Takashi Kinjo 孝金城 was born 24 August 1939 in Naha, Okinawa. He was the second child of four having two sisters and one brother. His father was a farmer and a forest manager who was killed during WWII in the Battle For Okinawa. Kinjo Sensei is married to Masami Takayama who is also heavily involved in the martial arts also.
As a young boy Takashi started his Karate-Do training in Masabayashi Shorin Ryu Karate-Do under the tutelage of its founder Shoshin Nagamine. In 1959 when Kinjo Sensei became a teenager he was drawn away from Shorin Ryu to study Uechi Ryu 上地流 with Seiki Itokazu. At that time Uechi Ryu was under the leadership of Kanei Uechi the son of its founder Kanbun Uechi. In 1964 Takashi started his training in Okinawan Kobu-Do from Shimpo Matayoshi. After starting Kobu-Do training Kinjo was chided by his Uechi Ryu instructor that Kobu-Do training would hamper his Karate-Do training and stunt his advancement. It became apparent in Kinjo’s later years that statement was mistaken. He had become widely respected in the martial arts community for both Karate-Do and Kobu-Do. He is famous worldwide for his Ieiku (oar) skills. he was also known for his proficiency with the Roku Shaku Bo (six foot staff). In 1965 after training in Uechi Ryu for six years Kinjo Sensei was promoted to Go Dan (fifth degree) where upon he opened his first Dojo Hantagawa Shureikan.
In 1978 Itokazu Sensei and Kinjo Sensei due to a political rift broke away from Kanei Uechi and Uechi Ryu renaming their style of Karate-Do Pang Gai Noon Ryu 半硬軟流 (half hard soft style). This was in honor of the Uechi Ryu Karate-Do founder’s, Kanbun Uechi, Chinese martial roots with Shushiwa and his Chinese Pang Gai Noon system. For all practical purposes the new style remained the same as its predecessor. One of the driving factors for the split was over a disagreement of whether to include Matayoshi’s Kobu-Do into the curriculum or not. Kinjo Sensei was noted to have stated that he believed that not only does Kobu-Do compliment Karate-Do training but that the skills of each are the same. In the 1990’s Kinjo and Itokazu Senseis changed the name of their style from Pang Gai Noon Ryu to Konan Ryu 硬軟流. They dropped the Pang 半 (half) character from the name Pang Gai Noon and gave the remainder Gai Noon a Japanese pronunciation to come up with the name Ko Nan Ryu (hard soft style). In 2000 Kaicho Kinjo again changed the name of his style of Karate-Do to Kobu Ryu 孝武流 putting his personal brand on the new name. While not only changing the name he also applied his personal twist to the Kata and technique making it uniquely his own.
After many years of hard training Kinjo Sensei became a trusted member of the All Okinawa Kobu-Do Association (AOKA). He became Vice President of the association and was the heir apparent to however due to a political squabble between him and Matayoshi Sensei that never came to pass. Sometime around 1990 Kinjo Sensei broke away from the AOKA to eventually to form his own Karate and Kobu-Do Association. He made changes to the Kata branding the name with his moniker Kobu 孝武 such as Kobu Nunchaku Ichi or Kobu no Ieiku. The Ko 孝 character in Kobu is also pronounced Takashi, Kinjo’s given name. He is the founder and president of the Okinawa Bu-Do Kokusai Ren Mei 沖縄武道国際連盟 (Okinawa Martial Way International Association) and the Okinawa Kobu-Do Ko Bu Kai 沖縄古武道孝武会 (Okinawa The Way Of Ancient Weapons Takashi’s Martial Organization). He has finally culminated this into Okinawa Ko Bu Ryu Karate-Do Kobu-Do Kobu Kai joining his brand of Karate-Do and Kobu-Do into one Ryuha which he is the Founder and President of.