Sloane's Karate USA

Karate USA is proud to bring authentic traditional Okinawan Isshin-ryu karate and elements of other Japanese and Korean martial arts to East Texas.

Chief Instructor Andy Sloane has studied Asian martial arts for 35 years, and his credentials come directly from renowned masters from the U.S., South Korea, and Okinawa and mainland Japan.

Though originally from Shreveport, LA, Sloane is a 32-year Texas resident and a soon-to-be-retired Navy veteran who was stationed in the Far East for 17 of his 20 years of service.

Classes begin Monday, 1 June for ages 5 and up! Contact us today!

In my view, all martial arts are good. But there’s just always been something about Okinawan karate that has been special to my heart for over 30 years. Karate originated in Okinawa and is a very important cultural heritage to the Okinawan people to this day.

I was very fortunate to have been stationed in Okinawa for nearly 13 years with the U.S. Navy where, for a decade of that time, in addition to teaching my own classes, I was the primary assistant instructor for Hanshi 9th Dan, Uechi Tsuyoshi. Uechi Sensei is the Okinawa Prefectural government representative for Isshin-ryu karate and, since 2023, he is the sole Okinawan sensei still teaching Isshin-ryu on Okinawa.

My recently deceased teacher of 24 years, Grandmaster Ed Johnson (1941-2025), trained with Isshin-ryu’s founder, Hanshi 10th Dan Shimabuku Tatsuo (1908-1975) while stationed in Okinawa with the U.S. Marine Corps 1959-1961. He was also the pioneer of Isshin-ryu karate in the state of Texas, and he unswervingly believed in preserving his teacher’s teachings. He formed the Old School Isshin-ryu Brotherhood in 2007 as an offshoot of the defunct Isshin-ryu Brotherhood.

My original Isshin-ryu instructor is Master Harvey L. Kennedy of Shreveport, LA, whose own training in the art goes back to 1967. His Shreveport school is called Kennedy’s Karate USA, which is where I began training in November 1993.

We honor our heritage by carrying our teachers’ legacies into the future. There is a saying on Okinawa: ONKO CHISHIN, which means “to understand the new, first study the old.”

To that end, Sloane’s Karate USA also has a Japanese name. We are also the “Okinawa Isshinryu Karatedo Koryukan”, which means the “Okinawa Wholehearted Method Empty-Hand Way Old School Hall”, and we also preserve “old school” karate as taught by the style’s founder.

We retain our direct link to Okinawa today by being an official branch dojo of Uechi Sensei’s Isshin-ryu Okinawa Traditional Karate-do Association. We are also affiliated with the Japan Budo International Federation and the Universal Martial Arts Association.

As my career in the U.S. Navy draws to a close, I am proud to bring traditional Okinawan karate back to East Texas, and to Longview specifically.

Contact me today if you are interested in training in authentic Old School Okinawan karate!

Andy Sloane
Chief Instructor
8th Dan, Isshin-ryu karate & kobudo
3rd Dan, Dragon Kenpo
2nd Dan, Taekwondo
1st Dan, Jujutsu
[email protected]
(972) 768-1287

Tonight we held our final karate class here at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Congratulations to AZ3 Joseph Coll, USN and to AZ3 Francisco Gonzalez, USN on their promotion to 9th Kyu, Orange Belt!

Continue to watch this space!

If I have ever taught you or your children over the years, please leave me a review! Onegai shimasu! 🙇🏻‍♂️

Only 1 more week of classes will be offered here at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and then we will be bringing authentic Okinawan Isshin-ryu karate to East Texas.

Continue to watch this space!

This evening we conducted our final kids’ class here in Iwakuni, Japan. Congratulations to Xavia and Hezekiah on their respective promotions to 8th Kyu, Gold Belt, and 6th Kyu, Green Belt. Both of these students have been training with me for the better part of 2 years. I hope they will continue their training in the martial arts wherever their paths may take them.

Ronnie Brasher Sensei assisted me when I was a young man preparing for my Isshin-ryu Karate-do Association Shodan test in November 2000. We were both originally students of Harvey Kennedy Sensei, and I was proud to know him for 26 years as we were also both students of the late Grandmaster Ed Johnson. He was a very kind man and a devoted Christian, husband, and father. You will be missed, Sensei.

Texas Isshinryu Karate Academy mourns the passing of our mentor and friend, Sensei Ronnie Brasher, 9th Dan Isshinryu karate, and former senior student of the late Master Ed Johnson. Sensei Brasher was wise, kind, and gentle, and was a font of karate knowledge. We will miss him greatly. May he rest in peace.