Lineage of Shaolin-Do
Grandmasters | Masters | Instructors | Black Belts / Sashes
Unlike many other schools and martial artists who claim to be "authentic", students of the Sin Thé Karate School have a direct lineage to the Shaolin Temples in China. Our teacher, Elder Master Bill Leonard, and many of the students study directly under Grandmaster Sin Thé. His teacher was Grandmaster Ie Chang Ming, who began his studies at the Shaolin Temple as a young boy. His teacher was the legendary Su Kong Tai Djin! We are only two generations from them!
Grandmasters
The title of Grandmaster is bestowed upon the chosen leader of a martial arts system by the previous Grandmaster upon his death or retirement. Usually given to the highest ranking student, they are responsible for leading the entire system. There can only be one true and authentic Grandmaster of a martial arts system at any time.
Grandmaster Su Kong Tai Djin (1849 - 1928)
Grandmaster Su Kong Tai Djin was born in the Fukien province of China in 1849 with a rare genetic condition which resulted in his entire body being covered with hair. His parents, convinced they had given birth to a demon, abandoned the infant into a nearby forest. A group of passing monks heard the baby's cries, and being educated, realized he was human, and brought him to the Shaolin Temple. Given the child's appearance, the monks knew he would not be adopted by any family and decided to raise the child themselves.
This situation was unique from all others because Su Kong Tai Djin was raised from birth in the temple. He was not only raised with the monks' ideals in mind, he was also not limited in his studies to one master. He was treated as everyone's favorite son and could study with anyone. The masters responded to his rare enthusiasm for learning and he quickly mastered hundreds of forms which had never been accomplished by one man before.
It is important to understand the distinction between the grandmaster of the temple and the head abbot. The grandmaster was in charge of the monks' physical progress and the mastery of the martial arts by the warrior monks. The head abbot was in charge of the temple as a whole and the monks' religious and intellectual studies.
After learning the temple was going to be attacked by the government, the monks evacuated the temple, taking with them priceless books, scrolls, and artwork and fled into the mountains after setting fire to the temple themselves. One of the young disciples who fled the temple with Su Kong Tai Djin was a young boy name Ie Chang Ming.
Su Kong Tai Djin died in 1928 at the age of 79.
Grandmaster Ie Chang Ming (1880 - 1976)
Ie Chang Ming was born in 1880 and admitted to the Fukien temple as a young boy. There he spent all of his time and energy learning the martial arts, specifically the Golden Snake system. Upon the death of Su Kong Tai Djin, the title of Grandmaster was passed to his top student, Ie Chang Ming.
Later in his life, after taking a wife and starting a family, Grandmaster Ie returned home to find his wife being attacked by some soldiers. After killing ten of them, a price was put on his head. He fled to Bandung, Indonesia and eventually established a Shaolin school there. In Indonesian culture, the Chinese were hated. To avoid conflict with the government, Grandmaster Ie Chang Ming added the Japanese word, Do to Shaolin to disguise it as a Japanese art rather than a Chinese art. At this time, he also adopted the Japanese gi (uniform) and belt ranking system that we still use today in his honor.
Grandmaster Ie was famous throughout Indonesia for his martial arts abilities, specifically his iron palm training, his high level of meditation, and his mastery of the Golden Snake system, the highest art of the Shaolin Temple. To demonstrate his iron palm skills to his students, Grandmaster Ie placed several grains of uncooked rice between two boards and then smacked it with his hand. After lifting the top board, the rice had been reduced to powder! In another demonstration, he instructed one of his students to fetch a river rock from the stream near the school. He placed the rock on the anvil, struck it with his palm, and left the room. His students, unimpressed and failing to realize what they had just witnessed, walked over to the rock which was still sitting on the anvil and tried to pick it up. It simply turned to dust and fell through their fingers!
Grandmaster Ie's meditation skills were so high that he did not sleep at night. He would place his head on one chair and his heels on another chair and suspend himself between them every night while meditating for hours. In the morning, he would instruct one of his students to place a chopstick in the hollow of his throat and strike it with a rock. Rather than penetrate his throat, the chopstick would shatter into hundreds of splintered shards!
To demonstrate his mastery of the Golden Snake system, Grandmaster Ie would have his students tie his hands and feet together and then lay on the ground. At this point, a member of the audience would be brought forward, given a sharpened spear, and told to try and stab him. He was never stabbed! At this point, Grandmaster Ie would "slither" over to a large wooden pole and proceed to climb it without using his hands or feet which were still tied! He would wrap his body around the pole and, using his extreme muscular control, would slither up and around the pole to the top!
Ie Chang Ming died in 1976 at the age of 96.
Grandmaster Sin Kwang Thé (1943 - )
In 1943, Sin Kwang Thé (pronounced Tay) was born in Bandung, Indonesia. His parents were Chinese but fled to Indonesia after the Communist Party came into power. Young Sin was drawn to the martial arts and actually began training in a lost art known as sandburn training at a very young age. In sandburn training, practitioners treat their hands with special medicine and then place them in buckets of heated sand. Over time, the sand is made hotter and the length of time one's hands are submerged is increased. This training toughens the hands but also makes the skin dangerous for other humans to touch, hence its attractiveness to martial artists. Sin Thé stopped the training after a sandburn master accidently picked up his grandchild without special gloves and the baby was killed. This master and all of his colleauges stopped teaching and all of their students were dismissed.
Not long after, a friend of the family and a close friend of Grandmaster Ie took young Sin Thé to his school to watch a class and be introduced. He was amazed by what he saw. Grandmaster Ie's students were practicing empty hand forms, weapon forms, and sparring. It was a far cry from being a student whose sole training was burning their hands! The seven-year-old asked to join, but was dismissed with polite excuses. After some time, he was allowed to join the school, and then the real tests began.
As it was at the Shaolin Temple, Grandmaster Ie was very strict in whom he admitted as a student. Potential students were studied from every conceivable angle to judge their temper, demeanor, and attitude. One wrong action would prevent a student from ever gaining admittance to the school. One night, Grandmaster Ie "tripped" and spilled a bowl of uncooked rice on the floor near Sin Thé. In Chinese culture, one way to diet is reduce your servings of rice by one grain each day. Grandmaster Ie instructed Sin Thé to find all 855 grains of rice that had been in the bowl. Late that night, long after all the students had left, he finally finished the task. In another test, Grandmaster Ie gave him a bowl filled with three different colors of beans and asked him to arrange them in triangles in the bowl, which from basic geometry, is impossible. It was a test of persistance and perseverance. In his final test, while Sin Thé watched a class, Grandmaster Ie poured a cup of hot tea over his head and looked directly into his eyes to gauge his reaction. Luckily for young Sin Thé, he was too shocked to be angry and was admitted into the school.
Just like at the temple, young Sin Thé's training began with stances. He would stand in horse stances, bow stances, and cat stances for hours at a time, especially while doing chores such as washing the dishes. To further build his leg strength, Grandmaster Ie required him to do one hundred one-legged squats every day! Eventually, after he had proven his trust in his teacher and built up his physical abilities, Sin Thé's instruction in Shaolin-Do began. At the age of thirteen, Sin tested for his black belt. This test was extremely difficult. At various times throughout his test, while performing his kata blindfolded, boards would be held in place to show that every punch and kick were properly executed. At the conclusion of the test, he had to spar seven other students while blindfolded!
As his training continued, Sin Thé's abilities increased greatly. He spent all of his time training with Grandmaster Ie and even stayed at his house on weekends and during his vactions from school. It was at this time that Grandmaster Ie saw Sin's potential and began grooming him to become the next grandmaster of Shaolin-Do. The pace of the training became frantic. Grandmaster Ie began teaching him one form every day of the week. But forms were not the only thing Sin was being taught. He was also being taught countless training exercises and forms of meditation, including Liu Fu Tao, or Sixth Sense training.
In 1964, Master Sin was preparing to leave for Berlin, Germany to study engineering and physics. But the breakout of a political crisis in Germany (the erection of the Berlin Wall) altered his plans. A friend of the family, who was a professor from the University of Kentucky, convinced Master Sin and his parents that he could get an equal education at a much cheaper cost. Master Sin flew to Cincinnati, Ohio, and took a taxi to Lexington, Kentucky, which cost him all of the money he had. Here he began his studies at Transylvania University and not long later began teaching Shaolin-Do (without his teacher's knowledge or permission) to suplement his income, the first time non-Chinese had ever learned the art of Shaolin-Do! Grandmaster Ie would later find out about his teaching and after some heartfelt correspondences, gave his student his blessing to teach Americans.
In 1968, his training was complete and Grandmaster Ie awarded Master Sin Thé the rank of 10th Degree Black Belt and the Grandmaster's Red Belt. Sin Kwang Thé had become the youngest Grandmaster in the history of the Shaolin martial arts! Grandmaster Sin Thé continued his education at the University of Kentucky and had nearly completed his Master's Degree in Nuclear Engineering when Ie Chang Ming died in 1976 at the age of 96. Grandmaster Sin realized that the world had plenty of engineers and scientists, but only one Shaolin Grandmaster. He quit his studies and devoted all of his time to teaching the art of Shaolin-Do.
You can visit Grandmaster Sin Thé's official website by clicking below.
Masters
A Shaolin-Do student is considered a Master once he or she has attained the rank of 5th Degree Black Belt or higher. Each rank also has a title — 5th Degree Black Belts are referred to as Associate Masters, 6th Degree Black Belts are Masters, 7th Degree Black Belts are Senior Masters, and 8th Degree Black Belts are Elder Masters.
Many martial arts schools are lucky to have an instructor with a rank of 3rd degree black belt or higher teaching classes. Here at the Sin Thé Karate School, we have a plethora of masters and high ranking black belts to help the students increase their skill sets. The following is not a complete list of Masters in Shaolin-Do. However, it is a list of Masters who are active at the Sin Thé Karate School.
Elder Master Bill Leonard — 8th Degree Black Belt
Elder Master Bill Leonard is Grandmaster Sin Thé's most senior student, having been with him since 1967 and was the first student to attain the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt, having been promoted to that rank in September 2003.
Elder Master Leonard is the head instructor at the Sin Thé Karate School and brings his unparalleled 40+ years of teaching experience to the students there. He not only teaches all ranks of students at the gym, but as a nationally respected instructor, he is often sought out by Shaolin-Do students and masters from across the country for private lessons. He has personally trained more than 10,000 students to the rank of black belt, not to mention the countless other students who have trained under his guidance over the years.
While known for his intense dedication, loyalty, and sense of honor, he is also known as an incredible instructor. He is often the reason many students give for continuing their studies in Shaolin-Do. He is regarded as the premier fighter in Shaolin-Do, having won countless Shaolin-Do and open tournaments over the years.
Along with his wife Dale, who is a 1st Degree Black Belt, they manage the Sin Thé Karate School. Elder Master Leonard has four children and four grandchildren.
Master Tony Gray — 6th Degree Black Belt
Master Tony Gray began his Shaolin-Do studies in 1973 in Louisa, KY under Anthony Wells and has been taking classes under Elder Master Leonard for many years. He works at the Fayette County Detention Center. His wife, Dianne Gray, is also a 3rd degree Black Belt. He has two children.
He is known for his intensity in teaching, training, and sparring as well as his wealth of knowledge which he is more than happy to pass along to his fellow students. Master Tony often is responsible for teaching the black belt classes in the event of Master Leonard's absence.
Master Tony Gray was promoted to 6th degree black belt in March of 2005 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Master Scott Frasure — 6th Degree Black Belt
Master Scott Frasure began his Shaolin-Do studies in 1979 in Jackson, KY under Elder Master Bill Leonard. He works as a biological chemist and lab directory for the Central Kentucky Blood Center in Lexington, KY. His wife Amelia is is also a 2nd degree black belt.
Known for his easy going, fun loving (but intense) training and teaching style, Master Scott is one of the most well liked and well respected masters at the school. He is also known for his flexibility, high kicks, and unorthodox sparring style.
Master Scott Frasure was promoted to 6th degree black belt in March 2005 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Herman Collins — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Herman Collins began studying Shaolin-Do from Grandmaster Sin Thé at the University of Kentucky Karate Club in 1976. After taking some time off in the 80's, he began his studies again in 1989 with his son Ben.
He is known for his patience and his ability to convey advanced concepts to the students, and for this reason he assists Elder Master Leonard in teaching the beginner's (white and yellow belts) classes on a regular basis.
Associate Master Herman Collins and his son Ben Collins were promoted to 5th degree black belt in September 2003 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Ben Collins — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Ben Collins began his studies in Shaolin-Do under Grandmaster Sin Thé in 1989 in Lexington, KY. After receiving his black belt in 1992 at the age of 13, he has been studying consistently ever since, including with his father, Associate Master Herman Collins.
Known for his attention to detail and his emulation of Elder Master Leonard's teaching style, Associate Master Ben Collins can often be found teaching the brown belt classes in Master Leonard's abscence, leading the black belt class, or tutoring a number of students in private lessons.
Associate Master Ben Collins and his father Herman Collins were promoted to 5th degree black belt in September 2003 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Rick Reynolds — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Rick Reynolds began studying Judo and Shito-Ryu in 1966. He began his studies in Shaolin-Do in 1969 in Lexington, KY under Grandmaster Sin Thé. Master Rick is also a close friend of Elder Master Bill Leonard, having attended high school with him at Tates Creek High School in Lexington, KY.
He owns his own business, A1 Portable Buildings, and he and his wife, Gayle, have two children.
Associate Master Rick Reynolds was promoted to 5th degree Black Belt in September 2003 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Bill Bivins — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Bill Bivins began his study of Shaolin-Do 1973 as a hobby that he pursued each summer while on school break. After graduating from high school in 1976, he began to study in earnest and earned his black belt in 1979 under Grandmaster Sin Thé. In addition to his studies under Grandmaster Thé, Associate Master Bill has been a student of Senior Master Eric Smith and Elder Master Bill Leonard for many years. He is also proud to call Elder Bill Leonard his close friend.
He is a truck driver by profession and has traveled to 49 states, Canada, and Mexico during his travels. He has been married to Master Rosie Bivins since 1980.
Associate Master Bill Bivins was promoted to 5th degree Black Belt in March 2006 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Rosie Bivins — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Rosie Bivins began her Shaolin-Do studies under Grandmaster Sin Thé in November of 1976 and then later became the student of Elder Master Bill Leonard. She even met her husband, now Associate Master Bill Bivins, at the old Sin Thé Sports Center (now the Sin Thé Karate School) in 1979.
She is known for her toughness and determination, not to mention her reputation as one of the fiercest sparring partners in the school, male or female!
Associate Master Rosie is a legal secretary by profession and has been married to Associate Master Bill Bivins since 1980. They have no children, but keep themselves busy raising their pet dogs and cats.
Associate Master Rosie Bivins was promoted to 5th degree Black Belt in March 2006 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Bev Razor — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Bev Razor began her Shaolin-Do studies under George Burnette Jr. in March 1982 and received her black belt in 1987. She has also studied extensively with Senior Master John Price (Louisville, KY) and Elder Master Bill Leonard. Despite living in Louisville, KY with her husband, Rick, she still makes the commute to Lexington at least three times per week to study with Elder Master Leonard!
Associate Master Bev Razor is a computer desktop technician by trade. She is married to her husband, Rick, and they have no children. They do however have several miniature chihuahuas.
Associate Master Bev Razor was promoted to 5th Degree Black Belt in March 2006 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Associate Master Bill Standafer — 5th Degree Black Belt
Associate Master Bill Standafer began his Shaolin-Do studies in Winchester, KY in November of 1979 and received his black belt with Senior Master Tim Nance in December 1982. In 1993 he began studying with Elder Master Bill Leonard in Lexington, and still attends classes there regularly.
Associate Master Bill Standafer is married to his wife, Hilda, and has two daughters and a step-son. His daughter, Meredith Howes, is a black belt and attends many classes with him. He works at the Bluegrass Army Depot and is a member of the 101 Club with the University of Kentucky Athletics Department.
Associate Master Bill Standafer was promoted to 5th degree black belt in September 2007 by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Instructors
In addition to all of the Master-level students who help teach classes, we also have a number of qualified black belts who are more than happy to share their wealth of knowledge and experience with their fellow students.
Kelly Hunter — 3rd Degree Black Belt
Kelly Hunter was born in Parkersburg, WV and started taking lessons in Ashland, KY in 1982. After moving to Lexington, Kelly took classes from Grandmaster Sin Thé from 1988 to 1992 before moving to Louisville to finish college. He returned to Lexington in 1995 and began taking classes under Elder Master Leonard.
Kelly has a degree in geology from the University of Louisville and works as an Environmental Inspector for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. He is married and he and his wife, Kim, have two children, Jacob and Lauren.
Kelly received his 3rd Degree Black Belt in March of 2004 and is currently preparing for his test to 4th Degree Black Belt. He can be found teaching the Blue and Green belt classes on Monday evenings.
Don Enzweiler — 3rd Degree Black Belt
Don Enzweiler was born in Lexington and grew up in northern Kentucky. After high school, he started working for Sylvania Electric Products in Versailles and got drafted into the U.S. Navy. After going around the world a few times, including some time off the coast of Vietnam, he was honorably discharged. Don then went back to the University of Kentucky to finish a degree in Computer Science while working the next 28 years as an Engineer Technician and Materials Planner for GTE Sylvania, Inc. He retired at an early age and has been married for 34 years to his wife, Sue. His hobbies include computers and collecting both eastern and western herbs and remedies.
Don began his studies in Shaolin-Do in 1970 and received his 1st Degree Black Belt in 1978. He can be found helping teach classes of all ranks, including both the internal and external programs. In March 2005, he was promoted to 3rd Degree Black Belt by Grandmaster Sin Thé.
Cindy Blood — 2nd Degree Black Belt and 2nd Degree Black Sash
Cindy was born in Lexington, KY and graduated from Henry Clay High School and Morehead State University with a teaching degree in Psychology and a minor in Music Education. Her first exposure to the martial arts occurred in 1970 when Grandmaster Sin Thé and his students performed a demonstration at Crawford Junior High School in 1970. In 1977, while attending Morehead State University she joined an extracurricular class in Shaolin Kung Fu taught by David Fannin. After moving to Houston, TX for some time, Cindy returned to Lexington in 1992 and joined the Sin Thé Karate School under Grandmaster Sin Thé and Elder Master Bill Leonard.
Cindy is married and works at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington.
Cindy received her 2nd Degree Black Belt in June 2003 and her 2nd Degree Black Sash in July 2006. She can be found teaching the Internal (Tai Chi) classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
David Fannin — 2nd Degree Black Belt & 2nd Degree Black Sash
David Fannin began studying Shaolin-Do in 1974 under Grandmaster Sin Thé in Lexington, KY.
David received his 2nd Degree Black Belt in March 2003 and his 2nd Degree Black Sash in July 2006. He can be found teaching the Internal (Tai Chi) classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
Kim Blackburn — 1st Degree Black Belt & 2nd Degree Black Sash
Kim Blackburn was born in Cairo, IL and moved to Paducah, KY soon after. He began his studies in the martial arts by learning judo in college. However, after transferring to the University of Kentucky in 1974, he was referred to Grandmaster Sin Thé by his judo instructor, and began his studies in Shaolin-Do. He studied with Grandmaster Sin Thé for a number of years and now trains under Elder Master Leonard. He has a degree in Geology but works in sales.
Kim received his 1st Degree Black Belt in August 2007 and his 2nd Degree Black Sash in September 2006. He is currently concentrating his studies on the internal system and is working towards his 3rd Degree Black Sash. Kim can be found helping teach the internal classes during the week and leading the students during their Saturday class.
Black Belts and Sashes
Belts and sashes are used to distinguish between the external and internal students. Our external students wear a traditional gi (uniform) and belt while the internal students wear a sam (uniform) and a sash. While belts and sashes are not equivalent, they are comparable in gauging the abilities and progress of a student. Attaining the rank of a black belt or sash is by no means the end of the journey in Shaolin-Do. Rather, it is just the beginning — you are now considered a serious student and your real training begins. Essentially, each rank of black belt or sash is at least equivalent to training from white to black all over again!
Below is a vastly incomplete (but growing) list of the all of the students who have received their black belt or sash while studying with us.
4th Degree Black Belts
- Cody Shackelford
- Reggie Smith
3rd Degree Black Belts
- Andra Damron
- Don Enzweiler
- Dianne Gray
- Kelly Hunter
- Matt Kazlauskus
- Claude Meares
- Lonnie McCoy
- Robert Newton
- Remy Simpson
2nd Degree Black Belts
- Adi Antoni
- K.C. Baker
- Liam Barnes
- Cindy Blood
- Mark Bongard
- Scott Calhoun
- Angel Careaga
- Mila Chitwood
- Wesley Davis
- Brian Decker
- David Duncan
- Barbara Elsey
- David Fannin
- Lee Fields
- Ellen Gould
- Charles Granville
- Drew Jackson
- Chris Jaynes
- Tiffiney Kavanaugh Baker
- Ross Leonard
- Billy Mullins
- Steve Pruit
- Shane Schmidt
- Miles Thomas
- Joe Walden
- Scott Walker
- Chris Wells
2nd Degree Black Sashes
- Kim Blackburn
- Cindy Blood
- Rachel Bongard
- David Fannin
1st Degree Black Belts
- Moshin Ali
- Courtney Allison
- Tiffany Antoni
- Andy Armatorio
- Kim Blackburn
- Alex Bongard
- Matt Bongard
- Braxton Bosshart
- Brett Bosshart
- Arwen Careaga
- Jenny Corbin
- Trey Corbin
- Porter Corum
- Bill Davis
- Rebecca Davis
- Stephanie Edelmann
- Chuck Emerich
- Lisa Fields
- Terry Filter
- John Gonterman
- Brad Hammers
- Meredith Howes
- Jonathan Ingram
- Nathan Ingram
- Bahram Kakavand
- Fred Karem
- Jeff Leddy
- Robert Lee
- Clay Lefler
- Doug Lefler
- Kelly Lefler
- Dale Leonard
- Mason McCoy
- David Miles
- Robbie Moore
- Amy Morgan
- Lyle Morgan
- Sandy Morgan
- Nick Mudd
- David Napier
- Kim Otis
- Mike Painter
- Steve Parsons
- Lora Popolizio
- Adam Reynolds
- Todd Reynolds
- Tony Sammons
- Wade Schwendeman
- Will Sloan
- Sean Smith
- David Sweet
- Don Tegt
- Joel Stephenson
- Tommy Wahudi
- Brandon White
- Jarrod Wilde
- Eddie Willett
- Wayne D. Wilson
- Sherry Wilson
- Robert Wood
1st Degree Black Sashes
- Richard Bartholomew
If you have received your black belt or sash with us and your name does not appear on this list, or if your name or rank is incorrect, please contact the Webmaster and we will either add you to this list or correct your entry.
