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 In
July of 2005 two men with over 30 years combined martial
arts experience sat down to discuss what would become
The American Institute of Kenpo & The International
Martial Arts Council
With their two schools, their reputations, and their
combined futures on the line, with a vision of how
things “could be”, they gave birth to AIK & IMAC. Two of
the very best friends, each with unshakable faith in the
abilities of the other, began what would become their
martial arts passion and personal legacy.
Although Mr. Pilch and Mr. Knight knew what they wanted
to create, they did not always have every solution
plotted out. This became apparent as students (once
senior to them in rank and grade) came to train under
AIK’s new lineage. Rank became an issue for these men,
who did not like the politics of rank in the first
place.
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The solution has become the AIK Founder Belts - In the
future to be called The AIK Presidency Belts. These belts
have one red bar per side - to represent the physical system
as it is taught within AIK. One black bar per side - to
represent the service freely given to the organization and
commitment to the fulfillment of the roles and
responsibilities of the presidency.
This is a simple solution which keeps Mr. Pilch and Mr.
Knight’s personal rank advancement just that - a personal
achievement. Yet, their placement within the system’s
hierarchy is clearly understood and illustrated.
Within AIK, rank up to 5th Black is system based (charted
curriculum is required), 6th Black and above is given due to
continuous training and (more importantly) the service given
back to the art and system. |
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 Mr. Pilch and Mr. Knight DO NOT claim 10th Black Belt
Belts, nor do they expect to within their lifetimes. Their
belts represent their commitment to the organization(s) they
have founded, their roles and responsibilities within them,
and their commitment to serve the staff and senior students
that have honored them with their loyalty.
The Founder Belts / Presidency Belts are not ranks of
concealment - Let it be known:
Mr. Pilch is an AIK & IMAC 4th Black Belt - Promoted in 2007
(not eligible for promotion until 2011)
Mr. Knight is an AIK & IMAC 5th Black Belt - Promoted in
2007
(not eligible for promotion until 2012)
To learn more about the men who are the heads of The
American Institute of Kenpo & The International Martial Arts
Council, you may read their personal bios found below:
 Mr. Shawn Knight is the President of the American Institute
of Kenpo; He is also the Director of Operations for the
International Martial Arts Council. He is ranked a 5th
Degree Black Belt in Ed Parker’s American Kenpo, a 6th
Degree Black Belt by the Combat Martial Art Practitioners
Association. Mr. Knight is a Professor of American Kenpo and
Kickboxing at Pima College and was inducted into the USA
Martial Arts Hall of Fame in February of 2006. Mr. Knight
and his wife, Rebecca, own and operate the AIK Headquarters
School in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Knight travels across the
country teaching and serving the American Institute of Kenpo
as well as the International Martial Arts Council. Mr.
Knight’s greatest rewards in the art are those felt while in
the service of his fellow Black Belts. There is no doubt
that Mr. Knight will be found in the service of his students
and friends “Until the Last Day”.
Shawn David Knight was born on September 28, 1973 in Boulder
Colorado to his father David and mother Pamela; he has two
sisters – Karen and Becky, both of who were older and from
his parents’ previous marriages. While Mr. Knight was still
very young, his parents drifted apart and eventually went
their separate ways. Shortly afterward, his father David
suffered what would be the first in a series of heart
attacks that would eventually claim his life. Having been so
young, very few memories remain from that period in his
life. The one moment that has stuck with him to adulthood
was being told by his sisters that his father was near
death. Being naïve and young, Shawn chose to find out for
himself if this was so. Face to face, and with a child’s
quiet directness, he simply asked: “Daddy, are you going to
die?” His father replied with tears in his eyes, “No son,
I’m going to be just fine”. That was the last memory he
would have of his father; he was five years old.
Shortly thereafter, Shawn Knight’s life would begin a rapid,
downward spiral. His mother became involved in a string of
abusive and unhealthy relationships that would throw her
life, as well as the lives of her children, into a long
cycle of turmoil and uncertainty for years. A brutal cycle
of violence, drugs and instability would permeate the
remainder of Mr. Knight’s early childhood. For good or ill,
with that instability came frequent and sudden changes of
address. One such change would bring Shawn to Tucson,
Arizona. Fortunately, with that move came the first in a
series of positive, stabilizing influences that entered his
life around middle school. The uncertainty and instability
in his life was mitigated, in large part, to the teaching of
his grandfather and mentor, Earl Brown, who Shawn called
Papa.
During his sophomore year of high school, Mr. Knight
experienced yet another traumatic event that would shape his
young life. While visiting his girlfriend in the parking lot
of the rival high school she attended, he sustained an
injury during an attack that nearly caused him to lose his
left eye. This incident shook Shawn to his foundation. After
a childhood of being controlled, intimidated and abused he
found those feelings of helplessness had returned to him.
The fractured orbit and various other injuries took time to
heal. When they did, Mr. Knight’s best friend made a
decision to enroll them in trial classes at the American
Kenpo Karate Academy’s 22nd street school in Tucson. From
the moment he set foot on the mat, Kenpo had Mr. Knight in
its grip; he knew that he would not only become a Black Belt
but had found something that he would spend the rest of his
life doing if he could. It became the discipline and
stability he so desperately craved – and was missing from
his childhood. Almost immediately Shawn’s life changed, in
every way, for the better. His focus improved as well as his
ability to quiet the demons from his past.
 It was immediately evident that he was fascinated with the
art and trained like it. But anyone who has spent any time
in a dojo of any kind can attest to the fact that there are
scores of beginner students who come into the school the
same way, only to eventually have the passion fade with the
newness of it all, and eventually move on. What separated
Mr. Knight from all of those more transient students was the
completeness with which he let it permeate his life. From
the near daily attendance, to the sparring and conditioning
classes at the school, to the “shrine” to Kenpo that he had
built in his apartment, Mr. Knight had found a home in the
school, and the school benefited every bit as much as he
did. He brought a passion and enthusiasm to his role as a
student, which he would soon bring to his role as a teacher.
Mr. Knight began teaching within a year of his enrollment,
then assisting in the management of the school shortly
after. After spending the next two years training and
attending a community college in Tucson, Mr. Knight was
approached by Master William Packer, the now late head of
the American Kenpo Karate Academy, with an opportunity: A
school in Pueblo, CO was without a manager, and the young,
freshly minted Black Belt was being tapped by Master Packer
to fill the role. The opportunity was jumped on by Shawn who
within a couple of weeks landed in Pueblo ready to “make his
bones” and show his worth to the organization, he was just
20 years old.
Being so young presented problems in “his” new school, but
those obstacles were overcome on the mat and seldom
reoccurred. Shawn owned and managed the Pueblo School for
the next five years (1994-1999). This is a time he looks
back on with fondness and mentions regularly many of those
he had the privilege to teach in those days: Santiago Barela,
Jacob Rhodes, John Rawlings, Chris Jensen, Rob Graff,
VallieRae & Norma Mead, Marc Diamond, Ben Johnson, the late
Keith Simons, Matt Miller, Eric Segall, Stan Moore, Jeff
Lohse, Paul Livengood, and many others.
Following a series of personal and professional
difficulties, he sold his school in Pueblo and moved back to
Tucson returning to teach in the school where his training
began. Shortly after returning to Tucson, he took a job
working for the department of corrections and during this 12
month period he trained a bit less than he would have liked,
teaching only part time. Mr. Knight recalls his decision to
make his stay at the Arizona Department of Corrections a
short one: “Partly due to my training and partly due to my
belief that it would be the “bad boy” thing to do, I
volunteered to work with maximum security inmates. During
this time I had several opportunities to test my Kenpo - in
real time. Unfortunately… a fellow officer was stabbed and
nearly killed; “I was able to survive this ordeal (and
others) without personal injury, although never in the
“Perfect Weapon” fashion… Shortly after these experiences I
decided to teach full time again.”
 Mr. Knight’s second marriage blessed him with the
opportunity to adopt a son, Louis. Louis was born on June
22, 1997 and he was adopted by Shawn on April 30, 2001. The
importance of Louis in Shawn’s life cannot be overstated.
Louis is called “little Mr. Knight” in the studio but he
prefers to call himself “the future owner”. It is moving to
see the immense love that Shawn has for Louis and the
relationship that they share together. Although Shawn and
Louis’ mother are no longer together, they maintain a
friendship and share time with Louis.
In September 2001, Mr. Knight opened the Broadway School in
Tucson, whose day to day operations are deftly overseen by
his wife, partner and senior student, Rebecca. It is Mrs.
Knight’s seemingly endless supply of energy and enthusiasm
that is the engine that drives the school forward, under Mr.
Knight’s steerage and guidance. It is in Rebecca, that Shawn
has found not only a partner in his life and business, but
an equal in passion and deep seeded love for the art.
Despite the post 9/11 economic downturn in late 2001 and
2002, Mr. Knight willed and squeezed a slow, steady growth
out of an unruly and seemingly resistant business. He looks
back of the challenges of that period: “A month before the
grand opening, a portion of my planned financing fell
through. I ended up sort of over extending myself
financially. I often say that I planned the school around
the “If you build it they will come” concept. Well, I built
it and, at first, they didn’t. There were months where it
was two or three new students coming through the doors. It
was certainly not as it was planned.”
There was the trademark passion for the art, but what had
developed in Mr. Knight to compliment it was a leadership
that drew students and former students to a brand new school
that had neither a visible location nor any particular
advertising budget to speak of.
This school would become the place where the American
Institute of Kenpo as well as the International Martial Arts
Council was founded. Mr. Knight had seen through personal
experience, what the norm was in regard to how martial arts
organizations ran. He decided that there was a better way to
run things that it was essential to provide continual and
sincere service to those who sought to be affiliated. It was
with this in mind that Shawn met with Andrew Pilch for
breakfast and AIK was born. In five years, AIK has
quadrupled its membership and IMAC is growing strong. Mr.
Knight continues to live a life of dedication to his
students and his art, creating an environment of growth and
learning with an eye on creating a roadmap for others to
find the value from Kenpo that he himself has:
“I have logged thousands of hours on the deck and countless
hours in the council of my students, Black Belts and friends
in the art. I teach because I feel that in the service of my
students, my Black Belts and my friends in the art I have a
unique opportunity to guide and strengthen those in need of
direction. To give them what Kenpo has given me is my
highest goal and my lifelong wish.”
Until the last day…
Shawn Knight
 Andrew Pilch is the Vice President and Co-Founder of the
American Institute of Kenpo. He heads up the AIK Kickboxing
Team and was trained by Mike Winkeljohn who has produced
many top MMA Fighters. Mr. Pilch serves as President of the
International Martial Arts Council and was inducted into the
USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame in February of 2007. In
addition, to all of his professional duties, Mr. Pilch and
his wife Daylene homeschool their three children. Mr. Pilch
is a tremendous asset to AIK, IMAC, and his students. His
passion to serve is legendary among all that know him and he
is a credit to his lineage.
Andrew Pilch was born 1977 in Charlottesville, Virginia. In
1980, at the age of three, his family moved to Albuquerque,
New Mexico. In those early years it became apparent, that
though he was a good child, he was unskilled at
communicating with other children. Perhaps this was due to
the difference in the culture and mannerisms on the east
coast in comparison to his new home. Whatever the reason it
was rare that he had more than one or two friends at any
given time as he grew up.
In elementary school Andrew’s parents became concerned about
his underdeveloped social skills so they signed him up for
soccer in an attempt to help him make friends. His father
even volunteered to coach the team. Unfortunately, for both
he and his father, Andrew had no natural talent. In fact, it
became readily apparent that he didn’t have coordination or
motivation to play soccer either. There is still an ongoing
debate between him and his father as to who was more
traumatized by this experience.
 Thinking that perhaps soccer just wasn’t his sport, Andrew’s
parents decided to sign him up for baseball. Somehow he
ended up on a team that became an all-star team.
Unfortunately, for him, this only served to highlight his
complete and utter lack of dexterity, strength, endurance,
focus, and control of his body in every way imaginable. When
it was his turn to bat it was common to hear his teammates
sigh because they knew he would strike out. After a season
of sitting in the outfield and dreading every game Andrew
was sure that baseball was not the sport for him.
During this time Andrew’s parents also noticed that he was
really struggling with his school work. He was falling
behind in every subject and his reading skills were
nonexistent. After many test he was diagnosed with dyslexia,
a learning disability. Due to this disability and the
resulting inability to understand what his classmates were
learning Andrew found it harder and harder to communicate
with the children around him. Even though he was good at
avoiding fights, he often times found him the target of his
classmates ridicule.
Tension in the household between his parents didn’t help
Andrew with his mounting problems. Shortly before his
transition to middle school his parents separated and
divorced. It was at this time that Andrew’s mother told him
that he had to choose another sport. Seeking a sport that
would benefit Andrew his mother talked to some of the other
parents in their neighborhood. It was at this time that a
parent from the soccer team that he had played on
recommended Karate. Unfortunately Andrew had tried an after
school Tae Kwon Do class the year before and didn’t last a
month. Playing another sport was the last thing that he
wanted to do but, with the choices presented, he chose Kenpo
Karate. His dislike of failing others was a major component
in that choice. He figured his lack of skill and ability
would only really affect him in a sport like Karate. In
1986, at the age of nine, Andrew Pilch inadvertently merged
his life’s journey with Kenpo. Andrew was enrolled in the
American Kenpo Karate Academy (AKKA) run by Mike Winkeljohn.
Over the next few years, like most youth, he had the
multiple instances when he wanted to stop training. His mom
always found a reason that he couldn’t. She would tell him
that he had to wait until he tested for his next belt or
that their contract wasn’t up for a few more months and he
had to keep training until then. At the time this would
frustrate him. Now days he jokes about how his mom just
liked to watch Scott Marlowe, one of Mr. Winkeljohn’s senior
instructors, torture and harass him in class. In hindsight
he wouldn’t change a thing. Andrew is extremely grateful for
the tactics his mother employed, devious as they may have
been.
During his middle school years Andrew underwent many
changes. He overcame many of the challenges he was facing
due to his dyslexia. Things he just couldn’t understand
suddenly were making sense. By the time he finished middle
school he was reading at a college level and excelling in
many of his classes. Looking back he credits his experience
in the Martial Arts to the turnaround in his academics.
In addition, to developing his scholastic skills, his
physical prowess underwent a complete change as well. The
weak and uncoordinated child was quickly fading into the
past. By the end of middle school, he was able to compete in
most sports at a decent level of proficiency. Though he
developed skills needed to be competitive in other sports,
Martial Arts was always his primary focus.
During this time in his life, Andrew spent much of his time
with a Rick Crouse and his parents. Much of his work ethic
was developed by observing how they interacted as a family
and how they ran their business. Rick was always a few belts
ahead of him and Andrew was always striving to equal the
skills that seemed to come to Rick so easily. When Rick
started attending Kickboxing classes shortly before they
began high School, it was only natural for Andrew to do so
as well. Kickboxing was not a natural skill for Andrew but
he learned from his experience in the Martial Arts that if
he applied himself, and kept working at it, he could develop
the skills he needed to excel.
Around this time Andrew also began teaching. He fondly
remembers one of the first times that Mr. Winkeljohn had him
run a class. Mr. Winkeljohn was in a rush and told him that
he needed him to start a class while he made a few calls in
the office. After giving Andrew brief instructions on how he
wanted the class to be bowed in Mr. Winkeljohn stepped into
his office and shut the door. Andrew jokes about hearing
five or six locks slam into place. He lined the class up and
told them that Mr. Winkeljohn had asked him to start the
class while he was making a call or two but not to worry
because he would be out in just a second. As warm ups
finished the door to the office was still closed so Andrew
assured the class that Mr. Winkeljohn would only be a moment
or two more and got them started kicking and punching pads.
Again when that was completed the door had not budged.
Starting to feel like he was on the receiving end of a big
joke, he did the only thing he could think of… he reassured
the class that Mr. Winkeljohn would definitely be out any
moment. The whole class went that way and finished with
Andrew bowing them out.
 During his last year or two of high school Andrew began
training in the ground fighting arts in addition to the
Kenpo and Kickboxing. Though they were all distinct in their
own ways, Andrew found that they all had similar undertones
that linked them through the application of physics,
concepts, and principles.
In June of 1995 Andrew Pilch earned his senior 1st degree
black belt training under Mike Winkeljohn. After taking half
a year of college Andrew came to the realization that he
wanted to spend his life sharing everything he had learned
in the Martial Arts. With the support of his instructor he
started learning how to run a school. In the summer 1997
Andrew married his high school sweetheart. In December of
1997, Andrew Pilch took the next major step towards his goal
of teaching professionally by earning his senior 2nd degree
black belt training under Mike Winkeljohn.
A year later Andrew was offered the chance to have his own
school. The catch was that the school was in Tucson, Arizona
and it was failing. If he took the offer he would have four
months to salvage the school and turn it around or it would
close doors. In return, the owner offered to give Andrew
half ownership in the school. Without a penny to their name
Andrew and his wife packed their bags and made the move.
It was late 1998, when Andrew and his wife arrived in
Tucson. The school was in far worse shape than he was led to
believe. Andrew applied the lessons he had learned from his
early days in Kenpo. Heeding the guidance and
recommendations of Mr. Winkeljohn, he dug in his heels and
brought the school around.
Unfortunately, the offer of 50% ownership that was made to
Andrew was done as a verbal agreement. Being young and
inexperienced in the business world, he did not get the
offer in writing. When the school started being profitable,
the owner was no longer willing to give up any of the
ownership.
In spite of the broken agreement Andrew continued to work
hard and grow the school. During the next several years
Andrew also expanded his realm of experience to full contact
competitions. During that time in his life Andrew competed
in fifteen full contact MMA and Kickboxing competitions. As
his family expanded, Andrew’s ability to train properly for
competitions was not adequate for him to continue competing
competitively so he has shifted his focus to training others
for competition.
In 2000, Andrew’s wife delivered their first baby boy. At
that time, it became more important to Andrew to be more
than just a school manager. Andrews’s wife went to school
and got a degree in medical coding in an attempt to save
enough money to buy the school. However, with a new child,
the funds that were needed were never quite available.
In June of 2000, Andrew Pilch took another step in his
personal development earning his senior 3rd degree black
belt training under Mike Winkeljohn. In 2002, with a second
child on the way, Mr. Winkeljohn provided the small miracle
that Andrew and his family needed. He bought out the school
owner and arranged for Andrew to make payments on the
school. Once all the payments were made in 2005 Mr.
Winkeljohn turned the school over to Andrew.
In early 2005, another AKKA school was moved less than two
miles away from Andrew’s school without proper notification
or organizational approval. After several discussions with
the president of AKKA it was mutually agreed that it would
be best for all parties involved if Andrew went his own way
as his instructor, Mr. Winkeljohn, had done about year and a
half prior.
Not sure what he wanted to teach or how, Andrew gave his
instructors and students the option to transfer to the AKKA
School that was now right down the street. Only two or three
decided to make that transfer. Everyone else put their
complete trust in Andrew.
Knowing that he would only have a few months at best to
effect a complete curriculum transformation, he contacted
Shawn Knight. Mr. Knight, a respected associate, was running
an AKKA school in Tucson as well. Andrew knew that he had a
large library and reference materials from many of the Kenpo
organizations in the Unites States and was interested to
hear his recommendations.
Shawn Knight wanted to meet over breakfast to share what he
knew about the world of Kenpo. During that meeting Shawn
stated that he was having personal problems with AKKA and
that he was interested in working with Andrew to reorganize.
Not really knowing much about whom Mr. Knight was, Andrew
was leery at first, but as time went on, he came to know Mr.
Knight and who he was. Andrew has never regretted the
decision to work with him. Shawn Knight and his family had
become more than a business partner, he became a trusted
friend.
The next month was spent trying to decide if they would join
another organization or build their own. Between them they
had almost four decades of experience in the Martial Arts to
draw on. Looking at all the available information and
applying their own experience they decided to build their
own organization. In late 2005, the American Institute of
Kenpo (AIK) was founded.
While researching the different branches of Kenpo they
decided their students would benefit most from learning Ed
Parker’s Kenpo. This presented the first of many challenges
they had to overcome because AKKA taught Tracy Kenpo. This
meant they would have to re-train their entire staff and
bring all the advance belts up to speed in a relatively
short period of time. To accomplish this daunting feat they
developed a rotational curriculum with Ed Parker’s Kenpo
system that AIK proudly still uses today. Andrew and Mr.
Knight used the similarities between the two systems to
bridge the gap and within sixteen months they had effected a
complete transition for the entire student body. It was
during this time of transition that the Pilch’s welcomed a
third child to their family.
In 2006 a school in El Paso, Texas saw the value in the
teaching methods that AIK used and became the first of many
schools to join Andrew Pilch and Shawn Knight.
In March of 2007, Andrew Pilch was recognized as a senior
4th degree black belt by many senior belts. Included among
them were his mentor and instructor for over two decades,
Mike Winkeljohn, and his new friend and respected colleague
Ed Parker Jr.
 Andrew Pilch has contributed untold man hours each week
developing many of the advanced training materials in
conjunction with Shawn Knight. Together they have developed
an entire line of DVD’s and manuals that are used by every
AIK student to supplement their training. It is Andrew’s
goal to provide the American Institute of Kenpo’s members
with a stable and effective system of teaching that will
serve and benefit them beyond his days. In addition to
serving AIK, Andrew and Mr. Knight coordinate many events
and negotiate business deals for their colleagues that are
members of the International Martial Arts Council. Andrew
Pilch has dedicated his life to his family that is AIK and
to his friends in IMAC. It is with humility that he has
committed his life to serving them until the last day.
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