What is IshiDo? If you practice a traditional martial art you've probably never heard of IshiDo.

IshiDo was created in 1994 and is considered an American art with roots to many traditional and eclectic styles.

The word IshiDo is of Japanese origin, which basically means "The way of Stone", in tribute to Larry Stone who is one of the founding members, who was (and still is) the highest traditionally ranked member of the founding nucleus.

Larry Stone is the glue that holds all of us together as a family.

To speak frankly, we were just a few guys who already had extensive training in several "traditional" martial arts, under many of the best Masters in the world.

We loved to train, to learn new things and to expand ourselves through the arts. Unfortunately there came a time when many of these styles became very politically motivated, and were losing sight of what they should be focused on.

We decided to break away from all organizations that we were affiliated with, and combine our knowledge to create an art that would be different for each student that studied it. To have the art conform to the individual taking into consideration their strengths and limitations, instead of conforming the individual to the art.

Of course this concept is nothing new, and we don't profess to have created the next best thing to Mom's apple pie, or anything like that. We just wanted to be free of the limitations and boundaries that many of the styles that we had studied had imposed on us, and to be free of all the politics.

To be able to train and learn and explore, always keeping a beginners mind. An empty cup.

We didn't elevate ourselves to 10th Degree Super Supreme Grandmasters of the Universe, or anything like that.

We don't really care about superficial things such as the color of a belt, or titles. We care about having IshiDo as a part of our life. A way of life.

Our Creed kind of sums up what we are trying to accomplish.

To strive for the perfection of character
To foster the spirit of effort
To defend the paths of truth
To honor the principles of etiquette
To guard against impetuous courage

We hope you will find the rest of the history of IshiDo and its training methods of interest. Please read with an open mind.

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