Union College Karate Club operates under the instruction of Sensei Tomoji Kidachi who holds a seventh degree black belt in Shukokai Karate as well as in Kodokan Judo. He is affiliated with the world Karate Union and the Kodokan Judo institute and adheres to the high standards of martial arts practice and safety promoted by both organizations.
Before moving to the United States, Sensei Kidachi studied martial arts in Japan for fourteen years, and won numerous titles in the highly competitive Japanese martial arts circuit. In 1966, he taught martial arts at Syracuse University and in 1968 moved to the Albany area to establish a similar program at SUNY. Out of this program grew the original Capital District Judo and Karate School which was located in Albany for more than two decades. In 1988, the school moved to larger quarters in the Rensselaer Community Center, with affiliated schools in Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Cohoes.