“Billy, it’s time you learned the manly art of self defense.”

Eleven year old Bill Randle was spending the summer of 1954 with his grandparents in Oakland, California, when a close family friend took young Bill to the "Juey-jitsu" class that was held at Law’s American Judo and Jujitsu School. The dojo, located just eight doors down the street from his grandparent’s home, quickly became a second home to young Bill, and every morning he would look out his grandmother’s front door to see if the dojo had opened for the day. Professor Law’s youth class, with its Coordination Trick List and Commando Days, captivated Bill and the multi-hour, multi-day per week summer classes of 1954 turned into a life-long pursuit.

In 1958, after four years of dedicated intense summer classes, 16 year old Bill Randle received permission from his sensei Professor Law to start teaching classes in his parents’ Santa Monica garage. He quickly found that the garage was not going to be large enough and he looked for other options. He discovered that the Santa Monica YMCA had a wrestling mat that he was able to use. He and some friends all joined the YMCA, and he started teaching his friends as they worked out on the mat. As Bill coached his friends through rolls and falls, the Programs Director for the YMCA approached Bill and asked if he’d like to start a program for kids. That first program, in the summer of 1959, was the beginning of Professor Randle’s long relationship with the YMCA.

Demand for Bill’s classes grew to the point where in 1962 he expanded his program to the Pacific Palisades YMCA and the West LA YMCA. In 1965, he left his schools in the care of his senior students Mike Chubb and Jim Marcinkus when Bill moved to Austin, Texas to study in the Holy Cross Brotherhood. While attending St. Edwards University there, he started another program and taught jujitsu from 1965 until his return to Los Angeles in 1972, when he was offered a position as Program Director at the newly formed Westside YMCA. This offer came with a condition—that he start a judo program at Westside. Bill accepted the offer and the jujitsu program, now over 50 years old, remains a cornerstone of YMCA programming.

Professor Randle was recognized to the rank of Judan in 2004, and he and his lineage are responsible for over 250 Danzan-Ryu black belts, dozens of schools, thirty Professors, and two complete and separate organizations (Shoshinryu Yudanshakai and the Southern California Jujitsu Association.) Professor Randle’s lineage now extends into fourth and fifth generation blackbelts.

Character development is the primary focus of not only Professor Randle’s teaching, but also of his conduct of his personal and professional life. Professor Randle is a former Director of both the Westside and Santa Monica YMCAs, and served for many years with the Santa Monica Rotary Club. Throughout his decades of involvement with jujitsu, Professor Randle has epitomized the concepts of Ohana and Kokua in his daily life. Some of his favorite sayings, oft repeated at the close of class, are “we turn ability into responsibility” and “service above self.” In that regard, Professor Randle has truly mastered the art of Danzan Ryu Jujitsu.