Felton Messina started practicing

Karatedo (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While moder ...

in 1966, while studying in the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

, city of Mayagüez, supervised by his first teacher, the Puerto Rican

Edwin Hernández Edwin William Hernández Herrera (born 10 July 1986) is a former Mexican professional footballer who last played as left-back for Liga de Balompié Mexicano club Chapulineros de Oaxaca. He signed with the Chapulineros de Oaxaca of the Liga de ...

in a style called

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

n Kenpo Karatedo. In 1968 he was promoted to black belt 1st Degree and received the grade certificate from Edwin Hernández. In 1969, Felton Messina returned to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

having graduated as an electrical

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. When he arrived in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, the only

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

practiced there, were

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

. When a group of young people heard of his arrival, they asked him to teach them the style of striking martial art that he had learned in Puerto Rico. In 1969 the Kenpo Karatedo Association was formed by Felton Messina, and this new style spread throughout the whole Caribbean nation. While being president of the Dominican Judo Federation,, he was advised by the president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, to form what to this day is known as the Dominican Karate Federation (DOKAFE), which was recognized as well by the Dominican Olympic Committee. With the recognition of DOKAFE by the Dominican Olympic Committee Felton Messina quits from his position as President of the Dominican Judo Federation and becomes the first president of the Dominican Karate Federation. In 1975, Felton Messina stops practicing Okinawan Kenpo and begins practicing the ''Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu'' style of Karatedo under the teachings of Hiroyuki Hamada, native from the province of

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Dominican Republic

Felton Messina, aside from being known as one of the pioneers of Karatedo in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, is also known as the "father" of

in the

. He earned this mention because he was the first person who took

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

to the Dominican Republic and spread it throughout the whole nation, having the Kenpo Karatedo Association, in which he directed, more than 6,500 students throughout the whole nation. He is also responsible of introducing

to the military forces of the

, training them in self-defense and competitive

. Felton Messina was also coach of the Dominican Karate Team training them, in various occasions, to go to the Panamerican and World

karatedo (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While moder ...

tournaments, where his students won in several occasions. He was the first Dominican to write a book about Karatedo (specifically about the style Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu), published in 1979. At the moment he has already ended his second Karatedo book titled ''"The Physics of Karatedo"''.

Career

He started practicing Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu in 1975 when Hiroyuki Hamada was invited, by Felton Messina, to teach the style that he had created. Hamada spent one month in the

teaching Felton and his advanced students from the Kenpo Karatedo Association. Before returning to

, Hamada promoted Felton Messina to 3rd degree black belt, after giving him an extensive exam. Felton Messina traveled four times to Japan to practice at Hamada's dojo, where he was promoted successively to higher ranks until he reached the highest rank in ''Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu'' which is ''So-Shihan'', that translated to English means ''"Master of Masters"''. This rank was given to him in 1999 in Japan, in the presence of 10 of his more advanced students from different countries in the Americas that traveled with him. The rank of So-Shihan given to Felton gives him power to expand the style ''Nihon Koden Shindo Ryu'' throughout the whole world, except

. Felton Messina has spread the style in the following countries:

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and the

. He is the only Dominican that has been able to expand

internationally, founding many karate schools in the countries mentioned above.

Rank

Messina at the moment possesses the Rank of ''So-Shihan'' (10th degree black belt) for all the world except

where he holds the rank of 7th degree black belt. The

World Karate Federation The World Karate Federation (WKF) is an international governing body of sport karate with 198 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than a hundred million members. The ...

(WKF) recognizes his rank of 7th degree black belt. He also possesses the rank of 1st degree black belt in the style of

Iaido , abbreviated , is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.Christensen, Karen and Allen Guttmann et.al (2001) ''International Encyclopedia of Women and Sport ...

, ''Muso Shinden Ryu''. This rank was given to him, in Japan, by Iwagoro Setoguchi in 1977.

References

Red Marcial, portal de artes marciales en español

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messina, Felton Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dominican Republic male karateka