Early life

Howard grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He began training at age 17 with Steve Reynolds in Jiu-Jitsu Kai. Harold moved to Niagara Falls in 1983 and taught Karate and Jiu Jitsu at James Morden School and the YMCA. Harold opened his Action Karate and Jiu Jitsu Centre (as the Niagara Fighting Griffin Fitness and Martial Arts) in 1984 and has excelled both as a competitor and as a trainer/coach having various students among the top Sport Karate and Sport Jiu-Jitsu competitors in the world.

Howard has earned a 3rd degree in Jujutsu under ( Steve Reynolds), a 3rd degree in Gojo-ryu (Yogi Israel), and a 2nd degree in Chito-Ryu (Monty Guest). He is the founder of the Katsudo-te-Jitsu style and is a 6th Degree - 2 grades above his highest ranking students.

Jujutsu

In 1984, Harold was the first Canadian Heavyweight Sport Ju-Jutsu Champion and represented Canada in the first world ju-jutsu championships sanctioned by the World Council of Ju-Jutsu Organizations (WCJO).

At the 1984 World Championships, he was a member of the gold medal winning Canadian team (heavyweight) and also won the individual World Heavyweight Jiu-Jitsu Championship as the gold medal winner of the men's heavyweight fighting division.

Karate

Howard captured the Canadian Heavy Weight Karate Championship three times in 1982, 1983 and 1984 and was a member of the Canadian National Karate team in 1986 and 1987. During that time he was the top rated sport karate fighter in Canada.

After potentially career ending back surgery in 1988, Howard made his return to competition in 1992 (at 34) and won a silver medal at the NBL (National Blackbelt League) World Championships in Sport Karate. He was undefeated entering the finals but had to bow out of the final 2 matches due to injury.

Mixed martial arts

With a final record of 1-3 in NHB(No Holds Barred) what would later become known as mixed martial arts, Howard went 1-2 in the UFC.^[1]