Allegheny County Budo-kai

Our dojo practices the Matayoshi lineage of Okinawan Kobudo.

Our dojo practices the Chito-Ryu style of karate.

Dewey Deavers Sensei 1940’s. Colorized photo.

Koseido-ryu Jiu-jitsu was founded by Dewey Deavers in the early 20th century. Deavers was born in 1890 into a family of circus performers. In 1910, Deavers met a team of Japanese men who were traveling with the circus he was in, putting on demonstrations of jiu-jitsu. He was fascinated with jiu-jitsu and asked the team if they would teach him. Although he was repeatedly rebuffed, he kept asking and watched all of their training sessions until they finally accepted him as a st...udent in exchange for performing chores for the group. His training consisted of a wide variety of striking techniques, throws, takedowns, joint-locking techniques, chokes, and strangles. He also learned pressure points, defenses against a variety of weapons (knife, gun, club, sword, and bayonet), and knife fighting. He learned how to set broken bones and dislocated joints, in addition to resuscitation techniques. He trained for several hours each day and eventually became a part of the demonstration team. Deavers stayed with the group until they disbanded during World War I. Unfortunately, not much is known about Deaver's instructors or the name of the style of jiu-jitsu they taught him. Deavers said very little about who his instructors were, and most of his own students were more interested in learning jiu-jitsu techniques than inquiring about Deaver's instructors. Whenever Joseph Hedderman, the current head instructor of Koseido-ryu Jiu-Jitsu, asked Deavers about his instructors, Deavers would provide little information beyond stating that they "trained hard, were well-disciplined, and loyal to each other." Deavers did not give a name to the style of jiu-jitsu he taught until the 1960s. Prior to the 1960s, Deavers only referred to the martial art he taught as "jiu-jitsu" or "American jiu-jitsu." In the early 1960s as martial arts became more wide spread in the United States, Deavers formally named his style of jiu-jitsu. Although Deaver's style of jiu-jitsu and training methods had always placed the goal of self defense above using training as a method of character development, he choose the name Koseido-ryu, which loosely translates to "Way of Individual Character Style."

To all students and instructors, As you may or may not be aware, Governor Wolf has announced a new round of restrictions on athletic facilities to try to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These restrictions, which take effect on Saturday, December 12, will directly affect the Allegheny County Budo-Kai operations. We are sorry to announce that, as of Saturday, December 12, the Allegheny County Budo-kai will discontinue classes for the duration of the restrictions. Additio...nally, the Christmas party that was scheduled for Saturday, December 19 has been canceled. Any students who have paid for the Christmas party will receive a refund. The new restrictions are scheduled to end on Monday, January 4. We hope to resume classes after the restrictions are lifted on athletic facilities. If you have any questions please feel free to contact either Kyoshi Tony Hedderman, Kyoshi Rick Sbuscio or Kyoshi Sue Sbuscio.

Thanks to Hanshi Terry Valentino. Part 2.

Thanks to Hanshi Terry Valentino for sharing! Old school.

Congratulations to the following students who passed their karate exam today: Kristen Weiss: Yellow Belt, Robert Feuerhake: Green III, Bill Ellis: Brown I (Ikkyu). Nice job!