Biography
Durbin was born in Bardstown, Kentucky. His father William Paul Durbin Sr. was a veteran of World War II and his mother Harvie Brown Haynes was bedridden for most of Durbin childhood due to health issues. Durbin has stated that he decided to dedicate his life to the ministry at the age of fourteen during a baptist revival. After several incidents he began his martial arts studies in Bardstown, Kentucky with instructor Richard Stone, originally learning Kodokan Judo, at the age of sixteen. When he left for college in 1971, he along with Bob Sester (a Shotokan Karate student), and Bos Bosmar (also with the Kodokan) started Campbellsville College Martial Arts Club at Campbellsville University. During his time with the college, Durbin has stated that he studied various other forms of martial arts (while being unable to cite any third party sources) including; Shotokan Karate, Isshin-ryu, Goju Ryu, Shorin-ryu, Aikikai Aikido, Ninjutsu, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and T'ai chi ch'uan.
According to Durbin, in 1974, while teaching self-defense in Michigan he coined the phrase "Ki Yang Ju Te", to reflect his personal teaching philosophy toward the martial arts. Durbin graduated in 1975 from Campbellsville College. In 1978, he (along with Richard Stone) joined with Rod Sacharnoski of Juko Kai and began to study with Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, a master of Shorin-ryu Karate and the World Middleweight Full Contact Karate Champion. After joining Juko Kai, Durbin has stated that he demonstrated his martial art skill to Rod Sacharnoski and was granted rank in Juko Kai and started teaching Juko Kai using his personal philosophy.
In 1979, Durbin moved to Frankfort and began to work as an instructor of martial arts at Kentucky State University and for the Kentucky State Police. He continued to work for Kentucky State University throughout the early 1980s. In 1980, Durbin was awarded his Shihan ranking from Juko Kai in Kempo. Also in 1980 he experienced what he describes as a Tenshin Sho, a "divine illumination" where his perspective on religion and his practice of martial arts changed. Instead of being a minister who practiced martial arts, he now considered himself a "martial arts minister". He was encouraged by Sacharnoski to pursue this further and began to develop a curriculum and codify his philosophies and teachings in preparations for opening his own school and founding his own system. He opened his dojo in Frankfort the next year in 1981 under the auspices of Juko Kai.
Durbin has Shihan rank in Kempo, Karate, jujutsu, Aikijujutsu, Kobujutsu and a Sibak rank in T'ai chi ch'uan through Juko Kai by Rod Sacharnoski, and a Shihan rank in Koga ha Kosho Shorei Ryu Ninjutsu under Nimr Hassan. He also has earned a 1st Dan rank in the Budo Taijutsu of the Bujinkan under John Willson, and a 1st Dan rank in Taekwondo. He also holds a 3rd Dan rank in Kodokan Judo.
In 2001, Durbin published Mastering Kempo, a general textbook of Kempo history, philosophy and technique. Also in 2001 he co-wrote Judo Techniques and Tactics with Jimmy Pedro. In 2004 he wrote Koga Ryu Ninjutsu, a book on the history and basic techniques of ninjutsu, and in 2007 he wrote Renzoku Ken: Combat Combinations of Kempo. Since 1989 he has also written several dozen articles for various martial arts magazines, including ten articles published in Black Belt Magazine.
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