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Birney Jarvis
was one of Don Buck's 1st students and was a big part
of the history of Karate here in the United States.
7th Degree Black Belt
American Kyokushin Karate Organization
Council Advisor
Amateur & Profession Boxer
56 Wins--1 Lost--1 Tie |  | We all love hearing about the early days and just
think he was there! He lived them and has allot of
stories to tell. One of the people responsible for popularizing in the early 1960s the Kyokushinkai in general, and the School of Oyama in particular, and later, the School of the Tiger, was Birney Jarvis, then a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Jarvis in early 1960 read an article about a "new" sport being introduced in California and decided to do his own story about the art of karate. Jarvis was no stranger to the art of fighting, having been first an amateur and subsequently a professional boxer with a total ring record of 56-1-1. Plus, he in earlier years was a "bouncer" in a Tenderloin District bar frequented by raucous sailors. As he laughingly says, "I got a lot of practice (in fighting) there."
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| Jarvis met Hanshi Donald I. Buck at the Ava and Larry Modeling School in San Francisco's Sunset District, where fledgling karate classes were also being held. He was greatly impressed by Hanshi Buck, who had organized the classes, and found they had something in common: Hanshi Buck was a San Francisco policeman at the time and Jarvis worked as a police reporter at the San Francisco Hall of Justice. Jarvis decided that the way of karate was for him, and he joined the karate class after writing the story. This was the beginning of a long and active career in the martial arts. |  | Jarvis and Hanshi Buck became good friends as the weeks and months slipped by and under his Sensei's tutoring, Jarvis rapidly advanced in the fighting art that he had adopted. In the meantime, Jarvis began a series of stories in The Chronicle about karate and its long history. He also wrote many stories about karate and the Kyokushinkai for numerous adventure or sports magazines, with numerous articles by him appearing (under a pseudonym) in other newspapers. |  | It should be noted that in the early 1960s karate was virtually unknown in northern California and, actually, throughout the nation. Reporters writing about the art generally termed karate as a "new" sport that was becoming popular in this country. Judo and Ju Jitsu were well-known, because military men - including Hanshi Buck - learned the rudiments while serving their country. The crowning touch came about when an Associate Press reporter wrote a story about Jarvis and his School of Oyama at 2315 Clement Street in San Francisco. Hanshi Buck and Jarvis opened the dojo in December of 1960. The story, with photographs of Jarvis and one of his and Hanshi Buck's students in action, was circulated nation-wide, with reprints in varied English-speaking foreign publications. | | 
| Increasing rapidly in popularity because of the increased publicity and the genuine benefits of the sport, karate - and the Kyokushinkai-associated School of Oyama - became a byword. But this caused some resentment, and even jealousy, among certain factions belonging to other organizations. Demonstrations by School of Oyama students were sometimes heckled and often-times threatened with violence. Serious clashes were avoided through the intervention of Hanshi Buck. He was, after all, a policeman. |
| It wasn't long after that, that Sosai Oyama and Hanshi Buck awarded Jarvis a Shodan (1st Dan) black belt for his part in standing up for the Kyokushinkai and Sosai Oyama. The certificate was dated the day of the battle: December 16, 1960. Jarvis did not feel he was deserving of the honor, so he moved into the back of his dojo and for the next year trained many and long hours to "catch up" to the degree. Jarvis first met and trained with Sosai Oyama on the Master's visit to San Francisco in 1961, and was able to train with him on his subsequent visits to this country. Jarvis said he considered these training periods one of his greatest honors. He was greatly grieved after hearing of Sosai Oyama's death and talked at length with the karate master's daughter soon after. On learning of Hanshi Buck's death, Jarvis recalled the years of friendship with his Sensei (as he still refers to him), and mourns his passing. "Sensei Buck changed he course of my life when I first came to him and through the years I learned more than I thought possible from my friend," Jarvis said. |
| As the years passed and his commitment to karate grew, Jarvis received from Sosai Oyama and Hanshi Buck his Nidan (2nd Dan, 1961), Sandan (3rd Dan, 1968) and Yondan (4th Dan, 1976). He also received in 1980 a Yondan degree from the Leopard Karate School, Inc., one of many Dojos in southern California associated with Hanshi Buck's School of the Tiger and headed by Shihan Stephen Senne. Jarvis is now listed in Buck's School of the Tiger as a Shishdan (7th Dan, 1998), and is a Council member advisor and Branch Chief (Alabama) for the organization. In later years, Jarvis retired from "active duty" in the karate ranks, because of months and years devoted to eventually sailing half-way around the world in his 34-foot sloop. He, at age 74, presently writes a newspaper column in South Alabama, where he and his wife of 34 years now live, He and his wife are preparing for a year-long trip throughout the United States in his recreational vehicle. | 
Kumite-ing (Fighting)
with Chongnam Rha,
a 5th Dan in Tai Kwon Do from Korea at Union Square
San Francisco
| Jarvis said he still trains with a heavy punching bag and other equipment, but complains that he doesn't have the stamina and speed of his youth. "I can still punch, however, but I haven't broken any bricks in several years - the last time being in Cuba in 1998 where I did so for a curious Cuban Tai Kwan Do practitioner." Jarvis said. He and his wife were in Cuba aboard their sailing boat. | | | |
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