The Hoteikan dojo was founded in 1974 by Grand Master Emilio Claudio Jr. and Grandmaster Robert Hasman. Grand Master Emilio Claudio Jr. contributed Sosuishitsu Ryu Jujitsu and Judo, he is currently the instructor at West Point Military Academy and the late Sensei Robert Hasman contributed the art of Shotokan Karate and was formerly the instructor at the New York Department of Corrections. Together both men created the Hoteikan System which was founded to establish perfection of the Mind, Body and Spirit and dedicated to the combined arts. Today there are 6 Hoteikan system locations including: Arizona, Long Island, West Point NY, South Dakota, Georgia and Brooklyn NY. This site is the Hoteikan System Brooklyn location.
We are not a franchise; all of our locations are branches established by students who became instructors and relocated. Every location can trace its roots back to our founding Sensei.
The Beginning of Hoteikan
The Sosuishi-Ryu Jujutsu Dojo in New Jersey owned by Sensei Nelsen Fleming was named 'Hoteikan' (Sensei Fleming was Emilio Claudio’s Jujutsu Sensei in the early '60s). After the Dojo closed, Sensei Claudio kept the name 'Hoteikan', which means 'House of Hotei'. Hotei is known as the happy china man, and is often depicted as the Buddha with a sack and a staff. Sensei Claudio moved from Dojo to Dojo, looking for and training with the best Judo and Jujitsu martial artists he could find. He honed his skills at the Paja Dojo, with the Judo Twins, and with Sensei Pereira at the Tremont School of Judo and Jujitsu.
Sensei Claudio was making quite a name for himself competing in Judo tournaments in the Metropolitan area. In 1967, Sensei Claudio met Sensei Robert Hasman. Sensei Hasman and Sensei Claudio became close friends and would remain so until Sensei Hasman’s untimely death in 1994.
Sensei Hasman was a fierce competitor in Shotokan karate and was part of a famous circle of New York martial artists. He participated in the workshops led by the legendary Grandmaster Peter Urban in the '60s.
In 1974, Sensei Claudio began teaching and training in Judo at the American Judo and Karate Academy owned by Sensei Tom Purdy. At the same time, Sensei Hasman began teaching Shotokan Karate at the same Dojo. These two men, the very best of friends, considered themselves family; this sense of family, together with their love of the martial arts, was the fabric that would later define the values of the Hoteikan system.
In 1974, three new students began training in Shotokan Karate with Sensei Hasman: Henry Felix, Casimiro Zayas and Santiago Armstrong. A special bond developed between students and teacher; then Sensei Claudio began to take an interest in the three. While they learned the basics of Shotokan Karate,Sensei Claudio also began to develop their Judo and Jujitsu skills.
Very soon, Sensei Claudio and Sensei Hasman realized that they could teach a more rounded form of martial arts if they combined Judo, Jujitsu and Karate. As the two great Senseis contemplated this new form of training, Sensei Claudio remembered the name Hoteikan, a name that exemplified their values and motivations. Thus, in 1974 and in The Bronx, was the Hoteikan System born.