Rishigen Chetty aka Kody, started his martial arts training at 5 years of age (1981) with Acrobatics, Yoga, and Japanese Jujitsu. His then instructor introduced him to various other styles of Japanese Martial Arts such as Ninjitsu, Kenjitsu, Aikijitsu and Judo.

Not being able to find another teacher after his instructor passed away, he began to look at other martial arts styles and found an interest in Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. When he was 15 he stumbled upon Shaolin Kung Fu in a double page newspaper article and then sort out and enrolled at the Shun Wu Tang Kung Fu Centre, which was situated above Tong Lok restaurant in Smith Street, Durban.

This “complete” system of martial arts overwhelmed him and he soon began to realise where most of his Japanese techniques originated from. While still a junior at SWT, his thirst for martial knowledge lead him to enroll in various other styles of martial arts, including, Tae Kwon Do (first WTF then much later on, ITF), Jeet Kun Do, Japanese Bushido and Kickboxing, Kali and Escrima, Muay Thai, and Amok Knife Fighting.  

He eventually started to lose interest in these styles, finding them redundant, as all the techniques were found in the SWT syllabus. When his SWT instructor passed away in 1996, he, together with a few senior students, continued training privately as a closed group until he officially re-opened the Kwoon, under the guidance of the head of the system, Master Malcolm Hansen. Kody is now the senior instructor at the Durban Kwoon; the very same school that he started off as a junior in, in 1990.

He is a dedicated,  committed and passionate champion of the warrior code and searching for the connection and links all martial arts together.