PLIMSHOF Inductee #30
Professor Rod Sacharnoski
Automatic Induction
Professor Rod Sacharnoski is the Founder/Head Of Family of Juko-Kai International, which is one of the oldest, traditional martial arts unions in the United States. In the Orient, he is considered to be one of the West’s highest graded, non-Asian martial arts masters. This remarkable, traditional martial artist, has approximately 50 years of training to his credits (1950-present), earning all of his dan rankings under traditional Asian masters, and/or their official representatives.
Professor Sacharnoski is the only known non-Asian to be recognized and sponsored as Soke/10th Dan (Head Founder) in Okinawa/Japan. He is the recognized Soke Shodai (1st Generation Head Founder) of the Juko-ryu style of martial arts, and also the Founder of the International Society of Non-Sport Traditional Judo (ISTJ). In addition, he developed and founded "Combat Ki," which is a one-of-a-kind system that has become world famous.
Currently Professor Sacharnoski serves as the appointed International Director for the International Okinawan Martial Arts Union, Okinawa/Japan, the All Okinawa Seidokan Karate and Kobudo Renmei, Okinawa/Japan, and the Zen Kokusai Soke Budo/Bugei Renmei (the West's first Asian recognized Sokeship commission founded in 1970).
Professor Sacharnoski is a world class demonstrator who has given major exhibitions in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Puerto Rico, Okinawa, Japan, etc. There is a waiting list to have him visit foreign countries and teach the traditional systems that he represents.
During his law enforcement career (1961-present) he has trained several hundred police agencies and is still active in this respect. He is credited with being one of the original United States pioneers in Police Defensive Tactics, organizing and teaching programs in the early 1960s when few departments had this type of training. A highly regarded police professional, he has received numerous national awards and honors.
Professor Sacharnoski has been featured on a many television programs, in the motion pictures, and in a great many national and international martial arts magazines (Black Belt, Inside Karate, Inside Kung-Fu, Official Karate, Oriental Fighting Arts, etc., to name but a few). Recently he has appeared in the Journal Of The Asian Martial Arts, Volume 9, Number 3, 2000, and in the Ultimate Martial Arts Encyclopedia....both of which can be found in major bookstores everywhere.
He has trained the Dallas Cowboys Football Team and Ross Perot’s Personal Bodyguards, and was the first known person in motion pictures to accept a full power blow to a vital area (all strikes and kicks are pulled in the motion pictures). Jim Bacon, the well known Hollywood columnist, struck Professor Sacharnoski full power in the adams apple in “Buckstone County Prison," which was shot in 1978 at EO Motion Picture Studios, Shelby, North Carolina. In this film, he co-starred with his long time friend and martial arts associate, the late Ed Parker.
While in the US Marines, he served as the Chief Instructor for the 3rd Marine Division Judo and Jujutsu Club, Camp Courtney, Okinawa (1960-61). While in the US Army, he served as the Chief Instructor for the Ft. Polk Army Training Command in Louisiana, and later as the Chief Instructor for the Turley Barracks Judo and Jujutsu Club in Mannheim, Germany.
His first Combat-Ki exhibition was given at Inside Kung-Fu Headquarters in Hollywood, CA (1974) at which time Professor Sacharnoski was featured on the front cover (now a collectors’ item). During that same time period, he and his staff also gave a major demonstration on ABCs Wide World Of Sports. Over the past year, he and his staff gave exhibitions on three national television shows (You Asked For It, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and soon to be aired, a documentary for the Discovery Channel).
