The Southwest Karate Black Belt Association (SWKBBA), founded 1964 in Dallas, Texas was the forerunner of the American Karate Black Belt Association (AKBBA), formed in 1972, and the American Karate Black Belt Association-Chin Sook Hage Kwan formed in 1981.

     In May of 1968, Texas Karate Pioneer, Allen R. Steen, "Father of Texas Karate", founder of the SWKBBA & AKBBA, and the Texas Karate Institute empire, founded in 1962, along with, Richard Jenkins, TKI Business Director & Instructor traveled from Dallas, Texas to Lubbock in a Winnebago motor home for the purpose of opening that town's original Texas Karate Institute.

     Finding a suitable location, just north of Texas Tech on College Avenue (now,  University Ave.), and after outfitting it as a karate school, they opened the doors to enrollment. For a free gi or a gi-bag each new student was asked to bring in their friends and to tell everyone about the new karate school. They surely did. In 5-days 80 students had been enrolled; enough for three good sized classes. Most who enrolled were college students, and although, in the near future many female students would later enthusiastically enroll, remarkably, there were none in these original classes.

     One of Dallas Texas Karate Institute’s 1st degree Brown Belts, Rick Vaughn, who was enrolled to attend at Texas Tech University, became Lubbock-TKI’s first Head Instructor. Mr. Vaughn was to be the only TKI Brown Belt to hold this distinction, although, only for a short time. He successfully tested three months later for 1st degree Black Belt at the Dallas-Oak Cliff TKI School run by 5-time World Lightweight Champ, Skipper Mullins. Mr. Vaughn remained the Head Instructor, and ran a very successful school until graduating from Texas Tech in 1972.

     Other Lubbock-TKI head instructors in correct order: David Archer (Vaughn's student),  Bob Potter, Mike Shaeffer, Charles Bouton,  Andy White, David Ellis, David Powell, and Tom Downs.

     The first, and only other martial arts school in Lubbock, Texas, in 1968, was Moon's Institute of Taekwondo, owned by 3-time United States Karate Champ, Dai Won "David" Moon. Co-incidentally, the U.S. Karate Championships was Allen Steen's nationally rated annual tournament in Dallas, which, also, boasted Bill"SuperFoot"Wallace, Carlos”Chuck”Norris and Joe Lewis as champions.

     Mr. Moon's legendary talents led to closing his Taekwondo school and  moving to Mexico City (invited by the Mexican Government) to help develop a new area for their re-juvenated sport & physical activity programs. He, now, hosts one of the most respected and successful martial arts organization in that country. Mr. Moon is, still sponsored by the Mexican government.

     David Moon was the first SWKBBA & AKBBA Affiliate in West Texas. After his departure, many of his students undertook an enrollment at the Lubbock-Texas Karate Institute to further and complete their higher Taekwondo training requirements.

     Lubbock’s Texas Karate Institute was the first school sold from Allen Steen's Karate Empire. Ownership has changed hands several times since the Steen-Jenkins-Vaughn opening in 1968.  In 1975, Allen Steen sold the school to David Ellis. The following owner was Andy White (1977), and the present owner is Tom Downs (1985).

     After Tom Downs' Lubbock-TKI purchase, TKI Instructor, Charles Bouton with the original SWKBBA & AKBBA group divided ways from the Lubbock-TKI, and Downs joined with a re-activated AKBBA division in Dallas, which had been floundering. This division was re-activated in the early 1980s by a Dallas martial arts promoter, Mr. Walt Mason following his late 1979 purchase of Allen Steen's Richardson-Texas Karate Institute school.

     Following Tom Down’s Lubbock-Texas Karate Institute purchase, in 1985, and his Walt Mason AKBBA Affiliation; in 1986, three Charter Members of the original SWKBBA & AKBBA, Charles Bouton, Ronnie Cox, and Richard Jenkins , operating under the 1981 license granted by Allen Steen to Charles Bouton, added Chin Sook Hage Kwan (Friendly School) to AKBBA and formed the American Karate Black Belt Association-Chin Sook Hage Kwan, separating the new Walt Mason AKBBA influence from the original group of Allen SteenSWKBBA/AKBBA members.  The idea of "Friendly School" came from trying to Koreanize a term often bantered around the original SWKBBA/AKBBA, "Texas Kwan Do".  "Texas" being a proper name phonetically translates into Korean as "Texas".  This did not produce the desired result.  Then it was realized that the name "Texas" came from the American Indian word "Tejas"  which meant "Friendly" , thus the name "Friendly School". The year 1985 is, also, the year Charles Bouton opened his own school, Lubbock Karate.

     The original Allen Steen-Texas Karate Institute rough and tough “Texas style of Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo” is still taught by the AKBBA-Chin Sook Hage Kwan at Lubbock Karate. The current Owner & Head Instructor is John Liles. He has trained with the AKBBA (beginning with Andy White in 1979) and Charles Bouton and the AKBBA-CSHK from 1987 until the present. He bought Lubbock Karate from his instructor, Charles Bouton in 1988. Mr. Liles tested before the complete AKBBA~CSHK High Dan Board in Dallas, Texas on November 8th, 1997 and was promoted to 5th degree Black Belt  and certified as a Senior Instructor.

     Mr. Liles is one of the highest rated, respected & provenly genuine instructors in the Lubbock, West Texas, and New Mexico areas. Mr. Liles hosts one of the most successful martial arts schools in West Texas, extensively, teaching Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo and Dai Ni Gojuryu Karate.

     There is much more to be learned from Mr. Liles than any other martial arts instructor the Lubbock area can provide, including several weapons styles, jujitsu, aikijitsu, and batto jutsu.

     His instructor, Charles Bouton-9th Dan, who is the currently presiding President of the Kokusai Dai Ni Gojuryu Karate Kyokai and AKBBA-CSHK Executive Director, began his Dai Ni Gojuryu Karate training in 1955 at age 5 in Dallas, Texas under Tzukerii, Sensei from Okinawa , Japan.

     Although, in 1964, the 13-year old Bouton, infrequently, dropped in on Allen Steen's class at the Texas Instruments Gym in Richardson, Texas, his true Texas Rough & Tough Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo training would not begin until early 1968 under James Toney and Richard Jenkins in Dallas at the first of Allen Steen's Texas Karate Institutes, the small and non-airconditioned Hillcrest Ave. school Richard Jenkins ran, and which was located just across from the Southern Methodist University. Sadly, it burned in the late 70's.

     The AKBBA-CSHK in Lubbock, John Liles, and his Lubbock Karate school share in a long and respected history and heritage through Lubbock's longest practicing and knowledgeable karate pioneers, Charles Bouton and Texas martial arts pioneer, Grandmaster Richard Jenkins.

     John Liles' Lubbock Karate school is the leader in development of outstanding martial arts practitioners and Black Belts in the Lubbock and West Texas area. Lubbock Karate, currently, hosts over 70 Black Belt , and more than 300 students, which includes several satellite schools in other towns and locations around Lubbock that are a part of the Lubbock Karate school's system. Mr. Liles and his students rate among the finest caliber of martial artists in the world.

     Mr. Liles represents the new generation of AKBBA-CSHK practitioners, and assures the older association's further growth and success in the Lubbock, West Texas, and New Mexico areas.

     A new chapter is being written as a genuine and permanent part of the saga recorded in the annals of the “History Of The AKBBA In Lubbock” as John Liles carries on with the same high spirit his martial arts ancestors, the Lubbock Karate Pioneers, had in 1968 -- over 31 years ago.