Grand Master Tom Lewis

 

Sensei Tom Lewis was born on May 2, 1939 in Salisbury, Maryland. He has been in the martial arts for 62 years and has taught for over 50 of those years. He is a 9th Degree Black Belt in Isshinryu and has also trained in Bando, boxing, kickboxing and combat handgun.

According to Sensei Lewis “My claim to fame in the Marines is that I was in the Bay of Pigs and went to Cuba during the October Missile Crisis.” Also, a claim to fame is that he is one of the “First Generation Marine Students of Grand Master Tatsuo Shimabuku.

In July of 1959 Sensei Lewis began studying Isshinryu KarateDo under Master Tatsuo Shimabuku. After a brief stint in College, he enlisted in the Marine Corp in January 1959. After boot camp in Parris Island, his first duty station was Okinawa, where I spent 16 months. He says “I arrived there on July 1st and after a couple of weeks, I heard there was a Karate school not far away. There were two guys from my outfit that were training at this school, so my first night I went with them. Entering the dojo, I approached Master Shimabuku, bowed and sat until he appointed oneof the Okinawans to start me on the basics, that man turned out to be now Grand Master TokumuraKensho. During that time Marine leaders likeJim Advincula, Steve Armstrong, Don Bohan. Jake Eckenrode, Sherman Harrill, Harold Mitchum, Clarence Ewing and others were there.”

Sensei Shimabuku promoted Mr Lewis to Sho-Dan (1st degree) in October of 1960. Mr Lewis was able to spend a year and a half with Master Shimabuku and later got to revisit him when he came to Don Nagle’s dojo in 1966.

Sensei Lewis was discharged from the Marines in 1963. He was promoted to Go-Dan (5th degree) before he left Okinawa by Master Tatsuo Shimabukubut claimed himself only a Sho-Dan upon returning to the United States. Mr Lewis traveled to study with Don and Jim Nagle in New Jersey when he returned to the United States.

In 1964 Tom Lewis began teaching and preparing to open his own dojo. In the beginning there was a lot of moving from church halls to store fronts, but eventually they settled into a dojo that is still operating today under MastersWayne and Colleen Ellis and Al Bailey. Mr. Lewis formally opened his dojo in January of 1965 in Salisbury, Maryland.

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Several of Sensei Lewis’ black belt students went on to open their own dojos from New Hampshire to Florida: Reese and Judy Rigby in Delaware, Victor Smith in New Hampshire, Charlie Murray in Tennessee, Harvey Hastings in Florida and others. Some of these Sensei’s have been recognized for their outstanding achievements: Toby Cooling, Reese Rigby and Barry Smith are in the Isshinryu Hall of Fame.

All of Sensei Lewis’ schools participated in many tournaments from New York to Tennessee. In between tournaments the IKC (Isshinryu Karate Clubs) would have Shiai’s. Harvey Hastings and Sensei Lewis promoted the first Isshinryu/Bando tournament in 1970. Steve Armstrong and Dr Myuang Gi attended it. Mr. Hastings and Sensei Lewis continued to hold several tournaments in the Maryland area, including, a friendship tournament for Rick Niemira.

In the early 80’s Master Lewis met Dr Myuang Gi and Bob Maxwell and began studying Bando. In time Master Lewis became a member of the American Bando Association. Several Isshinryu people such as Don Bohan, Rick Niemira, Harvey Hasting and others had begun training with this brotherhood as well.

Master Tom Lewis has obtained numerous accomplishments. In 1980 Sensei Lewis wrote “Karate for Kids”, which was one of the first books about karate for children and is still in circulation. In 1981 he received an award for outstanding weapons competitor in the mid-Atlantic region. The following year, Mr. Lewis was presented with outstanding referee in region 10.

During the mid-1980’s, Master Lewis coached a full contact team the “Lewis’ Demons” that competed in the Maryland, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania area, holding one tournament in Salisbury, Maryland.

Master Don Nagle promoted Sensei Tom Lewis to Ni-Dan (2nd degree) on the first of December in 1965. On November 30, 1966 in front of Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, Sensei Lewis became a San-Dan (3rd degree). Although he was never a Yon-Dan (4th degree), as the years passed Sensei Lewis finally accepted his Go-Dan (5th degree) that Master Shimabuku had presented some years earlier. On March 1, 1972, Master KichiroShimabuku presented Sensei Lewis with his Roku- Dan (6^thdegree), which was signed by Grand Master Tatsuo Shimabuku. On January 27, 1979 Master Harold Mitchum promoted Master Lewis to Shichi-Dan (8th degree).

In 1989 Master Tom Lewis moved from Maryland to Jackson Hold, Wyoming and found an Isshinryu school, where he taught for about a year. Ten years later Master Lewis moved to Cody, Wyoming and befriended a Kempo School. He trained there until he started his own dojo on his ranch.  Currently, Sensei Lewis enjoys seminars better than tournaments, but he still attends some when he gets the chance.

In April of 2005 Master Tom Lewis attended a seminar in New Orleans and was promoted to Ku-Dan (9th degree) by Grand Master Harold Mitchum. A couple months later in June, members of the U.I.K.A. in Bozeman, Montana presented Grand Master Lewis, with their Lifetime Achievement Award.

This was a guest contribution by Charles Murray