Kokushi Martial Arts

Kyoshi Bill and Sensei Karen Palmer hold black belts in Kokushiryu Jujutsu and have been teaching since 1975. Kyoshi, an associate professor at the Kokushi Budo Institute (the New York branch of the Kokushikan University in Japan), is an eighth degree black belt and a certified International referee. He holds the highest rank awarded in the style, and is the sole recipient of the Kyoshi teaching certificate. Kyoshi is also a black belt in Kokushi Karate. Sensei holds a sixth degree black belt, and is also certified as an International referee. Both also study Judo and Tomiki Aikido, in which Kyoshi is a certified national referee. Bill and Karen are also Certified BLS/First Aid Instructors, and classes can be scheduled.

The summer of 2007, Sensei Palmer taught martial arts in an outreach program camp on the lower East Side under the auspicises of the Fulton Street YMCA. She taught karate and jujutsu at the Chinatown YMCA the summer of 2003. Karen began teaching at Horace Mann lower school in January, 2001. In the fall of 1999, the Palmers instituted the C.A.T.S. Martial Arts Program for children and adults. The summer of 1999, they taught jujutsu at the West Side YMCA Sports Camp. In January, 1998, Kyoshi began teaching at the After School Program held at P.S. 6 and Sensei took over in the fall of 1998.

In September, 1991, the Palmers began an after school martial arts program at the the Birch Wathen Lenox School, and Kyoshi began teaching jujutsu and karate there as part of the physical education department in January, 1993. He also taught at the Asphalt Green Day Camp the summer of 1993. Sensei began teaching jujutsu at Marymount and the Town School in 1992, and Kyoshi started a class at the Ethical Culture School where Karen has been teaching for the past several years. During the summer of 1991, Kyoshi taught karate at the Columbus Branch of the New York Public Library for the Mayor's "Safe Streets... Safe Cities" program.

The Palmers began teaching youngsters at the West Side YMCA in September 1985, and were interviewed there by Storm Fields on the Channel 2 News. They have lectured and conducted workshops on Japanese martial arts, and have performed many demonstrations. Kyoshi taught at the McBurney YMCA from 1974 to 1985, and his adult self-defense class was listed in New York Magazine as one of the ten best in New York City. Sensei worked there as his assistant.

Their most recent book, The Encyclopedia of Martial Art Movies, was published by Scarecrow Press in 1995. A trade paperback edition was released in 2003. In 1987, the Palmers served as the martial art film reviewers for The Complete Guide To Videocassette Movies, edited by Steven Scheuer. They review videos for "Martial Arts Movie Associates," conduct lectures on martial art films, and served as consultants for Worldwide Entertainment, the syndicators of the best TV martial arts films. They have also been advisers to Embassy, Ocean Video, and Saturn Video, who were interested in learning the best ways to sell Asian action films, and have contributed time and information to several authors of books and magazine articles.

In 1985, the Palmers co-authored the book Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee To The Ninja (Citadel Press), which has been considered the "bible" for the industry since publication. In addition to the hundreds of copies purchased by Ocean Video and World Wide Entertainment to help educate their salesmen, the book is used as an assigned text in film courses taught at St. Johns University.

The Palmers began reviewing films for the Madison Square Garden Network TV show, Martial Art World in 1985, and have been seen across the country and in parts of Canada. The program was the only regularly scheduled martial arts show on TV, and they were the only reviewers covering these films.