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This section of the website will unfortunately require telling in three parts.
Although ideally, Kenpo Karate, specifically Shaolin Kenpo, is an extremely family oriented system, a portion of this section will document a split between schools.
This part of the story begins when the original Aberdeen Kenpo Karate on "H" Street in Aberdeen closed its doors in 1983 and concludes with the closure of the reboot of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate in 2001.
Between 1984-1986, two things were taking place at the same time.
Clay Micheau had opened a school on Heron Street. This school was heavily focused on the point fighting aspect of Martial Arts, which was very popular at the time. Clay also taught the Shaolin Kenpo dances, and on occasion, Ray Warwick, Wayne Toy, or Mike Skinner Sr. would stop in to ensure the movements were being performed correctly. Sadly, this school only lasted 2 years due to employment taking Clay away from the area.
Also during this time, Mike Skinner Sr. was assisting Dick Landberg at Grays Harbor College teaching a class in Shaolin Kenpo for college credit. Most of the instruction fell to Mike Skinner Sr. as his training was significantly more current. This arrangement also lasted approximately 2 years.
Clay Micheau sends Keith Bowers airborne at his school on Heron Street. Both of these gentlemen were nationally ranked in the mid nineteen-eighties.
Clay Micheau earned his Black Belt from Maria Warwick in 1982, while Keith Bowers earned his Blue-Green Belt. Both would earn a Black Belt from Steve Curran's International Freestyle Karate system. Clay Micheau currently holds a 7th Degree in International Freestyle Karate.
Photo courtesy of Clay Micheau
Between 1986-1994, there was only one person teaching Shaolin Kenpo in Washington State: Mike Skinner Sr. He partnered with Doug Hinsley, who was a TaeKwon Do Black Belt to share Kenpo on a small scale.
Training first at Harbor Health Club on State Street and then moving into the former site of Dan's General Jeans on Market Street, this arrangement took place where Doug would teach TaeKwon Do three days per week and Mike would teach Shaolin Kenpo one day per week.
Mike made the request of Doug to teach more than one day per week. Doug denied him this opportunity. It was time to move on to other possibilities.
In early 1990, this opportunity began to take shape. A gentleman by the name of John Kraft contacted Mike Skinner Sr. through John Kraemer of Morningstar Karate, where John's children had been taking Martial Arts classes. John had trained for approximately six months with Maria Warwick in 1978, earning the rank of Purple Belt. John began taking private lessons from Mike Skinner Sr.
This arrangement continued until John reached the rank of 2nd Brown Belt when he began asking Mike Skinner Sr. to open and operate a school of his own. John's only in-class training at this point was the six months he had spent with Maria Warwick in 1978.
Mike Skinner Sr., having immense respect for his instructor Maria Warwick, drove to Puyallup to request her blessing to open a school. Not only did Maria give him permission to open the school, but she also offered to allow him to utilize the name of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate as well as the use of the crest that had been in use since the late 1960s.
On September 2, 1992, Mike Skinner Sr. opened Aberdeen Kenpo Karate at 303 West Market Street. The school shared floor space with Morningstar Karate, operated by John Kraemer. Mike Skinner Sr. taught Shaolin Kenpo on Monday-Wednesday-Friday and John Kraemer taught his classes on Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. In this fashion, each school was only responsible for half the overhead.
Class photo from Aberdeen Kenpo Karate two weeks after the school opened.
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner Sr.
Mirroring his father, Mike Skinner Jr. was the first individual promoted to Black Belt at this version of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate.
Mike Jr. had begun his training as a child under Maria Warwick and studied for approximately four years under her tutelage. His journey began in 1975. At the time of his promotion, Mike Skinner Jr. had well over a year assisting with instruction, both as a colored belt in the Job Corps and as a Brown Belt at Aberdeen Kenpo Karate.
Maria Warwick was brought from Puyallup, Washington from over an hour away to present Mike Jr. with his Black Belt. Although she had no input on the operation of the school and had not operated a school for nearly ten years, the respect of her student Mike Skinner Sr. dictated that he offer her the opportunity to present the belt as a continuation of the legacy she had built at the original location of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate.
Class at Aberdeen Kenpo Karate the night Mike Skinner Jr. received his Black Belt
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner Sr.
This is where the story begins to become a little bit sticky. John Kraft was unhappy that Mike Skinner Jr. was the first person promoted at the school, despite the fact that Mike Jr. had several years of training and teaching beyond what was possessed by John. John Kraft considered this oversight as the first crack in the relationship between the Skinner and Kraft families.
While it causes me significant distress to speak negatively about a fellow Martial Artist, and you would have to dig deeply to find another individual I have spoken a negative word regarding, it is my duty to share the truth as I saw it. While it may come across as disparaging, the intent is to express how the situation made myself and my family feel.
In my upbringing I was taught to value truth. Regarding Martial Arts, that truth should be absolute, and not fabricated or created to benefit one person over another. Honor and integrity should be the first two values possessed by any Martial Artist. It is my perception that John Kraft did not absorb these lessons while training via private lessons with Mike Skinner Sr.
Beginning in 1988, Mike Skinner Sr., John Kraemer, and Doug Hinsley began promoting a tournament in Aberdeen, Washington that drew competitors from across the state. This tournament was unique in that it provided Katana blade to the Grand Champions of the Black Belt divisions. These tournaments took place for twelve consecutive years. Beginning in year three, the tournament was promoted solely by Mike Skinner Sr. and John Kraemer.
Doug Hunter of Ho Rang Yi TaeKwon Do receives his Grand Champion Katana from Mike Shintaku at one of the Annual Grays Harbor Karate Tournaments. This was one month before the Aberdeen Kenpo Karate re-opened.
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner Sr.
It was at one of these annual tournaments that John Kraft happened to be competing and felt the bracketing was unfair to him. According to John, he had won all of his matches and should be fighting for a Grand Champion trophy. The brackets said otherwise and John had an issue with this. In retrospect, his discontent was warranted, but this was not something done to individually or maliciously effect John Kraft in a negative way, nor was it an intentional slight. It was, however, something John considered strike two and placed a further strain on the relationship between the Skinner and Kraft families.
John Kraft and Sue Messenger did an exceptional job in keeping the kids class interesting at Aberdeen Kenpo Karate. Here we see the class at its most robust.
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner Sr.
Mike Skinner Jr. at this time was working evening shift at his employment and was unable to attend class on a regular basis. Because of this, Mike Skinner Sr. utilized the expertise of Sue Messenger whom he had trained with and taught in the late 1970's and John Kraft to operate the children's class at Aberdeen Kenpo Karate. By all accounts they did a masterful job of keeping the kids involved, learning, and moving forward. At its maximum, there were approximately 20 kids in the class. Sue and John kept meticulous records of what requirements each child needed to learn for their next advancement.
Grays Harbor County had been economically depressed since the early 1980s due to federal protections for the spotted owl that decimated the lumber industry.
Jobs that paid a living wage with benefits were much more difficult to come by. It seemed many were consistently seeking that better payday and the years of working and retiring from the same place were in the rear-view mirror.
It was during one of these searches that Mike Skinner Jr. found himself without work, but with the need to earn money in some way. Aberdeen Kenpo Karate was a family-owned business and Mike Skinner Sr. wanted to help his son be able to afford necessities that he would otherwise be unable to while still instilling in him the value of hard work.
Mike Skinner Sr. informed Sue Messenger and John Kraft that Mike Skinner Jr. would be assuming control of the kids' class, effective immediately, despite the outstanding job they had done. John Kraft took this harder than most and considered this the third strike against the Skinner family and a personal affront to him.
Three important pieces to this puzzle to consider are coming up.
1. Maria Warwick had stopped instructing Shaolin Kenpo in Grays Harbor in 1983 due to a medical condition that affected her balance, her vision, and her memory. She was brought in as a courtesy to both Mike Skinner Jr. and John Kraft to present them with their Black Belts. If more proof is needed regarding memory issues, she signed both certificates as a Second-Degree Black Belt when per Great Grandmaster Rob Castro and the archives of the ISKA, she was promoted to Third-Degree in 1983.
2. Ray Warwick, still living in Grays Harbor County, had assumed the role of unofficial overseer to Shaolin Kenpo in the area. Moreso because the attempts he made to reach out to the Castro family went unanswered. It appears that he did grant himself the rank of 5th Degree. He did this to provide stability and not as a show of ego or disrespect to the Castro family. The rank was never something used by Ray to exude any influence or as any show of power.
3. Mike Skinner Sr. was wearing a 3rd Degree, and later a 4th Degree granted to him by Ray Warwick. Ray had always been his senior and he had no cause to question the rank of a senior. He had no idea his ranking was not sanctioned by the International Shaolin Kenpo Association.
Matt Skinner, Maria Warwick and Mike Skinner Sr. on the night of John Kraft's promotion to Black Belt.
At this time, Maria had no complaint with the three stripes on the belt of Mike Skinner Sr.
It was only later on that this became an issue.
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner Sr.
John Kraft had allegedly been taking private lessons in Puyallup from Maria Warwick without the knowledge of his primary instructor Mike Skinner Sr. During these sessions, it can be surmised that John began inquiring about how to obtain higher rank in Shaolin Kenpo. Rather than asking his primary instructor how he progressed, he pointed out to Maria that Mike Skinner Sr. was wearing three stripes on his belt and wanted to know how he came about obtaining them.
Despite the fact that Maria had taken several photos with Mike Skinner Sr. since the advent of his wearing three stripes, suddenly she took offense to this. Remember if you will that she had retired from teaching a decade before. Mike quite frankly was blindsided by the vitriol that came his way. He had no cause to question the rank of Ray Warwick and considered his promotions 100% valid and sanctioned by the ISKA. He had, after all, been teaching as a Black Belt at that point for nearly 20 years.
John utilized this situation to encourage Maria Warwick to contact Ralph Castro directly. He opened a school six blocks away from Aberdeen Kenpo Karate. He didn't start his school by marketing for students...he convinced students of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate's colored belt ranks that his version would be better and their rankings would come faster.
Pacific Shaolin Kenpo in 1995. Students with a star on their right shoulder were previously students of Aberdeen Kenpo Karate.
Photo courtesy of Sue Messenger, stars added by Mike Skinner Jr.
During the operation of Pacific Shaolin Kenpo, Sue Messenger was the primary instructor for the class. Her main reason for leaving Aberdeen Kenpo Karate was her close relationship with Maria Warwick. Such was also the case for Adam Lin and Ben Galeana. In fact, Ben Galeana was the only individual of those who departed who had the honor to inform Mike Skinner Sr. of his departure and why he was leaving.
In 1995, Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro traveled to Aberdeen, Washington in the attempt to sort out the discontent between the two schools. John Kraft had asked Mike Skinner Sr. to take on some of this cost. Mike told John Kraft that he had already taken over $400 a month of income that he had worked for, and that it was John's sole responsibility to bring the Castro family to Washington.
Maria Warwick was the only person known to the Castro family in this entire story. Despite the fact that Mike Skinner Sr. was one of the main reasons she was able to create the legacy she did, she remained upset with what she was convinced was a self-promotion. Although it was not true in the version she was provided, it was the story the International Shaolin Kenpo Association chose to believe. It should be noted here that the ISKA was not interested in hearing other sides of the story.
Ralph Castro conducted a seminar at the Nordic Inn April of 1995. Students from Aberdeen Kenpo Karate and Pacific Shaolin Kenpo were in attendance.
Photo taken from PSK website because Mike Skinner Jr. is front and center of the photo
Following the seminar, a dinner was held in which Ray Warwick and Mike Skinner Sr. were seated with Ralph Castro. Instead of asking for another interpretation of what he had been already told, Ralph Castro's question to Ray Warwick was "What do you have to say for yourself?" Ray's answer of "I don't know what to say, so I won't say anything at all" was in retrospect not the answer Ralph Castro was seeking. In fairness, he was judged guilty before having an opportunity to defend his actions. Assuming rank in the absence of communication from an Association did not come without risks.
Ralph Castro offered sanctioned promotions to several of the Shaolin Kenpo Black Belts in Grays Harbor, many whom he had met during his previous visit in 1979. Although he offered Mike Skinner Sr. a third degree, it came with a requirement that he forgive John Kraft who had lied to him about where and with whom he was receiving his additional training, stole students from right under his nose, and who would be listed ahead of him on a recognition chart, despite the fact he had at minimum five times more years on the mat perfecting his craft than someone who had been his student. Not five years....FIVE TIMES!
Mike Skinner Sr. asked Ralph Castro if he could sleep on this offer and Ralph of course said yes. After receiving copies of the ISKA bylaws, the Black Belt code of ethics, and the ISKA requirement list, Mike took this information home to discuss it with his spouse. The conclusion he arrived at was to decline the recognized promotion based on the fact that three individuals he had been a Black Belt instructor to were to be recognized ahead of him.
None of the three had spent much more than five years in Shaolin Kenpo at that time. In 1995, Mike Skinner Sr. was in his 23rd year. John Kraft was being recognized as a Third Degree less than two years after receiving his initial Black Belt Rank, and less than five years after beginning his training.
In addition to this, the ISKA bylaws require a two-belt separation between student and instructor. Promoting John Kraft to Third Degree Black Belt violated this particular bylaw.
Daily World clipping proving the promotions were offered, even though they were declined by Ray Warwick and Mike Skinner Sr.
Photo courtesy the Daily World
Pacific Shaolin Kenpo's brick-and-mortar school survived less than three years after that day. Sue Messenger departed in 1997 after becoming disenfranchised with the direction of the school. 1998 would bring about another change.
Maria Warwick came back into the picture. Some say it was due to her believing the school was hers and others say it was due to absenteeism from John Kraft. In either case, Maria utilized her considerable sway with Ralph Castro who instructed John Kraft to sign over his school. John did so without incident and Maria changed the name of the school to Aberdeen Shaolin Kenpo Karate. Due to declining enrollment, all classes that were in operation at the school (kid's classes, adult classes and ESL) were combined into one. This school was operated with the assistance of Ben Galeana but unfortunately closed its doors for good in the year 2000.
The Kraft family had moved Maria Warwick from Puyallup back to Aberdeen and had included her in the special events at Pacific Shaolin Kenpo. John felt betrayed and later referred to Maria and Ben as "MUTINEERS."
During a conversation on Facebook Messenger with Mike Skinner Jr. on New Year's Eve 2025, Sam Kraft had this to say...
This is the level of respect John Kraft's son had for the head of Shaolin Kenpo as well as someone his father has incorrectly claimed as his instructor since 1993.
Photo taken from Mike Skinner Jr's. Facebook Messenger conversation with Sam Kraft which was on 12-31-24. Full transcript unredacted is available upon request.
Regardless of who ultimately promoted the individuals below, they will be posted together. These are the individuals who earned their Black Belts between the years of 1984-2000. Each name on this list with the exceptions of Brandon and Jason Bodey were taught at least halfway through the system by Mike Skinner Sr. As of 2026, John Kraft has not progressed any students which he has trained from White Belt to Black Belt.
As the millennium drew to a close, it could have been the end of Shaolin Kenpo in Washington as Aberdeen Kenpo Karate also closed its doors in 2001. It was not. Martial Artists in Washington are just built different.
Please allow me at this point to remind you that although this narrative may seem unduly harsh on some members of the Kraft family, this is the story as it affected the Skinner family.
Mark Skinner, Matt Skinner, Mike Skinner Sr. and Mike Skinner Jr. in 1995 for a photo shoot placed in the Hoquiam High School Yearbook.
Photo courtesy Mike Skinner Sr.
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