Mike Hess Karate

At age 9, he worked briefly as a delivery boy for a Chinese laundromat, which ended up being his martial arts introduction. His bosses, Chinese immigrants Mr. Lee and Mr. Loo, were experts in Tuan Fa, a form of Kung Fu. At some point while working for them, he noticed one of them practicing. “I peeked through a board fence and saw him practicing. At first I thought he was crazy but then I began to get interested,” he said. Kimmey spread the word to his friends and soon there was a large group of boys watching the old man. They ran him off over and over again; however they eventually gave in and let him watch. The group of boys finally asked if he would teach them. “He took us into his house, one at a time. I don’t know what he did to the others, but he threw hot tea in my face,” Kimmey said. Apparently Kimmey’s reaction was the proper one as he was one of the two boys out of 27 selected to become a pupil.  For an unknown amount of time, they taught young Kimmey what they knew of the art. 

Military and Family
In 1940, he enlisted in the military and served in the Army. Sometime between 1940 and 1943, he was stationed in Augusta where he met Katherine Fulmer. In 1943, while in service, he fathered D'Arcy Laron "Ronnie" Kimmey. During his time overseas, he fought in countless battles all throughout Europe. He was stationed in Germany for a period, England and finally France. In January 1944, a 23 year-old Kimmey boarded a ship bound for England — a four-year veteran of the United States Army ready to defend the United States in World War II. “It was kind of rough,” Kimmey said, recalling those years. “We sailed on my 23rd birthday ... not a very good way to spend a birthday.” While in England, Kimmey trained with the British Commandos, but fought with the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. While fighting in France, Kimmey was shot twice — both times in the left leg. He was returned to the U.S. a wounded veteran of World War II and awarded a Purple Heart. He recalled his war experiences by describing the horror of seeing people shot and reeling from concussion grenades. 

After returning to the states in June 1945, Mr. Kimmey worked as a security guard, a jewelry salesman, a bodyguard, a stenographer, and in various other professions. In April of 1950, his daughter, Nancie Kimmey was born in Beech Island. 

Sometime around 1965, Mr. Kimmey split up from Katherine. At some point between then and 1970, he met and married Maria Zagler. She was from Germany and had still not perfected her English. She worked at the restaurant where they met as a manager. Mr. Kimmey courted her for about three months before she finally agreed to go out with him. He had told her that he was a martial artist, and he brought her to see where he trained. Maria must have been confused, because she wanted to know where the canvases and paints were kept. Despite her confusion, she ended up falling in love and marrying him in 1970. Kimmey said that with the exception of his wife, no one else in his family was interested in karate. 

Martial Arts after the War
Upon returning from the war, Mr. Kimmey trained under two brothers.  He would progress through the ranks and begin assisting with classes.  As he approached blue belt, the first brother would end up moving away and stopped teaching at the school.  Before too long, the second brother did the same.  Mr. Kimmey kept the classes going and continued his training, but having not earned a black belt yet, he knew he would need to seek out further training. He ended up meeting with Kim Soo Jen, a Korean national, during the 1960s. In return for bringing Mr. Jen over from South Korea, providing him housing, and setting up his citizenship, Mr. Kimmey and the other students received instruction in an early form of Tae Kwon Do. In 1971, Mr. Kimmey was promoted to 3rd degree black belt in the Mun Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do Association. 

 Mr. Jen was a strict instructor and a demanding person. He destroyed some of Mr. Kimmey’s books on martial arts, telling him that he was not to learn from books but from him. He also tended to simply take what he wanted and expected his students to honor his requests. Mr. Kimmey and Mr. Jen eventually parted ways, but Mr. Jen came back to see Mr. Kimmey in the '70s after he had married Maria. As Mr. Jen was leaving the home, he eyed a chair that Maria had recently purchased and expressed his interest in taking it with him. Mr. Jen soon realized that Maria was not going to put up with his demands. He left without the chair and with a new fear: Maria Kimmey.In 1967 , Mr. Kimmey opened his own school (1979 article) in the Aiken and North Augusta area and taught Zen Shotokai, which he and his best friend (Joseph Ruiz) learned from Kiyoshi Aihara. Sensei Mike Hess began learning from Sensei Kimmey at this time. Sensei Hess recalls, "[O'Sensei Kimmey] made a mixed martial arts style that incorporates many different styles. From kicks, strikes , and joint locks, O'Sensei Kimmey's flavor of Zen Shotokai uses techniques that provide effective self-defense, and weapons are required for advanced students." In his prime, he ran five different schools in the CSRA and was one of the most popular martial arts instructors in the area.
With his students, Mr. Kimmey was a true perfectionist. He demanded respect and expected his students to do as they were told. While he realized that problems would arise in getting too close to students, he still became involved with many of his students' personal lives. The reason he did so was that he believed his students were a reflection of himself, and he had a clear idea of how they should conduct themselves. Of course, this caused some tension, as Mr. Kimmey was difficult to please. He was not one to forgive easily , as he would hold grudges against those he felt had wronged him. He could be angry and mean at times, and some just couldn't deal with it. Mr. Kimmey was not one to mince words: he told you exactly how he felt, whether it was nice or hurtful. His purpose, however, was to benefit the student. He tried to make them better in what he thought was the proper way. He would also test them to see when they would break. Being rough on them was his way of preparing them.
Mr. Kimmey, however, was no stranger to tough instruction and testing. He told his students that he wouldn't teach them the way he had been taught. However, some students insisted that they wanted the experience. Mr. Kimmey took these five students (who paid extra for the experience) and told them that if any one of them quit the "special instruction, " then the special class would be over for all five. On the first day of class, he gave them a small dose of what he went through, which included being hit in the stomach over 50 times and receiving the same blows the very next day. With his own students, he was much kinder, yet not one of them wanted to continue the "special instruction. "
He said the proudest moment in his karate career came in 1973, when at 52, he won the American International Championship in Kumite (fighting) , Kata (ballet of death), and Weaponry in Baltimore, Md.
Mr. Kimmey's school's logo was a black widow , but sometime in the early 1970s , Mr. Kimmey decided to change it. With the help of his students (Sensei Mike Hess included), the dragon was drawn, patented, and became the symbol for the school. At the time of its creation, there was no orange belt, but rather purple. That is why the modern-day dragon, which represents the school, is purple, blue, and green. In 1975, the school was known as the Dragon Club or Zen Shoto Kai karate. Simultaneously, Kimmey was a seventh-degree black belt in some unknown style.
In one of his early black belt tests with Master German, he was testing along with about 20 others. After going through the normal testing routine, a gentleman came into the room and informed the group that they were now at the last step of the test. Mr. German was about to enter the room, and they should form a line. The man told them that when Mr. German entered, he was going to hit each one of them in the face as hard as he liked. The gentleman gave them the option of leaving at this point, since it was quite well known what Mr. German could do to a person's face. Some of the group chose to leave. The remaining few stood waiting in a straight line. Mr. German then came out, walked up to the candidates, and tapped each of them gently on the cheek.
In 1976, he held a 4th Degree under Master David German in the U.S. TAI Karate Association. At that point, he was the Atlantic Coast President. Sometime between 1976 and 1979, he advanced to 5th degree in TAI , which he held until he earned his 6th degree sometime after 1982. At some point, he was the European Ambassador for the U.S. TAI Karate Association.
In 1977, Mr. Kimmey taught at "Camp Karate" at Furman University, where he impressed many people with his abilities: Jeff Smith, Bill Wallace, Joe Corley, Sam Chapman, and Bobby Tucker. Sensei Mike Hess was one of the few black belts of Kimmey's who went to this camp . Sensei Hess recalls, "It's there that Sensei was asked over and over to keep teaching, even after class. He told everyone that I was his black belt and that I couldn't be hurt. That was one of my highest honors, but it hurt like hell."
Mr. Kimmey didn't like to discuss David German and how he got involved with him , so it is unknown when exactly the transition from Zen Shoto Kai to U.S. TAI occurred.
In 1989, Kimmey estimated he had taught karate to about 40,000 people. "I've trained whole battalions, police departments, Green Berets, and Signal Corps outfits ... not to mention private citizens," Kimmey said. "I like to get across to people that the point of teaching karate is not to be macho or mean, but to learn self-defense," Kimmey said.
He also taught the rudiments of karate to military personnel, police from over 17 different departments, narcotic squads, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Green Berets, the West German Border Guards, and others around the world. "I've taught and fought in seven countries in this world. I've been in England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Canada, and the U.S. At one time, I owned 15 schools scattered throughout the U.S. and Europe. "I sold all but one of my schools a few years ago - I still have one in North Augusta that's through the North Augusta Recreation Department."
He earned his 10th-degree black belt in TAI karate and was also inducted into the Yudansha Hall of Fame on May 25, 1988. This is also when he received his Ph.D. in Martial Sciences. Both of these are the highest honors that can be received, yet Mr. Kimmey remained a man who was satisfied with simple pleasures in life. He considered getting his GED but eventually decided against it.
In fact, Mr. Kimmey was extremely well-read. He was curious by nature and kept clippings of articles that interested him. He kept up with trends such as gas prices, researched religion and the Bible , and liked to find the "hidden facts" in history. He was fond of the American Indian and had some as friends. He also dabbled in coin collecting in the last years of his life. He was opinionated and liked to argue. However, he didn't like to talk about his health, mentioning it only when necessary and then only in passing. Mr. Kimmey was a proud man who found it difficult when his body began to tire.
He taught until 1998 when he retired and actually participated as a teacher until his health would no longer allow it. He was a great source of knowledge and history of the martial arts.
Later in life, it earned him the honor of induction into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
On May 22, 2002, O'Sensei Kimmey passed away.