Ken Richardson was born in Baltimore City Maryland in the Chinese year of the dragon. As an inner city child growing up surrounded by violence, Ken began to develop practical self-defense skills from an early age. Witnessing acts of violence on a daily basis as a young child, Ken developed a compassion for protection of others. To this end Ken began the study of martial arts. As a very young child he imitated and replicated whatever techniques he could learn and diligently began practice of Chinese martial arts at a local school. It wasn't long before Ken realized that the first three letters of his name when spoken in Japanese meant sword and Kendo or way of the sword became a passion that consumed him.
To pursue a better life and avoid the pitfalls of the streets, Ken enlisted in the US Army and served with the Special Operations 1st Armored Division from 1981 to 1987. Even though he had moved on to a better path in life, his brother Brian was not as fortunate and was shot to death, murdered on the very streets Ken grew up on. His brother's death created in Ken a flame that could not be extinguished: he took an oath to himself to never require the need of any weapon to protect himself or those he loved. From this oath came Ken's personal philosophy and guiding principle for all his future martial training.
NO WEAPON NEEDED
Following an honorable discharge from the Army, Ken moved to Boston, Ma where his training continued in various martial styles. Ken soon developed strong ties with an Asian martial arts lineage. During his travels and training in China, Ken met and trained with many different modern day masters and was accepted into a close knit group of practitioners headed by 6th generation Bagua master Zhao Li and Wang Jiang Rong head of the Tianjin Wushu Organization. Confident that his own life had reached a point of safety Ken Founded the No Weapon Needed Organization.