Professor William R. Beach

Professor William R. Beach began his formal study of the martial arts under the tutelage of his older brother, Professor Bill Beach, at his school located in Jacksonville, Florida. He moved to Tyler, Texas in 1962 and formed the Tyler, Texas Y.M.C.A. Judo Team. He and his students received recognition at a tournament in Dallas when one of his students, who had been blind since birth, won second place in the Brown Belt Division. Later he moved to Oklahoma where he continued to actively promote the teachings of Professor Okazaki. There he established another Y.M.C.A. Judo Team which he entered in tournaments throughout Oklahoma and Arkansas. In 1966 he relocated to Amarillo, Texas and soon began forming classes. In 1974 Professor W.R. Beach founded the JuJitsu Institute of America (JIA). Third generation in his lineage, he hoped to keep the original teaching alive. The handful of Black Belt students that Professor W.R. Beach produced were heavily influenced by his example and teaching style and determination to keep the system pure and uncontaminated. Although each teacher of the Okazaki methods has added a slightly different flavor or emphasis to the techniques, none of the methods had been diffused or weakened in their effectiveness. Just before he died in 1998, Prof. W.R. Beach merged the JIA with his brothers' organization, the Hawaiian Jujitsu System (HJS), but of the remaining Black Belts that he produced, only two remained active.

FYI: According to Prof. Jones, W.R. Beach arrived in Amarillo in 1964. The passage that reads, "...he hoped to keep the original teaching alive. The handful of Black Belt students that Professor W.R. Beach produced were heavily influenced by his example and teaching style and determination to keep the system pure and uncontaminated. Although each teacher of the Okazaki methods has added a slightly different flavor or emphasis to the techniques, none of the methods had been diffused or weakened in their effectiveness," may be controversial. I tried to soften it by adding that, "Regardless of how the system may differ from the original it remains a brutally effective fighting style today." Some things have changed since this was posted, of course. I was one of the last students of Professor Byron Walker who passed away in 2002. I understand that Professor Johnny Hartsell has been inactive for a couple of decades. Professor Gary Jones assumed leadership of the JuJitsu Institute of America, to honor Professor W.R. Beach, and as an umbrella organization for branch dojos (like mine) throughout Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. I hope this is useful. Thank you for your generous response.

Prof. Bill Beach and his brother Prof. William R. Beach at the Hawaiian Jiu-Jitsu System, Inc. convention in Houston, TX on Nov. 2. 1997.

Gary Jones (right) with his Jujutsu instructor, William R. Beach at the Hawaiian Jiu-Jitsu System, Inc. convention in Houston, TX on Nov. 2, 1997