Today we’d like to introduce you to Khalil Johns.
Khalil, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am a 5th-degree black belt in Shotokan karate with over 28 years of martial arts experience. I was born to Panamanian immigrants who moved to the united states in the early ’80s to find a better life for their young family. I began martial arts training as a family obligation as my father Ricardo Johns, Soke (10th degree Black Belt, owner, and CEO of Dai-Ichi Shotokan Karate International) is one of the pioneers of Shotokan Karate in his native country of Panama. He opened some of the earliest karate schools in Panama and taught thousands of students over his 50 years teaching career. I began my training at six years of age under the tutelage of his father, attaining my black belt at the age of 10 where I began assisting my father in teaching martial arts at our family dojo (Karate School) in Missouri City, Texas. I come from a family of martial artists with my mother, father, and brother all being high ranking black belts in Shotokan Karate. I currently work as a Burglary and Theft Detective with the Houston Police Department and am a Certified Defensive Tactics Instructor with HPD along with being a state certified license to Carry Instructor. In 2014 I started MBody Martial Arts and Fitness, a Martial Arts and Self Defense organization created with the aim of educating my student on living a healthy lifestyle, by teaching fitness and nutrition classes along with and teaching self-defense and martial arts classes.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do, why, and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I teach Shotokan Karate, which is a Traditional form of Martial Arts that originated in Okinawa. As a Martial Arts instructor, my goal is to not only teach my student how to become great martial artists and fighters… the most important goal is to teach them how to be even better citizens and human beings. Shotokan karate stresses its moral code in the Dojo Kun or Creed which states that a practitioner of Martial Arts should be one who aims To Seek Perfection of Character, Be Faithful, Endeavor, respect others and Refrain from violent behavior. As a detective I deal with people who lack a moral compass at times and act out of selfishness, victimizing people in order to gain an upper hand in life. I feel as a Martial Arts instructor it’s more my duty to prepare my students for the realities and dangers of the world physically with the physical training and mentally and spiritually with the moralistic and introspective training the martial arts provide. As a Detective, I investigate people who lack discipline and moral values, as a Martial Arts instructor my goal is to teach my students to not only be great martial artists but also great and productive citizens. I try to do my best to make as much of a positive impact in the world around me and be a positive example to my students and the next generation coming behind me. My goal is to make a positive impact so big that I leave this world in a better place than it was when I entered.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
A martial artist should be a leader in his community, not only physically but morally. We live in a world where people are losing their sense of self and moral and giving into the ills of society where they can become victims of their own ego. People will sacrifice there own personal values for a like on social media or a couple of dollars. Once a person becomes a martial artist, if taught correctly, they are bound to the Dojo Kun (Creed) and the bushido code (Code of the warrior) which implores a practitioner to live by standards the following standards (Justice, righteousness, courage, Respect, Honesty, compassion, Honor, duty and self control) which will help them become a better person and hopefully be a guiding light to others to follow a similar path.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
People can visit my dojo located at 2435 G Texas Pkwy, Missouri City, Texas, 77489, or visit my website at www.mbodyfit.org where they can sign up for either karate, fitness, or license to carry classes. They can also follow my business page on Instagram at Mbody_martialarts.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2435 G Texas Pkwy, Missouri City, Texas, 77489
- Website: www.mbodyfit.org
- Phone: 832-917-4455
- Email: mbody.maf@gmail.com
- Instagram: mbody_martialarts
- Facebook: mbodymartialfit
Image Credit:
Khalil Johns
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