About Us
Legacy Martial Arts of Cleveland is located in Cleveland, TN. In 2018, Frank and Kelly Hamilton purchased Caywood Karate Studio from Isshinryu Karate Master Tony Caywood and changed the name of the school to highlight the unique & rich legacy of its lineage.​
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Legacy Martial Arts is a school of long standing in Cleveland, TN, and enjoys a strong direct lineage to noted Okinawan Isshinryu Karate Founder Grand Master (GM) Tatsuo Shimabuku. This lineage passes through famous Tennessean Martial Arts pioneer GM Harold Long, as well as GM Tom Lewis (both First-Generation students of Grand Master Shimabuku in Okinawa), as well as through our own current senior instructor, Sensei Charlie Murray, who though a student of GM Lewis, studied himself under GM Shimabuku in the 1970s.
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GM J.C. Burris & GM Scott Shamblin, followed Sensei Long & began teaching Isshinryu Karate in Cleveland in 1979. Then Isshinryu Master Ruth Ann Shamblin, an accomplished teacher & competitor in the Southeastern U. S., joined to lead the program. In 2009 the Shamblin’s handed off what would become the Legacy Dojo to their student Master Tony Caywood who continued to provide quality and affordable instruction to Cleveland and Bradley County. Currently, the Senior Instructors of the Legacy Martial Arts of Cleveland Dojo are Charlie Murray (9th Dan), Kent Cumberton (7th Dan), Perry Singleton (7th Dan), and Darrel Morgan (7th Dan). They are supported by 11 additional Black Belts.


