The Isshinryu Hall Of Fame

Ruth Ann Shamblin began training in 1979 under the direction of Master J.C. Burris.  As a kyu rank, her accomplishments included a two-time championship in 1982 and 1983, of the P.K.A (Professional Karate   Association) Tournament Circuit. As a Black Belt competitor, Ruth Ann quickly gained the reputation as a tough and intelligent opponent.  From 1985 through 1990, she was rated by Karate Illustrated magazine as one of the top ten women fighters in the “Region 8” (Southeast region) of the country.  She also won the Tennessee Karate Circuit overall women’s grand champion for four years straight. Ruth Ann has the    distinction of being the first woman to receive the Isshinryu Hall of Fame Female Karate Ka of the Year Award.

In 1987, she joined the Okinawan Karate Do Union and became a    student of Master Allen Wheeler.  In 1990, as a member of the United States Sports Jujitsu team, she competed in the World Championships in Winston - Salem, NC. Participating against competitors from sixteen different countries.  In 1992, Ruth Ann was inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Female Fighter of the Year. That same year, she traveled to     Okinawa, Japan to visit Master Angi Uezu, and to see Isshinryu Karate practiced in its     homeland. As part of a group from around the world, Sensei Shamblin performed in the demonstration of Isshinryu Karate for the audience at the ceremonies for the re-opening of Shuri Castle.  In 1999, she competed on the A.A.U. Karate circuit, winning in both state and regional events coming home with bronze medals in both kumite and kobudo.

In July of 2012, she was awarded the rank of 7th Dan by the O.K.U.  Today she serves as Vice-President of the Traditional Okinawan Karate Association (formerly O.K.U.), and is also a member of the I.I.K.A.

Professionally, Ruth Ann was the co-owner of Shamblin’s School of Karate from 1990 – 2009.  A registered nurse, Ruth Ann works as Restorative Manager at the Spring City Care and       Rehab Facility in Spring City, TN. . She and her husband have one son, Chris. As superb a martial artist as she is, Ruth Ann Shamblin continues to be an even more outstanding mother, wife and friend.