When you step onto the mat at Purple Dragon ATL, you’re not joining a franchise or a fitness trend. You’re stepping into a lineage that began more than fifty years ago, half a world away — and continues, unbroken, here in Conyers.
From “Hell Yard” to a global system
In 1969, a sixteen-year-old martial artist named Don Jacob opened a small training hall in the Belmont neighborhood of Port of Spain, Trinidad. The locals called it “Hell Yard” — a name earned by the intensity of the training that happened there. By 1970, that humble hall had a formal name: Purple Dragon International.
At the time, it was almost unheard of for a non-Oriental practitioner to establish a new martial arts system, especially in the Caribbean. Grandmaster Professor Jacob persisted anyway, guided by a single vision: a complete system that married the discipline of traditional martial arts with practical self-defense and genuine mental fortitude. That vision became Don Jitsu Ryu.
The making of a Grandmaster
Born in San Fernando, Trinidad in 1954, Don Jacob began training at nine years old under Sensei Clyde Thomas. After earning his black belt in judo, he traveled to New York to train in jiu-jitsu with the legendary Grandmaster Moses Powell. Over the years that followed, he studied traditional karate under Master Tusui Yoshitaka and small-circle jujitsu under Professor Wally Jay. Each of these influences left its mark on the technical foundation of the system he would create.
Today, Grandmaster Professor Don Jacob holds the rank of 9th Degree Black Belt and the title of Hanshi, and is regarded as one of the martial arts world’s most knowledgeable historians. Over his career he has taught more than 40,000 students across more than seventy countries.
What is Don Jitsu Ryu?
Don Jitsu Ryu is a complete martial art — not a single style, but a unified system. Rooted in judo, jiu-jitsu, and traditional karate, it integrates striking, grappling, classical weaponry, and mental discipline into one path of personal development. Every movement has a purpose; technique is valued over performance. The Dojo itself is treated as a House of Knowledge, where training extends beyond the physical to cultivate focus, emotional control, and personal accountability.
A legacy recognized around the world
Grandmaster Jacob’s contributions have been honored on the world’s biggest stages. He has been inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the World Head of Family Sokeship Council Hall of Fame, and in 2010 he received the Hummingbird Gold Medal — one of Trinidad & Tobago’s highest national honors, presented by the President of the Republic, making him the first and only martial artist in the country to receive it. From Madison Square Garden to international television, his demonstrations introduced Don Jitsu Ryu to the world — but the heart of the art has always been the daily work on the mat.
“You’re not learning a curriculum assembled last year — you’re inheriting a living tradition.”
The lineage reaches Conyers
Purple Dragon ATL is the authorized representative of the Don Jitsu Ryu system in the greater Atlanta area. Our Dojo operates under the direct lineage of Grandmaster Professor Don Jacob, led by Shihan Hayden — a 6th Degree Black Belt with more than 25 years in the art and a direct student of the Grandmaster himself. The standards you’ll find in Conyers are the same ones established in Trinidad more than five decades ago.
That’s what it means to train here. You’re not learning a curriculum assembled last year — you’re inheriting a living tradition, and adding your own chapter to it.
