Sensei Michael Den Tandt began his training in Budo in 1980, while attending high school in Chatham, Ont. For two years he pursued a sport version of Korean Tae Kwon Do. However, the emphasis on high kicks did not satisfy him. He continued searching for a martial art that was elemental. While in university he explored Japanese Jiu Jutsu. But it wasn't until 1992, in Kingston, Ont., that Sensei Den Tandt discovered the art that would become the bedrock of his martial path. This was Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do.

Initially Sensei Den Tandt studied with Sensei Chris Hurst, who was then a student of Sensei Chris Doyle, as part of the Don Warrener Japanese Goju-Ryu organization. In 1994 Sensei Hurst was among the so-called 'Ronin' who broke away from the Warrener organization. Sensei Hurst eventually affiliated with Sensei Ken Tallack, who at that time was introducing Meibukan Goju-Ryu - that is the Karate practiced by the Yagi family in Naha, Okinawa - to Canada.

In 1995 Sensei Den Tandt moved to Toronto and began studying with Kyoshi Bill Hind, head of the Canada Goju Karate Association. Hind Sensei is one of the most senior Goju-Ryu practitioners in Canada, having trained longer than any other living Canadian. For ten years Sensei Den Tandt trained in the Honbu Dojo on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. In December of 2000 he received his Shodan degree. In late 2004 Sensei Den Tandt moved to the Ottawa area, where he soon established a dojo in Wakefield, Que. In 2006 Sensei Den Tandt moved to his family home of Owen Sound, leaving the Wakefield dojo under the superb guidance of his good friend Sensei Mathieu Ravignat, of the Zen Bei Okinawa Goju Ryu Meibukan. In July of 2007 Sensei Den Tandt was awarded his Nidan degree.

With the help of his good friend Sensei John Snook, Sensei Den Tandt formed a traditional Karate dojo at the YMCA in Owen Sound. Initially, in January of 2007, they had five students. That number has since grown to nearly 40.

Throughout the period of his early training Sensei Den Tandt was curious about and explored other aspects of Budo, including Aikido, Judo, Muay Thai, Jiu Jutsu and Tai Chi. In 2008 he began an intensive exploration of the history and roots of Karate-Jutsu or Te, the precursor art to Karate-Do. Increasingly Sensei Den Tandt was led to question the bunkai or applications that he was practising, as well as some other modern aspects of his Karate training. It no longer made 'sense' to him that Karate was mainly a punch-kick art. He felt something vital was missing.

That process of searching led Sensei Den Tandt to the Kearny, New Jersey dojo of Kyoshi Luis Morales, 8th Dan, the senior North American instructor for the International Kenshi-Kai organization, under the tutelage of Hokama Tetsuhiro, Hanshi 10th Dan.

Here Sensei Den Tandt found for the first time that any question about every move in classical Goju-Ryu kata has a logical answer, related to practical, life-protection techniques. At this time Sensei Den Tandt began to explore for the first time the older, complete expression of Karate-Jutsu or Te, which had been diluted or lost in translation in the post WWII years. In late 2008 Sensei Den Tandt and Sensei Snook became affiliated with Morales Sensei's organization. This would enable them to pursue this study with full intensity and commitment. Shortly thereafter the dojo was re-christened Fudoshin Classical Karate Dojo.

Sensei Den Tandt feels privileged to continue to explore oldstyle karate-jutsu under the tutelage of Kyoshi Morales, one of the most knowledgeable practitioners of Naha-Te in North America. Fudoshin Classical Karate Dojo is currently a Fuku Shibu (converting club) Dojo, affiliated with the IKO.