Sensei Sandi Ando
Martial arts were not high profile at the time when Sensei Sandi Ando was born in Cody, Wyoming, just 52 miles from the Eastern Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Growing up in what many categorize as a “frontier” state, her early interests included Girl Scouting activities (especially out-of-doors activities), music, drama, and the sciences. Upon graduation from high school, she attended Northwest Community College for a year, where her extracurricular activities included membership in the Judo Club, before transferring to the University of Montana in Missoula, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Sensei Sandi then spent a number of years living and working on a family farm and starting her family.
In 1986, after watching her two sons (aged 4 and 7) in their first Martial Arts class, she decided to begin her own training with Sensei Robert Shepard, who at that time was teaching a style called Alo Kenpo Karate under Sensei Ronald Muko Alo. Sensei Shepard’s class eventually broke away from the Alo Kenpo organization to become the Cody School of Kenpo. In 1988 they joined Professor Chow’s Chinese Kara-ho Kempo Karate. That style was headed up by Grandmaster Samuel Alama Ah Wo Kuoha, who had taken over the reins of the Kara-ho system at the behest of Professor Chow after the Professor’s death in 1987. During the next several years Sensei Shepard and the students in his class, including Sensei Sandi forged strong and lasting bonds with Grandmaster Kuoha.
Sensei Sandi earned her Sho-dan (1st degree black belt) in 1992, shortly before she moved to Laramie, Wyoming, to attend law school. During her time in Laramie she taught Kara-ho in her own classes as well as traveling to Windsor, Colorado for a period of time to meet with Shihan Chris Mendoza’s students after he moved away. Sensei Sandi earned her Ni-dan (2nd degree black belt) in 1997.
In 1999, Sensei Sandi moved to Colorado Springs, CO, for three years and then briefly back to Laramie. She currently lives and teaches Martial Arts classes in Spokane, Washington, where Sensei Shepard and Sensei Stasy Hanson also live and teach.
