After many years of training on hard wooden and concrete floors in school and community halls, Daniel Sensei with only 40 members, took the gamble and opened his own centre in a factory unit in South Windsor during January of 2000.

After its first 12mths, HMA had grown to over 200 students. HMA's popularity and swelling member base soon left Daniel Sensei with a problem, but with the support of his wife, he was able to leave his job and became a full time Martial Arts Instructor.

In 2005 HMA was once again on the move but this time with 400 members our new home would soon become the envy of Martial artists world wide. It currently boasts 3 full size and fully mirrored tatami training areas, large change rooms, huge seating areas and even a coffee and pro shop.

History of Karate Budokan International

The founder of Karate Budokan International was Mr Chew Choo Soot.

Mr Chew was born on the 7th of February 1922, in Alor Star, Northern Malaysia. After his father died, he was raised by his grandfather who was a Confucian Scholar. At the age of 15 he became involved in weight lifting and fitness training, and he became the Malaysian national weightlifting champion in 1939, 1942 and 1942. He was introduced to the art of ‘Karate-Do’ at the age of twenty during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Mr Chew was contracted by a Japanese military officer to become his personal fitness coach. During one of his scheduled visits, the young Mr Chew discovered the officer practicing movements which we now know to be ‘Kata’ (karate technique ‘forms’ or ‘patterns’). The styles of karate practiced by the officer were Keishinkan and Shotokan. Mr Chew was impressed and asked for tuition, which the officer agreed to. The founders of K.B.I. were Mr Chew, his sons Tony and Richard, and daughter Angie.

The Chew family studied a number of martial arts including Chinese Kung-Fu, Tae kwon Do as well as several styles of karate-do including Shito-ryu, Shotokan and Keishinkan. Keishinkan is a minor style of the Shuri-te strain of karate and is not widely known even in its country of birth. Keishinkan is associated with the line of Toyoma Sensei, whose excellent qualities are well known in Australia, Malaysia and elsewhere. With the parting of Keishinkan in 1971 there have been no over-riding influences on our style, although there was a trend towards the Shotokan style of kata in the mid 1980s.

It must be understood that karate is an ever-evolving art and Karate Budokan International is no different in this respect. From these humble beginnings, the first Malaysian KBI Dojo was formed. In 1968, Mr Chew’s two sons Tony and Richard migrated to Australia and KBI schools soon developed all over the country. KBI now has active Dojos in Australia, U.K, Norway, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.