User:Allen.bennett

Allen Jay Bennett (martial artist)

Allen Jay Bennett began his martial arts training in the Chinese/Okinawan style of karate known as Uechi-Ryū, at the age of 15 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He was awarded his 5th-degree black-belt and Shihan title in May 1994 by the Okinawa Karate-Do Association in Okinawa, Japan.

He was awarded his 6th-degree black-belt and his second Shihan title in May 1999 by the Okinawa Uechi-Ryū headquarters in Futenma, Okinawa, Japan.

He was awarded his 7th-degree black-belt and his KyoShi title in December 2006 by the International Uechi-Ryū Karate-Do Association in the USA.

He was awarded his 8th-degree black-belt on October 31, 2014 by the International Uechi-Ryū Karate-Do Association in the USA.

Bennett has also competed in the AAU on a regional and national level in Kata and Kumite. He has also competed on the west coast in the Okinawan Uechi-Ryu Karate Championship hosted by Alan Dollar in Antioch, California, several times, and winning a Heavy Weight Championship in Kumite in 1991.