BABA OSAWUNMI 

 

Baba Osawunmi, also know as Master Simmons is an priest of Obatala and Ifa.  He has been studying Ifa and Indigenous Yoruba under the tuteledge of Baba Faseye Sangobukunmi since entering the orisa faith. He has a 5th degree black belt in Kuntaw.  He has trained in several disciplines. He started training at the age of 11 in Kyokushin-kai under Sensei Nakamura in Brooklyn, NY, and continued with Fu Jow Pai (Black Tiger Claw) at the Kung Fu club at Brooklyn Technical High School. Afterwards, he then studied Ju Jitsu, Northern Praying Mantis, and Hung Gar under Sifu Khalid Hakeem (Lawrence Wilson), at the Bismillah School of Kung Fu in Brooklyn, NY. After entering the U.S.A.F. and stationed at Clark AB, Philippines he began his Kuntaw training under Kyud Roberto C. Lao.  Before leaving the Philippines at the end of his enlistment in the USAF Leon had won several tournament championships and was an assistant instructor in Kuntaw at Clark Air Base.

After returning back to Brooklyn, NY Kyud Leon has been teaching Kuntaw in after school programs and several not for profit organizations. 

 

Master Simmons is the current Chief Instructor at Kuntaw Martial Arts, LLC located at 753 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11226 and also the current elected president of Kuntaw Legacy International Martial Arts .  

 

1972 – Blue Belt in Kyokushin-kai

1978 – Captain of the Kung Fu Team at Brooklyn Technical H.S.

1981 – Black Sash – at the Bismillah School of Kung Fu - Assistant Instructor

1982 – Teaching self-defense at NYCHA (Atlantic Terminal) evening youth program

            and at the Martial Science Academy in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn .

1987 – Black Belt, 1st Degree in Kuntaw under Kyud Roberto Lao

1987 – Middle Weight Champion - 3rd Annual Asian Pacific Wide Open Martial Arts Tournament at Clark AB, Philippines

1988 – Black Belt, 2nd Degree in Kuntaw under Kyud Roberto Lao

1995 – Teaching Kuntaw at Allah School Medina in Brownsville, Brooklyn

2005 – Black Belt, 3rd Degree in Kuntaw under GM Carlito A. Lanada, Sr.

2006 – Black Belt, 4th Degree in Kuntaw under GM Carlito A. Lanada, Sr.

2009 – Chief Instructor at the Kuntaw Martial Arts School in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

2010 - Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Honors 2010 "Excellence in Teaching Martial Arts" award.

2010 – Black Belt, 5th Degree in Kuntaw under GGM Carlito A. Lanada, Sr.

2012 – Martial Arts Instructor in the “College for Kids Program” during the spring semester at the Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn.

2013 – Appointed USA East Coast Director of the International Kuntaw Federation

2014 – Martial Arts Instructor in the “After School Program” at the Brooklyn Charter School.

2016 – Elected President of the Kuntaw Legacy International Martial Arts

2016 – Inducted into the AMAA Who’s Who in the Martial Arts 2016-2017 autobiography book.