| I began with the martial arts in 1970, as a sophomore in high school. It was Taekwondo with a Korean teacher.
After 2 years I went on to study Kaju Kempo for a couple of years and then Karate with Larry Lunn of Cleveland, Ohio. It was his teaching that
had the most impact on me over time. He taught his students how to use Karate technique to fight, yet also that Karate
was more than just fighting, that it was about being a Gentleman Warrior as well. I was promoted to Shodan (1st Degree Black Belt)
in 1976. Now many years and much experience later I hold the rank of 7th Dan. |
| Learning martial arts in the United States from the 60's through the 80's was an interesting although incomplete experience.
Despite developing skills with our body to use in combat, there was much not taught, not known. |
| The cultural turmoil in the 20th century in Asia wrecked havoc on the traditional societal structures containing the martial arts
we were trying to learn. One of the things we did not know for many years was that not every Asian teacher was in fact a true master of his art.
I'm not saying we were deceived, just that we were culturally naive. Absorbing the intricacies of one culture into another is a long term process.
How long did it take China to absorb Indian Buddhism, for example ? ............Centuries. |
| In the last 10 years or so, many students and teachers of the arts have undertaken important research in these areas,
casting light on subjects that were misunderstood in the recent past. Translating available documents, interviewing the surviving members
of past generations and slowly piecing together the puzzle of why the arts we learned seemed to be different from the arts we expected to learn.
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| This resulted in a great deal of adaptation for most of us. For example, concepts of grappling were diminished by Karate's early practitioners
in the USA and Europe, in favor of striking (Atemi-waza). This was as we were taught. The meaning and nuance of Kata were oftimes confused and many movements
interpreted as a strike with the hand or foot only, when they were actually grappling components used to set up a strike. |
| Some techniques that were originally not included in Kata at all, such as high kicks and long range footwork were over emphasized for the sake of competition.
The concepts and mechanics of power generation were frequently overlooked in favor of fast long range techniques,again for the sake of tournament competition where power was not usually a factor.
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| A schism existed between fighting and Kata performance. The movements of Kata could not usually be employed successfully in fighting and the
favored techniques of fighters were not found in the Kata. Despite years of study, it seemed to me that there was a disconnect in my studies. |
