's arrival in the U.S., I, Rayburn Nichols, understood
the ranking system to be: Mike Foster, Lee Norris, Bob Bunning, and Rayburn Nichols.
Bob Bunning and I were told at that time that Mr. Koda out-ranked us. We easily accepted
the new ranking system.
Around the same time, I went to talk with Bernard Collins,
my Shorin-Ryu instructor, in Cocoa Beach, Florida where he was teaching at the
National Guard Armory. He also had a school in Titisville, Florida. Mr. Collins
and I talked about the differences between Yoshu-Kan and Shorin-Ryu. During our
conversation, Mr. Collins asked me if I thought it would be okay if he and his
students came over to Yoshu-Kan. I spoke with Mike Foster and it was agreed that
Mr. Collins and all of his students would join us. Among the influx of new people
were some notables such as Larry Pate and Jackie Mole.
It was close to that time, before Mike Foster and I opened the dojo on Orange Blossom
Trail, which Mr. Foster wanted to bring Mr. Yamamoto to the United States. Mr. Yamamoto
was the head student under Dr. Chitose and the head of Chito-Ryu Yoshu-Kan karate.