06/29/2026
Kenukan Academy would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all of our students for their outstanding effort and dedication during our special Bushidokan® MMA Seminar this past weekend. The seminar was an incredible success, and we are proud of everyone who trained with focus, determination, and the true Bushidokan spirit.
We would also like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Tony Liu on his promotion to Bushidokan Karate-Do Sho-Dan (1st Degree Black Belt). This promotion represents the culmination of decades of dedication, perseverance, and continued study, and it was an honor to witness this important milestone in his martial arts journey.
Adding to the significance of the occasion, we were deeply honored to welcome several legendary Kansas City Black Belts who attended both the seminar and Mr. Liu's presentation, serving as members of the “honorary” testing board. We extend our sincere gratitude to Mr. Jim Cox, Mr. Chuck Northcott, and Mr. Max Muller for their presence and continued support of the Bushidokan System.
Mr. Jim Cox occupies a truly historic place in the Bushidokan lineage. He was the very first student to walk through the doors when Sensei Jim Harrison opened the original Bushidokan Dojo in Kansas City in 1964. In 1968, after winning both the USKA National and International Brown Belt Championships, he was promoted to Sho-Dan in Karate, becoming Sensei Harrison's third Black Belt.
During the early 1970s, Mr. Cox briefly ventured into Hollywood, performing stunt work, including an appearance in the 1972 Gene Hackman and Lee Marvin action film Prime Cut. In 1976, while attending graduate school at the University of Kansas, he and fellow Bushidokan Black Belt Joe Smedley founded an affiliated Bushidokan Dojo in downtown Lawrence, Kansas, later expanding to additional locations on Wornall Road and Broadway Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.
Around 1980, Mr. Cox began a distinguished corporate and academic career, serving in Hallmark Cards' Marketing Department before becoming a Marketing Professor at the University of Saint Mary. Today, he continues to serve the Bushidokan community as a member of the Bushidokan Yudanshakai Senior Advisory Council.
Mr. Chuck Northcott began his martial arts journey in Judo in 1964. By the mid-1960s, he was training at the original Bushidokan Dojo on Wornall Road, studying both Judo and Karate under Sensei Jim Harrison. A fierce competitor in both arts, he earned his Bushidokan Karate Black Belt in 1971 and, after many years of continued training, his Bushidokan Judo-Jujitsu Black Belt in 2003 - a promotion long deserved.
Outside the dojo, Mr. Northcott dedicated more than 45 years to law enforcement. Throughout his distinguished career, he served as an instructor at the Police Academy, Commander of the Overland Park SWAT Team, a School Resource Officer, and later as a police officer with the Johnson County Community College Police Department. Today, he continues teaching Judo and serves alongside Mr. Cox on the Bushidokan Yudanshakai Senior Advisory Council.
Mr. Max Muller began his martial arts training in the early 1960s. While attending law school at the University of Kansas, he founded the Goju-Ryu Martial Arts Academy in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1969, he established the legendary Jayhawk Karate Tournament, which became nationally recognized for its bare-knuckle, full-contact competition.
During that same era, Mr. Muller also began training under Sensei Jim Harrison at Bushidokan. He became one of only two Karate Black Belts ever permitted to retain and wear their existing rank within the Bushidokan Dojo - the other being Kenukan Academy founder, Sensei Bob Boggs.
Throughout the years, Mr. Muller also served as a freelance writer for several national martial arts publications, including Black Belt Magazine and Action Karate Magazine. It was at Mr. Muller's Jayhawk Karate Tournament in 1973 that Sensei Bob Boggs first met Sensei Jim Harrison - an encounter that would forever shape the history of Kenukan Academy.
Beyond the martial arts, Mr. Muller has accumulated more than 38 years of experience as an attorney, businessman, consultant, and educator. He has held numerous executive and operational leadership positions in distribution and information technology companies while authoring seminars, workshops, instructional videos, and distance-learning materials for adult continuing education organizations.
Mr. Tony Liu, known throughout the Bushidokan community for his refined technique, determined fighting spirit, and humble character, began training in the Bushidokan System in 1972. Throughout his martial arts journey, he studied under many of the system's most influential instructors, including Mr. Jay Garrett, Mr. Jim Cox, Mr. Chuck Northcott, Mr. Joe Smedley, and, of course, Sensei Jim Harrison.
In 1977, Mr. Liu earned the rank of Ik-Kyu (1st Brown Belt) in Bushidokan Karate-Do. The following year, he began a distinguished career with IBM that would span more than three decades. His work allowed him to travel extensively throughout the United States, providing opportunities to study a variety of traditional Japanese martial arts, including Iaido (the art of sword drawing) and Jodo (the art of the short staff). In addition to his professional accomplishments, Mr. Liu also served for eight years as a City Councilman for the City of Fairway, Kansas.
After reconnecting with Mr. Jim Cox in recent years, it became clear that Mr. Liu's decades of training, character, and commitment to Bushidokan deserved formal recognition. During his Sho-Dan promotion ceremony this past weekend, he demonstrated several traditional aspects of his martial arts journey, including techniques with the Jo (short staff) and Katana (Japanese sword).
Mr. Liu embodies the ideals of lifelong learning, humility, and perseverance. He continues to inspire everyone who has the privilege of training alongside him, and we are incredibly proud to have him as a member of the Kenukan Academy family.
Kenukan Academy is honored to recognize Mr. Jim Cox, Mr. Chuck Northcott, Mr. Max Muller, and Mr. Tony Liu for their lifelong dedication to the principles, values, and spirit of the Bushidokan® System. Their commitment has helped preserve and strengthen the legacy of Bushidokan for future generations, and it was a tremendous privilege to welcome them to Kenukan Academy.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your decades of service, leadership, and friendship. Your example continues to inspire all of us who have the honor of following in your footsteps.
⛩️ Bushidokan® — Tradition • Character • Excellence
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