Bruce D. Clayton, Ph.D.

Bruce D. Clayton, Ph.D., a black belt in the sixth degree, is a scientist, writer, and teacher. He is the author of over a dozen books on survival and self-defense, including the revolutionary Shotokan's Secret from Black Belt Books.

As a boy, Bruce Clayton was profoundly influenced by the story of Kitty Genovese, murdered in New York in 1962. This young girl was stabbed repeatedly in full view of dozens of people, but no one tried to help her. She lay on the sidewalk for an hour before anyone called the police. Nobody wanted to become involved. Clayton made a decision to be the kind of person who would get involved, and this eventually led to a career in the martial arts.

Clayton spent two years studying with Briggs Hunt, the famous Olympic wrestling coach, while an undergraduate at UCLA. He took Hunt's down-and-dirty self-defense class a total of six times, breaking his arm only once. Clayton received personal instruction from Hunt while ghost-writing a self-defense text for the course. During this period Clayton was also introduced to Kodokan Judo, breaking his nose only once.

After college, Clayton spent a year studying Traditional Shotokan Karate with Sensei Ken Osborne in Los Angeles, and conceived a life-long attachment to this style. These studies were interrupted by graduate school in Missoula, Montana, where Clayton spent three years with the Big Sky Tae Kwan Do organization (Sensei Larry Faust), breaking his hand only once. During this period, Clayton won first place trophies in both kata and kumite in the 7^th Annual Big Sky Championships.

Kyoshi Clayton demonstrating vital point technique at the 2002 Sierra Camp.

After receiving his Ph.D. in ecology, Clayton left Tae Kwan Do and eventually returned to traditional karate. He is currently a Rokudan (sixth-degree black belt) in Shotokan Karate under Vincent Cruz (9th degree), and has been awarded the title of Kyoshi, denoting special achievement as an instructor. There have been no further broken bones as of this writing.

To broaden his insight into karate, Clayton has recently earned the black belt in San Ten Jujutsu under 7th-degree Master Justin Butler. San Ten Jujutsu specializes in the jujutsu techniques that compliment the Shotokan karate katas.

Clayton has also continued to develop his self-defense course. The course bypasses traditional self-defense instruction and teaches students how to use twelve families of weapons.

Call 209-742-5020 Ask for Kyoshi Clayton.