Spring in the South was born in 1980 as an East Coast exchange practice, germinating from an idea conceived by Carl Jacobson (Delaware) and developed in collaboration with the organizational skills of Mike Erisman. The first event, held at the University of North Carolina, was led by Mr. Tsutomu Ohshima. In 1990 it moved to Card Gym at Duke University. The 30th Anniversary in 2009 marked the tenth visit by Mr. Ohshima. Over the years, many other SKA seniors also led the event, including the following:
- Daniel Chemla
- Don DePree
- Kitty Gallagher
- Mark Kohagura
- Tom Muzila
- Ken Osborne
- Jeffrey Ross
- Jim Sagawa
- Marion Taylor
- John Teramoto
- Ron Thom
- Norman Welch
- Manfred Chiu
- Ray Berry
- Errol Bennett
- Kei Teramoto
- Yasunori Ono
In addition, Chapel Hill served as a site for autumn kumite practices instituted by Daniel Chemla, which brought Don DePree, Ron Thom and Mark Zerhat (Paris) as guest instructors.