black belt magazine - november 2014 usa.pdf

2 BLACK BELT I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 BLACKBELTMAG.COMTo order, call toll-free: (800) 581-5222 or visit blackbeltmag.com/evolution

TheNEW BOOKdocumenting an icon’s journeyIn Bruce Lee: Th e Evolution of a Martial Artist, author Tommy Gong traces Bruce Lee’s path as he evolved from wing chun student to founder of jeet kune do and developed his philosophy of self-actualization. Th e story of Lee’s quest for the ultimate martial art is all here. Th is is a must-have book for fans of the iconic legend as well as for students of the martial arts.

Code: 529 Pages: 272 Retail: $29.95 ISBN: 978-0-89750-208-5

BLACKBELTMAG.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 I BLACK BELT 3

*BRUCE LEE® is a registered trademark of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. The Bruce Lee nam

e, image, likeness

and all related indicia are intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. All Rights Reserved.

4 BLACK BELT I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 BLACKBELTMAG.COM

Together in one collector’s edition! Black Belt Books has compiled the best-selling six-book Ninja series

by Stephen K. Hayes into one must-have volume. Th e inspirational and legendary master has updated

and added to the original material, bridging the gap between the needs of contemporary society and the

essence of the ancient once-secret ninja art.

Hayes, inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1985, achieved the rare rank of judan (10th-degree

black belt) and was formally ordained in 1991 as a teacher in the 1,200-year-old Japanese esoteric

meditation tradition. Here, in one volume, he shares the secrets of the warrior sage.

To order, call toll-free: (800) 581-5222 or visit blackbeltmag.com/ninja

Th e CompleteNinja Collection by Stephen K. Hayes


Code: 528Pages: 927

Retail: $69.95ISBN: 978-0-89750-206-1

contents10/11. 2014

DISCLAIMER: BLACK BELT COMMUNICATIONS, an Active Interest Media Publication, as publisher, does not endorse and makes no representation, warranty or guarantee concerning the safety or effectiveness of either the products and services advertised in this magazine or the martial arts or other techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The publisher expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to the manufacture, sale or use of such products and services and the application of the techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The purchase or use of some of the products, services or techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine may be illegal in some areas of the United States or other countries. Therefore, you should check federal, state, and local laws prior to your purchase or use of these products, services or techniques. The publisher makes no representation or warranty concerning the legality of the purchase or use of these products, services and techniques in the United States or elsewhere. Because of the nature of some of the products, services and techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine, you should consult a physician before using these products or services or applying these techniques.

Bruce Lee is a registered trademark of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. The Bruce Lee name, image, likeness and all related indicia are the intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved. brucelee.com

COVER STORY

36 MICHAEL JAI WHITEOnce you read the kyokushin karate stylist’s views on martial arts, movies and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you’ll know why he was selected as Black Belt’s 2014 Man of the Year.

FEATURES

42 KARATE-JUTSU VS. KARATE-DOWhat do shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi’s writings say about the two interpretations of karate? Read this comparison to learn more about the version you practice — and maybe the version you should be practicing.

48 BONG SOO HAN’S FINAL YEARSThis account, penned by a martial artist who spent 13 years training and teaching with the hapkido legend, reveals how the grandmaster labored to spread his art to the world until the very end.

54 INDOMITABLE SPIRITThese two martial arts champions suffered potentially career-ending injuries, then battled their way back to the top. Let their stories inspire you.

58 KILL OR BE KILLED?If you’re into reality-based training and your workouts are all focused on lethal force, you should familiarize yourself with the reality of violent crime — before you get in trouble with the law.

62 DOCE PARES ESKRIMA

formula is regarded as one of the best in the world? A Black Belt contributing editor went hands-on with Dionisio

66 SECRETS OF THE NINJA REVEALED!Prepare to be educated! With help from Sho Kosugi, this article — titled “10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Shadow Warriors” — will enable you to impress all your martial arts friends with your newfound knowledge.


22VERSUSThis short course on how to increase the chance that you’ll win in your next traditional tournament comes from an instructor with a track record as a trainer of champions.

24FIGHTBOOKPat Miletich discusses the role each piece of his martial arts upbringing — wrestling, boxing, karate, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu — played in his MMA career.

26DESTINATIONSIntrepid Black Belt correspondent Antonio Graceffo tries his hand at pro wrestling. It’s all part of the research he needs to do for a thesis on the history and development of wrestling around the world.

28KARATE WAYWhat lessons can be gleaned from a kendo match in which two experts trade strikes and one wins by a mere nine hundredths of a second? Dave Lowry explains.

30FAR EASTMeet Marrese Crump, a man who possesses the

capoeira, FMA, wrestling, muay Thai, taekwondo and silat — that some think are necessary to become the “next big thing in martial arts movies.”

32WAY OF THE WARRIORWhy is meditation such an integral part of many martial arts? Why has it been that way for centuries? Keith Vargo thinks he has the answers, and it’s related to weapons.

34FIT TO FIGHTThe deadlift is an old-time strength exercise that unfortunately gets overlooked by most martial artists. Find out why you should be doing it, then learn the variations that will build your body.

74BETTER BUSINESSIn “Basics Training,” Floyd Burk argues that if you want your dojo to be more successful, you should focus on your kihon. He makes a convincing case.

76COMPANY SPOTLIGHTAn organization known as the Independent Karate Schools of America has made it its mission to assist dojo owners like you. Get the scoop here.

12 EDITOR’S NOTE

14 MAILBOX

16 TIMES

71 ESSENTIAL GEAR

78 BLACK BELT PAGES

82 FROM THE ARCHIVES

VOL. 52 NO. 6. BLACK BELT (ISSN 0277-3066) is published bi-monthly by Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., an Active Interest Media company. Advertising and editorial of-

postage paid at San Francisco, CA and at

-

funds only). The publisher and editors will not be responsible for unsolicited material. Manuscripts and photographs must be ac-companied by a stamped, self-addressed

an Active Interest Media Publication. All -

mission is strictly prohibited.

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The gi is the extension of the fighter’s body and mind. It becomes part of your fight strategy and must perform with exacting precision. It must be durable, yet still be comfortable. It must stand up to the rigors of the most grueling performances time and again without wavering. After all, you demand as much from yourself. Shouldn’t your gi do the same? Determined to design the strongest and most durable Jiu Jitsu gis on the market, Hayabusa® innovated on past creations to engineer an all-new superior gi collection. Crafted with World Champion Jiu Jitsu athletes in mind, the new Hayabusa® Jiu Jitsu Gis deliver a premium level of strength, durability, comfort and performance that’s second to none. Get yours today!

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MICHAEL JAI WHITE ON VIDEOMartial artist and actor Michael Jai White has appeared in Spawn, Black Dynamite, Tyson, Universal Soldier: The Return (with Jean-Claude Van Damme), Exit Wounds (with Steven Seagal), The Dark Knight and Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing,You probably know that, but you might not know he also has a long history with Black Belt. Catch up on that history by watching two exclusive videos featuring the always-busy kyokushinblackbeltmag.com/michael-jai-white

FREE TANG SOODO DOWNLOAD

Black Belt’sfour tang soo do techniques and explains

Regardless of whether you practice tang soo do in your own martial studies, the principles demonstrated here can form the foundation for

blackbeltmag.com/tang-soo-do-guide

FREE VINTAGE NINJA ARTICLENinjutsu Training: A System for Fighting and

Living is reprinted from the February 1984 issue of Black Belt. It examines public perceptions

ninjutsu’s place in world

balance between inner strength and physical strength, and how the Japanese language

blackbeltmag.com/ninja-guide

CLASSIC SAMURAI TEXT NOW AN E-BOOKDuring the

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Major Konstantin Komarov

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VOLUME 52, NO. 6 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014

GROUP PUBLISHER Cheryl AngelheartEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Robert W. YoungGROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Alexander Norouzi

GROUP ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Donna DiamondDIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Raymond HorwitzSPECIAL PROJECTS ART DIRECTOR John BodineSPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Vicki BakerWEB EDITOR Jon SattlerCOPY CHIEF Jeannine Santiago COPY EDITOR Gretchen Haas A/R MANAGER Alice Negrete RESEARCH DIRECTOR Kristy KausADVERTISING ACCT MGRS Al Berman, B.J. Ghiglione, Julie Stone, Laura (Flores) ThornePRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick SternkopfART DIRECTORS Paul Duarte, Dana Collins, Andrius KrasuckasVIDEO/PHOTO EDITOR Richard AlexanderMARKETING MANAGER Laureen O’Brien

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Floyd Burk, Mark Cheng, Antonio Graceffo, Mark Hatmaker, Mark Jacobs, Dave Lowry, Kelly McCann, Keith Vargo, Dr. Robert Wang

CONTRIBUTORSJason Brick, Mike Carlson, Scot Conway, Jon Michael Davis, Jason William McNeil, Jim Perkins, Stephen Quadros, S.D. Seong, Ken Vaughn

BLACK BELT COMMUNICATIONS, LLCAn Active Interest Media Publication24900 Anza Dr. Unit E, Valencia, CA 91355Toll Free: (800) 423-2874 In CA (661) 257-4066

Newsstand DistributionFor information about selling Black Belt magazine, contact [email protected] issues can be purchased fromPalm Coast Data, (800) 266-4066

Efrem Zimbalist III CHAIRMAN & CEOAndrew W. Clurman PRESIDENT & COOBrian Sellstrom EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CFOPat Fox EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONSKim PaulsenVICE PRESIDENT GENERAL MANAGERJason BrownVICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITALNelson SaenzVICE PRESIDENT OF IT

MAN OF THE YEAR

Ibudo

dojo

Black Belt,


Return of Hwa Rang DoBeing an old-timer in the martial arts, I remember when hwa rang do ruled the roost. The comprehensive Korean system was in all the magazines, and students of other arts (like me) were obsessed with its huge catalog of techniques. As the calen-dar changed, however, other styles came into the spotlight and hwa rang do didn’t get as much publicity.

As the August/September 2014 issue shows, Joo Bang Lee and his son Tae-joon Lee have been working behind the scenes to keep hwa rang do current and to provide methods of competition that meet the needs of the public. After read-

ing the cover story, I believe it’s fair to say they’ve succeeded.

Tim McAlister - via the Internet

Must. Study. AikidoI salute Dr. Mark Cheng. His ode to ai-kido — and, of course, to sensei Haruo Matsuoka — in the June/July 2014 issue rocked. It made me feel as though I was actually in the master’s dojo, learning all the techniques and feeling all the aches and pains right alongside Cheng.

My mind has experienced a conse-quence that perhaps Cheng didn’t intend when he wrote the piece: I’ve become

art, which shall remain unnamed. I now

immerse myself in the style.Joey Williamson - via the Internet

No Expiration Date HereIt was wonderful to read the comments from the mature masters in “Expiration Date: Never!” in the August/September

large audience of traditional practitioners. However, because I’m probably older than everyone in the story, I thought I’d off this one tip, which has carried me to this point:

Just show up.

toughest part of the deal for most people. In fact, I believe it’s why more of the public

day, it’s still about just showing up. Feeling under the weather? Just show up. Stressed at work? Just show up. Worried about your next promotion test? Show up and take it — what’s the worst that can happen? The more you show up, the easier everything becomes, and before you know it, young students will be calling you master.

Cary Jones - via the Internet

Lewis and MatsuokaArticles AppreciatedAs a 50-year veteran of the martial arts, former student of taekwondo great Chung Koo Kim and current aikido practitioner, I must say it was refreshing and nostalgic to see an article about the late Joe Lewis (June/July 2014). Those really were the days — Lewis was what karate is all about. All Black Beltfrom remembering martial arts pioneers like Lewis, Kim, S. Henry Cho, Peter Urban, Louis Delgado, Chuck Norris and Mike Stone.

Regarding the aikido article with Haruo Matsuoka in the same issue: The Japa-nese art should be covered more often in the magazine so readers can learn about this beautiful and powerful style.

Life is a collection of memories, and Black Belt always brings back many for me. Thank you.

Robert Marchese - Manchester, CT


Paper to Tube

MARTIAL ARTS HERO JOHN RAIN COMING TO TELEVISION

Fans of the series of books writ-ten by Barry Eisler will be pleased to learn that a TV series is in the works. Keanu Reeves will portray the hero, a half-Japanese, half-American martial artist named John Rain. Reeves also will serve as ex-ecutive producer.

Eisler, a Kodokan-trained judo black belt who also trained in box-ing, karate and jujitsu,in the November 2010 issue of Black Belt.board as an executive producer for the series.

talized in Rain Fall, Hard Rain, Rain Storm, A Killing Rain, The Last As-sassin and Requiem for an Assassin.

CINEMA WATCH

NEW BRUCE LEE BIOPIC ON THE WAY!

Birth of the Dragon will present a new take on the life and times of Bruce Lee by merging real incidents from his

Birth of the Dragonwith Chinese kung fu master Wong Jack Man in San Fran-

town gangsters.(The Adjustment Bureau,

and based on a script by Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen Rivele

forces with QED International, the independent motion-picture

behind Elysium, District 9

Lee was not only a worldwide phenomenon, he helped create Phot

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Hall of Famer Update

DONNIE YEN’S “14 BLADES” NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD

Black Belt Hall of Fame member Donnie Yen — the martial talent behind Ip Man, Hero, Iron Monkey

14 Blades: Live by Your Own Laws, which

-

Black Belt muay Thai tour

print magazine and online at blackbeltmag.com.

Black Belt Hall of Famer and pankration Jim Arvanitis will conduct a street survival summit

Black Belt Master Ken, the man behind Enter the Dojo.

article in an upcoming issue. Facebook

318,000.

twitter.com/Black_Belt_Mag 10,000 followers),

22,000 subscribers)

Budoshoshinshu:Primer of Daidoji Yuzan,

e-book.Black Belt attended the

Martial Arts SuperShow

Bill Wallace, Michael Jai White,

NEWS BITES


Winning vs. Losing in Traditional TournamentsEvery year, the competition on the circuit gets tougher. The rising popularity of the martial arts, spurred by big-budget

traditional arts. Consequently, new categories of competition involving nontraditional forms are proliferating.

In these nontraditional forms, the moves are fast-paced and high-

-

kata,

--

-

together and start practicing the entire

Another approach entails practic-

-

-

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.

For expert advice, Black Belt

-kempo school

--

-

BE TOTALLY PREPARED.


From his humble beginnings, Pat Miletich rose to the top of the

and then as a trainer. (Among the champs he’s groomed are Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver and Tim Sylvia.) His path has been a long and circuitous one, but he al-ways pursued what was in his heart, some-times not even knowing what his destina-tion was. In recognition of his decades of

into the UFC Hall of Fame on July 6, 2014.

WHAT MADE YOU PURSUE A LIFE AS A FIGHTER? I had a rough upbringing.

I HAD AN OLDER BROTHER WHO’D SOMETIMES GIVE ME A THRASHING, AND THAT HELPED ME LEARN HOW TO DEFEND MYSELF. DID YOU HAVE ANY SIMILAR EXPERIENCES WITH YOUR SIBLINGS? My brother John was

BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF A BEATING NOW AND THEN? It’s part

-can

WHAT CAME FIRST FOR YOU, KARATE OR WRESTLING?

MANY BELIEVE THAT WRESTLING IS THE BEST BASE FOR MMA. WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

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-jiu-jitsu, wres-

-ing and submissions.

WHERE DO YOU SEE MMA GOING IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

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WHAT DIFFICULTIES DID YOU HAVE WITH TRANSITIONS WHEN MOVING TO BOXING AFTER YEARS OF WRESTLING?

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Pat Miletich: A ConversationWith the “Croatian Sensation”

by Stephen Quadros

It took me a while in the boxing gym,

my hands go and not have that urge to grab people.

WHAT PROBLEMS DID YOU FACE MOVING FROM BOXING TO KARATE? In the gym, we’d spar all out — punch to the face, kick to the head, whatever.

--

ing people in the face. That was the problem for me. It was like a game of tag, but it did teach me good distance

YOU ACHIEVED THE RANK OF THIRD DAN IN KARATE. WAS THAT BASED ON FORMS OR FIGHTING? learn our kata and then spar with a ton of black belts. And that was all-out

sweeps. Pretty much an all-out brawl

hard style. I liked it.

THAT MUST HAVE TOUGHENED YOU UP FOR WHAT WAS NEXT: KICKBOXING. YOU WENT PROFESSIONAL IN

CORD IN I started kick-boxing around the same time I started karate. I wanted the contact, the com-petition. I thought I’d go into kickbox-ing because at least it’s in your hands and you can knock somebody out to

judges. And also to make some money.

YOU RECEIVED YOUR BRAZILIAN

DER OSVALDO ALVES. WHEN DID YOU GET INTO THAT ART? When I

Gracie, I was very curious as to how these guys were doing this stuff. So I

-cago in 1993 and watched him roll and said, “OK, this stuff is for real.” I started training in it right away.

YOU MADE YOUR MMA DEBUT IN 1995. WHY DID YOU JUMP FROM KICKBOXING INTO MIXED MARTIAL ARTS? Just my wrestling background.

training at Matt Pena’s boxing gym for my kickboxing matches, also sparring with the boxers. I continued doing that

for MMA. A couple of times per week, because there were no weight divisions back then, I’d bring in Mark Hansen, who was one of the best heavyweights

guys. They would basically just trade off on me, and my job was to get take-

hit the ground, a new guy would pile on top of me. And we’d go for an hour straight. My job was to go for as many submissions as possible.

WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A FIGHTER AND COACH, YOU’RE UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION: WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, THE PERFECTION OF THE CRAFT OF THE MARTIAL ARTS OR WINNING? They obviously go hand in hand. If you don’t understand the craft and you’re not a master of the craft, you’re not going to be any good and you’re not going to stay at the top of the game. One doesn’t happen without the other. If you’re not well-rounded

of striking, wrestling and grappling, you’re not going to win anyway.


Pro Wrestling, Part 1: Terra Incognita for a Martial Artist

I wondered how I could sell the scene — until it started to unfold. Stockade really hit me, and the blow really knocked me down. He

was well over 6 feet tall and probably north of 300 pounds. When his forearm crashed into my shoulder blades and spine, my knees buckled. I landed face-down on the canvas, hard. There was nothing to sell.

Before people say pro wrestling is fake, they should consider the real meaning of the pejorative. There’s nothing fake about a huge grappler lifting you into the air and body-slamming you — or smashing a meaty forearm into your up-per back. When Stockade did that to me, I was saying to myself, “I can’t wait to get back in an MMA cage where I’ll be safe.”

THE REASON I’d subjected myself to such abuse stemmed from the fact that I was on break from my studies

nection, a pro-wrestling school on Long Island. The facility trains aspir-ing wrestlers but also puts on its own shows and sends the wrestlers to other people’s events. A lucky few make it all the way to the WWE.

On my irst night at the school, I sat in a classroom with a bunch of wres-tlers while a teacher named Mondo led us through a video review of the show they’d done the week before. The room was dingy, with a ratty couch and some cheap folding chairs similar to the ones wrestlers often hit each other with. It looked like that segment from the mov-ie The Wrestler in which they’re prep-ping for the ight at the VFW.

The classroom hosted all the weird characters you’d expect to ind in a wrestling school: a giant named Rex, a muscular pretty boy, a Samoan, an over-weight country dude, a varsity wrestler, a cute young girl named Pickle and a

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at Shanghai University of Sport, where I was writing a Ph.D. dissertation on wrestling. During the three years that would take, I planned to delve into Chinese wrestling, freestyle wrestling, catch wrestling, Greco-Roman wres-tling — as well as Mongolian wrestling, pankration, MMA and san da.

Somewhere along the way, however, my doctoral adviser said, “If you include pankration as an early step in the evolu-tion of Western wrestling and MMA as the latest form, you have to include pro-fessional wrestling as a modern step.”

In China, they don’t call it “profes-sional wrestling”; they call it “fake wrestling.” Each time Stockade un-leashed a forearm smash, a body slam or a kick from his giant booted foot, it sure didn’t feel fake.

ALL THE FUN with Stockade was tak-ing place at New York Wrestling Con-


guy who looked like a high-school geog-raphy teacher. They talked about heels, baby faces, the bump, running the ropes, selling it and bringing the heat.

Learning wrestling in China was hard enough because of the language bar-rier. Learning wrestling on Long Island wasn’t going to be any easier because it also had its own jargon.

MONDO FREQUENTLY USED the word “story.” “You have to set up the story — tell the story,” he’d say. I learned that in every match, there’s a good guy, called a “baby face,” and a bad guy, called a “heel.”

Later, Stockade explained the con-cept: “It’s like a movie. It’s about good and bad. And 80 percent of the time, the hero comes out on top.”

I was beginning to understand that pro-wrestling matches aren’t just about ighting and winning or losing. They’re

also about entertaining a crowd and

telling a story. The beauty of this form of live theater is that a particular pair of wrestlers can meet again and again over a period of months, years or even decades. They can team up to ight a common enemy — and then ight each other again.

“I like being the bad guy,” Stockade said. “It’s easier to get people to hate you. It’s fun making people pissed off. Being a good guy is also good. Kids come up and ask for autographs, but I like being a heel.”

AT THE END OF THE DAY, the char-acters and storylines in pro wrestling aren’t that different from MMA or box-ing. On television, in magazines and online, the ighters propagate person-alities — you either love them or hate them. It doesn’t matter whether you want a particular ighter to win or get wasted; you still buy a ticket.

In boxing, rivalries develop and run for multiple ights and rematches, some-times for years. Remember Muham-mad Ali vs. Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns? In MMA, now that it’s on television in the form of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s even easier for promoters to turn ighters into person-alities. A good example of a heel in MMA is Josh Koscheck. Joe Rogan once said Koscheck “intentionally made himself the most hated man in MMA.” Because people hated him, they paid to watch him ight and hopefully lose.

I was starting to realize that whether it’s boxing, MMA or pro wrestling, ight-ing is about entertaining the audience and selling tickets. It’s just that pro wres-tling is a little more honest about it.

(To be continued in the December 2014/January 2015 issue.)

In MMA, now that it’s on television in the form of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s even easier for promoters


Teramoto, an Osaka police-man, has dominated kendo competition in Japan and in-ternationally for a long time.

Takanabe, from Kanagawa, is also a fearsome opponent, one whose ability to strike from stillness in a mere twitch is legendary.

Using his lethal speed, Takanabe took the irst point in the inal, connecting with Teramoto’s head. Teramoto re-plied a few moments later with his own strike to Takanabe’s head, tying the score. Near the end of the match, after several lightning attacks and clashes that didn’t yield any points, Teramoto sensed an opening and launched a shot at Takanabe’s head. As he did, Takanabe unleashed his own blow, also aimed at his opponent’s head.

One of the corner referees raised his red lag — Teramoto had struck irst — then just as abruptly dropped it, indicat-ing he’d changed his mind. The other referees ruled it a mutual strike, which

would I be able to walk away? No. I’d be hit by your sword, as well. The mo-mentum of your blade wouldn’t magi-cally be halted just because you were hit irst.

If the attacks occurred in a karate dojo instead, the damage in licted by the second punch or kick certainly would be less. Even there, however, both con-testants would suffer injury. If the at-tacks were equal in strength, the dam-age could be considerable. Recall the old saying that when two tigers ight, one is killed and the other is crippled.

What this leads you to contemplate is that while timing is profoundly im-portant in a martial art, it cannot be the only element you consider. For Tera-moto’s victory to have any meaning outside the kendo arena, his distanc-ing would be critical. (Note that I’m not criticizing kendo because it isn’t “real combat.” Kendo has no such preten-sions, and it would be foolish to judge it by a standard it has never embraced.) Teramoto, in a ight with sharpened steel, would have to have placed him-self in a position where he could land his blow yet avoid having Takanabe make contact with his.

If you work hard to develop your speed, you’d do well to keep this les-son in mind. Not only must you get there irst, but you also must be in a position where your attack can be de-livered without receiving a strike from your opponent.

FINALLY, IT’S WORTHWHILE to re-lect on the 0.09-second difference be-

tween victory and defeat. Modern tech-nology was required to determine the winner. In a case like that, though, what does “winning” really mean?

Teramoto had every right to be proud of his accomplishment. The All Japan Kendo Championships, unquestionably one of the most prestigious contests in the world, may not be as famous as the Super Bowl or World Cup, but the level of competition among those qualifying is much higher. You don’t get there by being “just good enough” to make it.

Even so, a martial artist of Teramo-to’s skill must surely know that even though he won, nine hundredths of a second has as much to do with chance as it does with talent. It’s an important reality to bear in mind.

means a point for no one. Because this was a championship match and time was running out, the of icials examined the high-speed video. At irst, the strikes appeared to be simultaneous. When the video was slowed to 1/16 speed, how-ever, Teramoto’s strike was revealed to have connected irst. He’d made contact 0.09 seconds before his opponent.

Nine hundredths of a second. The seri-ous martial artist would do well to think about that. What does it mean in the context of your training and your art?

TO BE SURE, many athletic contests are won by margins as narrow as that. There are, however, rami ications in a martial arts match that would not be relevant in a sprint or a swimming race. Suppose, for example, that we were warriors on a 16th-century bat-tle ield in Japan and your sword was 0.09 seconds behind on its trajectory when mine connected with your head. I would “win,” having struck irst. But

Nine Hundredths of a SecondThe 2007 All Japan Kendo Championships: Shoji Teramoto vs. Susumu Takanabe. The two were — and still are — among the best kendoka alive.

by Dave Lowry


The Art of CrumpWhen Warrington Hudlin told me I needed to meet the next big thing in martial arts movies, my ears perked up. A suc-

into Manhattan.by Mark Jacobs

Teaching a seminar at City Wing Tsun, Marrese Crump demonstrated what looked like a typical kung fu entry,

stepping deeply behind his opponent’s lead leg and jabbing an elbow into his ribs. But he followed up by dropping to the loor and executing a capoeira-style takedown, then rolling into a Brazilian jiu-jitsu ground- ighting position be-fore standing up and lowing into some boxing footwork.

“I appreciate how he puts all the arts together and transitions from one to

the other so seamlessly,” local arnis in-structor Doug Pierre said.

Indeed, Crump’s eclectic display — which also included elements of Filipino martial arts, wrestling, muay Thai, taekwondo and silat — was dis-tinguished not just by its versatility but also by the way he made all the dispa-rate systems seem like elements of a single, uni ied art.

“I did an interview once, and they called what I did ‘the art of Marrese Crump’ — at irst I didn’t like it be-cause it seemed egotistical, but then I Ph

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read it and it was sort of an epiphany that, yes, that’s what I teach,” Crump said. “I’m not an advocate for capoei-ra or any one art. I’m an advocate for martial arts.”

NOW 32, Crump began his advocacy at age 8. A fan of Bruce Lee movies, he was introduced by his brother to his irst instructor, who taught a blend of

Korean martial arts, boxing and wres-tling. Crump added several other sys-tems over the years, although capoei-ra seems to be what he displays the

Marrese Crump, right.


most. He irst became interested in the dance-like Brazilian art as a teenager, after he dislocated his hip running track and ield.

“Kicking in capoeira was actually much easier on my hip since all the mo-tions are so circular,” he said. “I found it was much less strain.”

With a host of styles in his martial arts tool bag, Crump eventually be-came a personal trainer to pro-wres-tling superstar Dave Bautista. When Bautista garnered a starring role in The Wrong Side of Town, Crump came on board as the ight coordinator and an on-camera adversary for Bautista. Shortly afterward, he began traveling to Thailand to train with the late Pan-na Rittikrai.

The mentor to ilm star Tony Jaa, Rittikrai was an underground legend in martial arts cinema. Starring in little-known Thai action licks in the 1980s, Rittikrai created his own form of heavy-contact, on-screen ight cho-reography based on traditional Thai martial arts, something he eventually taught to Jaa and later to Crump, his lone American prot g .

“I’m honored Panna took me under his wing,” Crump said. “A lot of people might not know of him, but he was like the Thai Bruce Lee back in the 1980s. He trained Tony [Jaa] from the ground up, but Panna was doing all those moves in movies irst. It’s a very beautiful style but very contact based. When you make contact on ilm in Thailand, you’re actually hitting some-one with about 80-percent power a lot of the time.”

CRUMP FLEW to Thailand more than a dozen times to train privately with Rittikrai, who told him to keep the eclectic style that made him unique while incorporating the main ele-ments of the Thai arts. Crump knew he was being groomed for a role in a Thai movie but was still surprised when his big opportunity came. He was in Chi-na, working as a stuntman on The Man With the Iron Fists, when he got a call asking if he wanted to co-star opposite Jaa in The Protector II.

The movie had a budget of 12 mil-lion — small by American standards but gigantic in the world of Thai cin-

ema — and Crump was asked to play the main villain who’d engage Jaa in a lengthy battle, part of which was to take place on railroad tracks.

“They said they wanted me to do the ight barefoot, and I told them that probably wouldn’t be a good image to present, a barefoot black man on the railroad tracks,” Crump recalled with a smile. “They had no idea it might be a culturally offensive image and asked me what else they couldn’t do. I told them I didn’t want my family to see me with any nooses around my neck, so they didn’t do that — though ironi-cally we did a scene where Tony had the noose around his neck.”

AFTER RECENTLY stunt-doubling R A in The Man With the Iron Fists II, Crump indeed may be poised to become the next big thing in martial arts ilms. However, he’s not sure whether his next project will come from Thailand or America.

Either way, he said his aim is to rein-vent the martial arts genre. It’s a lofty goal, but if anyone can do it, it’s the multitalented Marrese Crump.

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There’s endless argument with-in each group about which particular empty-hand or weapon skill is superior —

for example, striking vs. grappling, or sticks vs. blades. But there’s a general agreement among martial artists that a man with a weapon, regardless of the type of weapon, has a de inite advan-tage over a man without one.

Weapons are better than the empty hands for one reason: the ease with which they can hurt another person. In full-contact competition, it often takes a long time for one competitor to knock out another. In many ights, both op-ponents are left standing at the end, and judges must determine the winner.

attack with a blade or other weapon. He needed to judge where a cut or stab was going and initiate his own cut al-most simultaneously.

In other words, the swordsman or knife ighter didn’t react to his op-ponent’s strike; he acted at virtually the same time as his opponent struck. That’s what is meant by the phrase “be-coming one with your enemy.”

The priest or shaman was important to the warrior for another reason, too. Having strong religious beliefs lent jus-ti ication to the warrior’s actions. Know-ing that what he was doing was right took away the doubt that causes hesi-tation. Remember that one slip could mean the end of a swordsman. The war-rior in ancient times needed the context of irm religious beliefs to keep his con-science clear and his body alive.

THE PRESENCE OF meditative tradi-tions in empty-hand martial arts is a carry-over from the weapon arts. The empty hand is simply not as danger-ous as a stick or sword. In fact, many ancient masters taught empty-hand skills (along with meditation) irst and weapon skills second because the empty hand is signi icantly less danger-ous. That way, it was easier to contain a student who turned on his master. A student with empty-hand skills is no match for a master with weapon skills. As Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, “Between an armed man and an unarmed man, there is no comparison.”

Today, we live in a much safer world. Most of us lead a relatively quiet and uneventful life. There are no duels of honor with swords or knives. We have no practical reason to seek the altered consciousness of the old masters. For this reason, the traditional martial arts can seem like hopeless anachronisms. But there’s something present in them that’s not easily dismissed.

By learning the exact movements of old-time warriors, we gain insight into a way of thinking that’s obscured by the comfort of modern society. We cannot truly know what it’s like to ight a life-and-death battle unless we’ve done so. We can only taste what it’s like to be a warrior through kata practice and sport ighting. Even in these distilled forms,

we can still experience the great mys-tery of the ancients — the quiet mind from which their great skill came.

Even MMA matches can go the distance without one man triumphing over the other. With a stick, knife or gun, how-ever, you can hurt someone worse than you can with your bare hands — and in a much shorter time.

THE EFFECT OF THE USE of weapons on the development of the martial arts cannot be overstated. The ability to hurt and kill quickly and easily changed the way ancient masters looked at the world. They needed to make life-and-death decisions in the blink of an eye. One slash of a samurai sword or one slice from a poisoned kris knife could mean instant death. The masters be-came spiritual people because they had no choice: They needed some type of heightened awareness to survive in their chosen profession.

The heightened awareness of our martial ancestors usually came from the practice of meditation or some kind of ritual trance. Those methods of alter-ing consciousness were learned from priests or shamans. This is the origin of the in luence of Asian religious tra-ditions on the martial arts. The warrior needed an altered state of conscious-ness to see and react properly to an

Why Meditation Enhances Martial Arts PracticeThe martial arts can be divided roughly into two groups: empty-hand arts and weapon arts.

by Keith Vargo

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The DeadliftSome researchers regard the deadlift as the oldest strength-training exer-cise in the world. In ancient times, it was done with rocks, logs and other heavy objects.

by Adam benShea and Josh Bryant

By the 19th century, people were deadlifting barbells to build muscle mass and power. Now-adays, the lift can be found

throughout the itness world, yet few martial artists recognize its value — speci ically, how effective it is for build-ing the posterior chain.

A strong posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, adductor magnus and lum-bar erectors) is essential for complet-ing the explosive movements found in ighting. You rely on it when you shoot

in for a double-leg takedown, deliver a knee strike from a clinch, complete a hip throw, execute a sprawl and at-tempt a host of other martial moves.

THE BASIC ACTION of the deadlift en-tails picking up a weight off the ground, but it’s the details that matter. Start with a barbell in front of you and with your feet far enough under the bar that your shins touch it. Squat until your shoulder blades are over the bar, which actually puts your shoulders in front of

The nature of the accommodated-re-sistance deadlift means that if you don’t lift the weight fast enough, you won’t be successful. That forces you to lift with speed and explosiveness. Wondering how this applies to the martial arts? Think about the Thai kick, double-leg takedown and armbar from the bottom — in each case, your hips accelerate as you progress through the move.

THERE’S ANOTHER common variation of the deadlift that’s of interest. In the conventional deadlift, you start with your feet hip-width apart, your legs bent and your arms to the outside of your legs. However, in the sumo dead-lift, your hands are positioned to the inside of your legs and your legs more than shoulder-width apart — which is supposed to resemble the starting stance of a sumo wrestler. The lift itself is performed the same way as the con-ventional version.

The conventional deadlift has a great-er dynamic correspondence to ighting and is a more effective posterior-chain builder. However, the sumo deadlift is great for strengthening the quads and adductors, with the latter muscles being those that permit your legs to squeeze together when you’re grappling.

WHEN YOU CONSIDER all the bene its of the deadlift — it builds overall body strength, works the posterior chain, aids in muscle gain or fat loss, ingrains the forceful extension of the hips, im-proves grip strength and boosts overall speed — you begin to see why we rec-ommend it for all martial artists.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s a inal reason you should start deadlift-

ing: It can reduce the risk of injury in the dojo. Many martial artists get side-lined because weak hamstrings lead to an ACL injury or because of problems in their hips, lower back, knees and an-kles. Because it forti ies the entire pos-terior chain, the deadlift can help you avoid all those aches and pains, which means your martial arts training is more likely to go on uninterrupted.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Adam benShea has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He’s also trained in judo, wrestling and boxing. Josh Bryant is a competitive powerlifter and

Gym in Arlington, Texas. For more information, visit joshstrength.com. Their book Jailhouse Strong is available on Amazon.com.

it. Grasp the bar with both hands. Keep-ing your arms fully extended and your back straight — don’t round it or you’ll risk injury — stand up. Make sure to push through your heels. Once you’re upright, begin lowering the weight, re-versing all the steps that kept you safe on the way up.

Proper execution of the deadlift re-quires your posterior chain to lift a load that’s in front of your body, making it the epitome of functionality. Functional exercises are those that serve a spe-ci ic purpose in preparing you for your sport. They train movement patterns, not individual muscles, and as such, the deadlift excels.

The deadlift is also one of the sim-plest ways to enhance your rate of force production, which is a measure of how quickly you can develop tension in a muscle. Obviously, this is important in any type of striking or grappling, es-pecially when explosive movement is required in the middle of continuous moderate energy output.

One proven way to increase your rate of force production is to perform dead-lifts with resistance bands or chains. Either addition will require you to in-crease the force you must apply to lift the weight off the ground, with the re-sistance being the greatest at the top — which is where most people are the strongest. This type of training, called accommodated resistance, comple-ments the strength curve of the deadlift. Ph

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THE NICKNAME is as accurate as it is hilarious, an

amalgam that creates the perfect triad to describe White: ac-tor, martial artist, itness icon.

Plenty of celebrities have ascended to superstar status by standing atop just one of the three pillars that support White’s career. Years of rugged training have produced a work ethic that enables him to nurture all three sides of him-self. The lifestyle is possible, he says, only because of the dis-cipline he learned in the dojo.

“I’m not one to spoil myself,” White says. “I’m living the life of a professional actor, but I train like a professional itness person, and I do martial arts like a professional martial artist. I don’t have an assistant. And people who don’t do a quarter of the work I do have an assistant — sometimes two. People say, ‘How do you have the time?’ It’s all about discipline.”

ON ACTINGWith a career he describes as schizophrenic, White seems bemused if not surprised that he’s constantly placed in the “martial artist” box. His career is like a Jackson Pollock painting: a swath of action, followed by a splash of com-edy and then a spray of romantic drama. He’s shared the screen with Hollywood heavies such as George C. Scott, Elliot Gould, Heath Ledger and Martin Sheen. His Twitter feed is littered with variations of “I had no idea you were in [insert name of movie]!” Yet he’s still considered a martial arts actor by the masses.

“It’s a funny thing, but when you kick someone in the head, that takes all the attention,” White says.Q: Could you have a full career without doing another martial arts movie?A: “Absolutely. I feel like any movie I do that has a martial arts quotient has it in an organic sense. I make sure that if you take the martial arts out of the movie, it would still be a good movie. Blood and Bone is a movie about a man ful illing a promise to a friend. The movie I have coming out, Falcon Rising, is more of a revenge ilm in the tradition of Taken and Man on Fire.

“I don’t like movies that use martial arts as a crutch. It should be enhancing, organic to the character. A lot of movies just have excuses to have martial arts ights. It’s like porn.”

Q: Are you ever afraid of being pigeonholed by Hollywood?A: “They force pigeonholing on you whether you like it or not. I understand it — people need an easy way to categorize you. But when you take score of the stuff I’ve done, people are surprised when they ind it equally comedic. Any drama or action movie you’ve seen me in — rest assured the moment the camera stopped rolling, I was doing something goofy. I’ve done things like Black Dynamite, Ringmaster, Why Did I Get Married Too and stuff on sitcoms. A lot of my work has come-dic value, but when you do Undisputed 2 or Universal Soldier,that’s what sticks in people’s heads.”Q: Do you ind ways to use your training even in projects that don’t contain martial arts?A: “Absolutely. The irst season that I did of [the Tyler Perry sitcom] For Better or Worse, we’d ilm three shows in a day and I had a lot of dialogue. For that irst season, I learned ev-erybody’s lines, not just my own. Martial arts is about over-coming obstacles, and I realized that learning lines was just a challenge. In my thought process, I’m always a martial artist irst. It’s not a combative thing; it’s about me overcoming an

obstacle. Sometimes when I get a new role, people say, ‘Aren’t you excited?’ I have to feign excitement because I’m only tru-ly excited when I’ve completed something. I’m the happiest person on the planet once it’s done, once I’ve kicked its ass. That’s when I celebrate.”

ON MARTIAL ARTSAs a bona ide Hollywood celebrity, White admits that cer-tain doors have opened for him, and the self-professed mar-tial arts nerd has enthusiastically jumped through them. Kyokushin is his original style and irst love, but he’s delved deeply into several arts with a cast of A-list instructors.

“I’ve trained with Wu Bin in wushu,” White says. “I’ve trained with [Tsutomu] Ohshima, who’s the top man in sho-tokan. I’ve trained under Bobby Lowe and kancho Matsui in kyokushin. In boxing, I trained with Tommy Hearns and Sug-ar Ray Leonard. In K-1, I trained with Remy Bonjasky.

“If I wasn’t in the movies, I wouldn’t have access to these people. I think I’m the luckiest martial artist on the planet. I don’t know anyone who’s trained with half the people I’ve trained with — and sometimes I’m reluctant to say so be-cause it sounds like I’m freakin’ lying!”

An observant fan once referred to Michael Jai White as

“Denzel Van Schwarzenegger.”

38 BLACK BELT I OCTOBER/NOVERMBER 2014 BLACKBELTMAG.COM

Q: Why would someone like you do wushu?A: “How do you consider yourself a real martial artist when you do only things that are fun for you? Wushu is dif icult for someone my size, but guess what? I’m a lot better for doing it. I have to get past my own ego. There’s a part where I’m stretching and holding all these positions and I’m cussing these guys who are 150 pounds and are not pushing around my kind of weight. I ind myself thinking, If I got you into the ring, I would. …

“But that is the wrong thing. If you’re disciplined enough and pit your mind against the things you don’t want to do, you get so much bene it from it.”Q: Do you think something is lost when kids eschew tradi-tional martial arts in favor of MMA?A: “There’s a lot that’s lost now already. I think it’s because men are at the helm and men tend to celebrate the pugilist. Even in my own experience in traditional martial arts, teach-ers tended to praise the ighter and not the student who’s busting their ass trying to get better. That is a travesty.”Q: What do you mean?A: “If it takes me 1,000 kicks to become fatigued and it takes another guy 100, then my training starts at 1,001 and his starts at 101. If I push to 1,010 and he pushes to 120, he’s by far the better martial artist. That’s what martial arts is all about. It has to be about how much you push yourself.”Q: Are you an MMA fan?A: “I’m a huge MMA fan. I don’t miss any UFC ights. I’ve sparred with a lot of UFC guys. Sometimes I help out Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, and Dan Cormier is a good friend of mine. I text him back and forth making sure he has a good strat-egy to break the distance on Jon Jones. With a guy with that kind of leg length, you have to make his legs move so he can’t set up and strike. Look at T.J. Dillashaw, Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar — I could build a shrine to those guys. Their movement should be studied by everyone.”

ON FITNESSEven if martial arts aren’t the focus of a movie, White’s phy-sique is almost always exploited for his roles. White, who turns 47 this year, has remained remarkably ageless, both in looks and performance. No surprise — he’s never smoked, never been drunk and hasn’t tasted soda in 23 years. When asked who would win a sparring match between him and a 21-year-old version of himself, he doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“My money is on me now,” he says. “By far. I swear to you I don’t feel any different than when I was 21. I only feel differ-ent if I allow myself to get a little too heavy. But when I’m in condition and under 225 pounds, there’s no difference. I can do anything I could do when I was 21. And I think there are a lot of things I can do now that I couldn’t do when I was 21. My endurance is better. I don’t waste as much motion. And I think I can pick apart technique better.”Q: What are your workouts in the weight room like? Do you train for performance or for physique?A: “I like to use weightlifting to balance my aesthetics. With balanced aesthetics, all movement is easier. When there’s an imbalance between the front and back half of the body, it shows in the movement. My shoulders are naturally big, but I work on the rear part of my shoulders because I had an imbalance — I had shoulders that slumped forward. I bal-anced that out.

“I tend to do a lot of back stuff. I think it’s very important. I do a lot of pull-ups and weighted pull-ups to open up my spine. You’re compressing your spine all day. I like to be open and not condensed with rounded shoulders. When you work the muscles in your back, it pulls your shoulders back and your centerline is balanced.”Q: Do you train your abs a lot?A: “I don’t do much abs. Everyone has a six-pack; it’s just about seeing it. The six-pack shows up when the body fat drops. I might do abs twice a week, but there are times when I’ve neglected them altogether. I tend to do them for the pur-pose of strengthening everything. I also do sprints, and I re-ally believe that’s what sets things off. If you do sprints, that seriously works your abs.”Q: How strict is your diet?A: “I don’t make any real effort for nutrition because [of] the way I eat. I don’t enjoy bad stuff. I arrived at that place rather easily because when I eat something bad, it invades my system and I don’t feel as good as I normally feel. So there’s no temptation.

“I have no desire for junk food. My cheat meals are like rice after 8 p.m. I might eat one slice of pizza twice a year, and that is if it’s in my face at a party and there’s nothing else to eat.”Q: What’s a typical breakfast like for you?A: “I get up and make a protein shake with a banana, pea-nut butter, almond milk and protein powder. Or I have eggs mixed with brown rice and turkey, like a Hawaiian breakfast. I feel that to keep up the muscle and strength, you need ad-equate protein. The body is going to decay — why help it? A lot of empty carbs don’t feel good to me anyway. Every time I eat a whole lot of carbs, I get that weighted-down feeling, and it’s not fun.”

Because of his efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle and his many accomplishments in the martial arts, but mostly because of his budo attitude, Black Belt is proud to make Mi-chael Jai White its 2014 Man of the Year. May he continue to inspire and entertain martial artists around the world for decades to come.

— Robert W. Young, editor-in-chief

If you’re disciplined

enough and pit your mind against the

things you don’t want to do, you get so much benefi t from it.

BLACKBELTMAG.COM OCTOBER/NOVERMBER 2014 I BLACK BELT 41

this book can be used again and again for inspiration and insight.

“Do not think of winning. Think of not losing.” This 12th principle reminds practitioners not to be overcon ident or cocky. It warns against becoming reckless and underestimating the op-ponent. “The mind must be set free” (the sixth principle) and “ready pos-ture is for beginners, later one stands in natural posture” (the 17th principle) are similar to what Bruce Lee said. The 17th principle has the longest ex-planation by Nakasone. It’s necessary because posture is not just physical; it also represents attitude.

“Perform kata exactly” is the 18th principle. Kata are more than cho-reography. They contain important lessons, but they don’t give up this in-formation easily. However, the reader is reminded that “actual combat is an-other matter.” Lee said the same thing but rejected kata altogether. If Lee had read this book, he might have felt dif-ferently about traditional martial arts. However, he was in luenced by the observation that most practitioners of traditional styles imitate what their teachers taught them without looking under the surface.

Funakoshi’s writings acknowledge the reality of combat. Kata is karate, but training for combat is not the same. “Make adjustments according to your opponent” (13th principle) is impor-tant in combat. It’s an application of “know yourself irst, then know others” (fourth principle). Witness how boxers and their coaches carefully study their opponents and develop speci ic strate-gies for them.

When you train, “think of the oppo-nent’s hands and feet as swords” (15th principle). This cautions the students about the seriousness of combat and the very real possibility of injury or death to either party. Karate-do is still

MAKE ADJUSTMENTS ACCORDING TO YOUR OPPONENT

KNOW YOURSELF FIRST, THEN KNOW OTHERS


a combat method even though the goal of training transcends simply not being a victim.

“Mentality over techniques” ( ifth principle) and “calamity springs from carelessness” (seventh principle) mean that practitioners must develop aware-ness as the ultimate form of self-de-fense. How do they develop it to a high level? By remembering that “when you step beyond your own gate, you face a million enemies” (16th principle). Don’t be paranoid, just stay alert.

KARATE-DOSeveral Japanese combat systems evolved into do arts: jujitsu became judo, aikijutsu became aikido, ken-jutsu became kendo, iaijutsu became iaido, kyujutsu became kyudo and so on. Some of the older styles have come down to us, but others could not adapt and did not survive. Karate followed a slightly different course. Older styles are extant in Okinawa. They combined and developed in different ways, and many of the resulting newer styles are now considered “Japanese.”

In Kyohan, Funakoshi explains that the old kanji for karate meant “Chinese hand” — as in, Chinese boxing. What he taught was different from what he learned, as the new kanji means “empty hand.” This refers to defending oneself with one’s bare hands, without weap-ons. It also implies that the karateka must purge himself of sel ish and evil thoughts. He must strive to be inwardly humble and outwardly gentle, but have courage to ight 10 million enemies for a just cause. Like bamboo, he should be hollow (unsel ish), straight (obedient and gentle) and knotted (strong char-acter and moderate), the book says.

Funakoshi changed the kanji to re-lect his modi ications to the art and

understanding of it. He explains in My Way of Life the Buddhist teaching that emptiness lies at the heart of all mat-

46 BLACK BELT I OCTOBER/NOVERMBER 2014 BLACKBELTMAG.COM

ter and creation and that the karateka should strive to empty the mind of de-sire and vanity.

The do in karate-do comes from the Chinese word dao (way or path) as used in Taoism. Spiritual training con-sists of polishing the qualities (cour-age, courtesy, integrity, humility, self-control) to make them the “inner light to guide one’s daily actions.” One does this through daily training that lasts decades or even a lifetime, Funakoshi writes. The maxims outlined in Chapter 7 are really meditations that should be pondered often and deeply. Some were drawn from the works of Confucius and Sun Tzu. They explain how to improve oneself and how to live one’s life.

Kata vary from teacher to teacher, but Funakoshi explains in My Way of Life that he simpli ied them as much as pos-sible so they could be taught to school-children. Ohshima’s footnotes are in-teresting because he uses phrases like “at present” and “in the latest edition,” which indicate that the development of the kata was ongoing when he edited the book. It might have been possible to determine whether Funakoshi’s modi ications resulted in “better” kata by testing them in combat conditions, but he disliked such contests and dis-couraged competition.

In Funakoshi’s eyes, sparring does not exist apart from kata. If one be-comes too enthusiastic about sparring, kata tends to be neglected. Kata should be the main training and sparring a supporting method. Sparring should progress from three-step to one-step before one engages in free sparring. Sparring is neither karate-jutsu nor karate-do; it is sport.

More than one-third of Nyumon is devoted to ten no kata, the only form discussed in depth. According to Ran-dall G. Hassell, taikyoku and ten no kata were created by Genshin Hironishi and Gigo Funakoshi (Gichin’s son). Has-

sell writes they were never taught by Gichin Funakoshi and their underlying principles are not those of kata (Shoto-kan Karate: Its History and Evolution). Shigeru Egami writes that ten no kata needs more research before being in-cluded in the curriculum (The Heart of Karate-do).

Ten no kata is a complete training program in itself. The irst part is simply the formalized practice of basic tech-niques. The second is the application of the basics with a partner — an entry into sparring. The third is the practice of kawashi, which teaches evasiveness and maai (distance and timing). The weak-ness of ten no kata is that it lacks kicks and, therefore, defense against kicks. It’s meant to be practiced in addition to regular training that includes kicks and traditional kata.

Twenty Guiding Principles says, “Ka-rate is like boiling water; without heat, it returns to its tepid state” (11th princi-ple). You must regularly practice either variation — karate-jutsu or karate-do — over many years with complete seri-ousness. When you’re young, commit-ment to practice can be tedious. When you get older, it becomes more dif icult to recover from stiffness and injury. It’s important to lay a foundation early and maintain it when you get older. As you age, you appreciate the structured method of kata more, and you have the maturity to explore the subtleties of the way, or do.

How does one practice the abstract concept of do? “Be constantly mindful, diligent and resourceful in your pursuit of the way” (20th principle). “Apply the way of karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty” (10th principle). Obviously, lessons learned in the dojo can be ap-plied outside the dojo. Fitness and self-defense are valuable to daily life. The information in Funakoshi’s books gives us plenty of material to apply in daily life. That is why “karate goes beyond

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ken Vaughn is a freelance writer and martial arts researcher based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

the dojo” (eighth principle) and “karate is a lifelong pursuit” (ninth principle).

The lifelong application of karate to daily life is as simple as good manners: “Do not forget that karate-do begins and ends with rei,” the irst principle reminds us. This is symbolized by bow-ing at the beginning and end of class. Good manners irst, last and always. I have met people who mistakenly be-lieve that karate teaches a heathen re-ligion and that the students bow to a false god; they’re missing the most im-portant lesson of karate. Good manners may be neglected by some, but they’re important in karate.

This is why “there is no irst strike in karate” (second principle). Good man-ners, tact and diplomacy, along with awareness ( ifth, seventh and 16th prin-ciples), are paramount. There’s also no second strike because if you must strike, that irst blow should end the ight instantly — just as a single faux

pas can end a relationship.

UNIVERSAL VALUEEven if one isn’t a practitioner of shoto-kan, Funakoshi’s books offer a glimpse of an older method of combat. They also preserve his ideas and help us under-stand the evolution of his style, which has continued to evolve since his death.

If we examine Funakoshi’s books, we see that karate-do is different from karate-jutsu. It retains much combat value, but its goal is bigger than mere combat. Funakoshi didn’t just try to preserve an obscure martial art, nor did he merely infuse that art with his spiritual beliefs; he sought to capture the essence and meaning of karate. His life and writings re lect his beliefs and leave a priceless legacy for all martial artists.

Be constantly MINDFUL, DILIGENT and RESOURCEFUL in your pursuit of the way


BONG SOO HAN’SFINAL YEARSTRAINING AND TEACHING WITH THE HAPKIDO LEGEND

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lyzing. Fear and ego would melt away. Once free from paralyzing thoughts, we’d be free to react intuitively.

MASTER IN ACTIONOne of the perks of being Han’s right-hand man was traveling with him to seminars. Watching students witness a grandmaster in his late 60s effortlessly do a picture-perfect, head-height round-house kick made me glow with pride. All eyes were wide when he’d do a wrist-twist throw on me — again, effortlessly

Traveling with him reminded me of his reputation in the martial arts world. Everyone spoke highly of him, and he was gracious to them all. “This is the martial way,” he taught me. Be kind and considerate. Be a man of your word. Finish what you start. Never criticize other martial arts. Show up on time (preferably early). These basic ideals are now embedded in my DNA.

them and that, in turn, allowed me to adopt the martial way as a way of life.

To the grandmaster, training in hap-

importance. What is important is the growth in the student’s physical struc-ture, mental discipline and emotional control. He often compared martial arts to ballroom dancing. “Don’t crash into each other,” he’d say. “Move ac-cording to your opponent.”

Han was the epitome of grace on and off the mat. He was able to instill a feel-ing that being a martial artist meant something. We were different. We were held to a higher standard. Yes, we learned devastating kicks and dynamic techniques. But if we were not applying the philosophies, studying the nature of the arts and meditating in addition to doing all the physical training, we couldn’t call ourselves martial artists.

FINAL YEARSThose last few years with Han were some of the richest for me with regard to my training in and teaching of hapki-do. I ate, slept and breathed it. My com-prehension of the mechanics of kicking and the subtleties of executing tech-

ability to pass on what I learned became focused. I soaked up every bit of knowl-edge I could. It was also during this time that his hapkido studio in Santa Monica Ph

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was voted Best Traditional School by the readers of Black Belt and honored at the 2006 Black Belt Industry Awards.

The last seminar Han gave was in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington. He agreed to do it even though he wasn’t feeling well. I traveled with him, along with a couple of other senior instructors. The last hap-kido techniques the grandmaster ever demonstrated were done on me. The

with emotion. We all really believed that our master would live forever.

Over the years, I met so many martial arts luminaries through Han, but it was his close friend Joe Hyams who served as a mentor and friend to me. Hyams attended almost every black-belt test and many of the dinners. He’d drop by the studio and pull me out on the mat to work with him. He and Han had a mutual respect, a friendship forged by martial arts.

As Han’s time was drawing near, Hy-ams sent me a fax, urging me to prepare for his inevitable demise. He was very matter of fact about it. Hyams was no spring chicken, and he’d seen many of his friends depart this world. He knew what needed to be done, and I followed his advice to a T.

Joe Hyams has since passed on, as well. He was another extraordinary human be-ing, one I’ll miss and one whose memory I’ll hold on to for life. His inscription to me in my copy of Zen in the Martial Arts reads: “I admire how you have incorpo-rated hapkido into your life. With respect and admiration, Joe Hyams.” I re-read his book every few years and always take away something new.

LIVING ONBong Soo Han passed away on January 8, 2007. His last words to me on the night before were “Thank you.”

“No, sir,” I replied. “Thank you.”My training partner Brian Buck and I

sat with our master, knowing that this would be it. He was leaving us, and we’d have to carry on without him. It was a responsibility we didn’t take lightly. He’d given us everything he had and asked only that we share it with the world.

Grandmaster Han was also known as -

ting (and somewhat unheard of) that snow fell in Westwood Village, Califor-nia, on the day of his funeral.

Han’s Hapkido Studio in Santa Mon-ica closed shortly after his passing. It had to. The hole that was left made it

impossible to sustain business as usu-al. It was a painful time of grieving and transition. Many students and black belts went on to other things. I moved to Austin, Texas, to start a new life. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Han’s senior student Eric Friske resumed teaching at a new studio in Santa Moni-ca, and I’ve resumed teaching in Austin.

So here we stand, carrying the torch of Bong Soo Han’s legacy and his Inter-national Hapkido Federation, doing our utmost to keep the integrity of the art intact by adhering to fundamentals and principles that have been handed down from master to student for generations.

Stepping out of the shadow of a legend is no easy task. With a Zen mindset, we realize that we shouldn’t look back and grieve over the past for it is gone. Like-wise, we cannot be troubled about the future for it has not yet come. We must

-ing that it will be worth remembering.

Here’s to all of us martial artists, liv-ing in the present.

About the author: Jon Michael Davis teaches hapkido at Zen Fit in Austin, Texas. On Twitter, he posts under @ZenHapkido and @JonMichaelDavis.

Bong Soo Han in The Trial of Billy Jack

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Matt Emig

BLACKBELTMAG.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 I BLACK BELT

How far would you go for a shot at fame and fortune?

As a martial artist, you probably interpret that ques-

tion as: How much would you be will-ing to do? How hard would you train? What would you go without? For some, the question is about how much they’d be willing to have done to them. How much pain is a championship worth? How much risk?

Most of us are fortunate, in a way, be-cause we’ll never know the answer to that question. Matt Emig and Damon Gilbert, however, aren’t most people, and they’ve been forced to address that very question. The reason they’re together in this article is their paths to the top took some of the most painful turns in the history of martial arts.

TOP OF THE WORLDIn April 2005, Gilbert was a No. 1–ranked kumite ighter. He regularly took top honors in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions — and had since 1993. Along with his father, he taught at Best in the West Martial Arts Acad-emy. He’d recently joined Team Paul Mitchell, ful illing a dream he had since childhood. He owned dozens of grand-championship trophies and medals, collected at the toughest tournaments in the world. He was in Reston, Virginia, competing at Charley Lee’s World Series of Martial Arts. It was just another day in his illustrious ight career.

In July 2008, Emig was an up-and-coming trick martial artist. Even though

he was barely old enough to drink, he’d won seven forms titles and nine weap-ons titles, along with two synchronized-kata medals. He was considering offers that could establish him in show biz. On the weekend of July 26, he attended a trick gathering in San Jose, California. He was about to participate in a pickup trick contest, a common occurrence at such events.

INCIDENT REPORTGilbert walked into the ring, unaware that he had cervical stenosis. It’s a de-generative condition that had already her-niated multiple disks in his spine. A grazing hook kick during his irst match knocked

him to the ground, leaving him with al-ternating pain and numbness in all four limbs. He was fully conscious but para-lyzed below the neck for ive full minutes. Once he was able to move, he wanted to continue the match, but the referee wouldn’t allow it. Lat-er that night, when his friends noticed that he lacked the motor control neces-sary to use a fork dur-ing dinner, they made

him visit the emergency room.Emig’s injury was somewhat less

dramatic but no less painful. Attempt-ing a routine double-leg twist, he landed incorrectly, and a loud crack echoed through the room. It was the sound of his knee giving out. His friends rushed him to the hospital. The damage was so severe he didn’t see home for 10 days.

RECEIVING BAD NEWSOne of the hardest parts of any illness or injury is that lag between experiencing

symptoms and ind-ing out what’s behind them. We pray, we hope, we self-diagnose based on Internet re-search — and then the doctor comes in to tell us the news. For Emig and Gilbert, the news could not have been much worse.

Emig’s diagnosis was a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ruptured meniscus, broken tibia and severe damage to nearby muscles. His knee and the tissue surrounding it were ruined. He faced a series of reconstruc-tive procedures, then long-term physical therapy — just to be

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How 2 Martial Arts Champions Battled Their Way

BY JASON BRICK

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able to walk normally and perform ev-eryday tasks again. Continuing a career as a trick martial artist, he was told, simply wasn’t possible.

The predictions for Gilbert were po-tentially worse. Resuming a ight ca-reer or even full-contact practice could damage him so badly he’d risk perma-nent paralysis. Surgery and therapy might repair the damage he’d suffered in the ight, but the overall condition that made him vulnerable couldn’t be cured, he was told.

A lot of people would greet such news with tears and then acceptance of the inevitable. They’d igure out a new career path and go on to excel at computer programming, insurance sales or perhaps teaching at a public school. But not Gilbert and Emig. They had other plans.

THE LONG, HARD PATHEmig’s daily routine for the next 10 weeks included physical-therapy ses-sions and hours in a continuous-pas-sive-motion machine. He endured four surgeries, including the removal of a metal plate that had fused to the bone it was supposed to protect. Gilbert’s road to recovery required an opera-tion that left him unable to eat solid food for a month and a half. He wore a neck brace 24 hours a day and slept in a recliner. While awake, he was wheel-chair bound.

For both men, the details read like a season from a medical drama. Bad

news followed worse news, with occa-sional moments of hope in the middle of pain, work, disappointment and expense. The end of the journey, how-ever, found them not only achieving the predicted recovery but also on the path back to the condition they’d been in before things went so wrong.

For Gilbert, the keys to surviving the darkest moments after his injury were his faith and upbringing. He knew God’s plan for him didn’t include life in a wheelchair — or a career at a desk. His father had raised him to ight, and that’s what he did. After once realizing his childhood dream, he wasn’t about to accept that it was gone.

For Emig, the refusal to surrender came from recognizing how much more he had to do with his life. At just 23, he knew he couldn’t accept spending 50 or more years without karate. The risk of re-injury was enormous, but he opted

to return to the sport he loved — slowly and safely.

DARK BEFORE THE DAWNThat’s not to say the martial artists stayed optimistic and battle ready throughout their recoveries. Everyone who suffers such injuries experiences moments of despair, of doubt, of over-whelming pain. For Emig, the irst was being told he could never jump again. This happened in the emergency room when the martial artist, who’d never even broken a bone, was in need of at least a little good news. Instead, the doctor told him that tricking was stupid and childish and that he’d never again participate in the sport he’d made his life. Later, his fourth surgery was so high-risk that he went into it unsure if he would ever use that leg again.

Gilbert’s darkest moment came as he was recovering from his second

“EVERYONE WHO SUFFERS SUCH INJURIES EXPERIENCES MOMENTS OF

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surgery, a laminectomy in which two steel rods and 10 screws were insert-ed into his spinal column: His father suffered a heart attack that would prove fatal. When he heard the news, Gilbert walked for the first time since the incident — so he could be at his father’s side.

RETURN TO THE DOJOEmig returned to the martial arts grad-ually, knowing that taking the wrong step too soon would make that doctor right about never jumping again. He was cleared to start training in Septem-ber 2009, more than a year after his in-jury. The following April, he competed for the irst time, taking top honors in creative weapons forms at the Ocean State Grand Nationals.

A more aggressive return suited Gil-bert’s style. In February 2006, he par-ticipated in the Compete Nationals in Ontario, California. He took the over-30 grand-championship trophy but then withdrew from the competition over concern that ighting younger competi-tors was too risky. Two months later, he returned to the event where his ordeal had started. There, Gilbert defeated Raymond Daniels, then the top-ranked ighter in the world. It was the kind of

comeback reserved for the movies.Since their return to competition,

Emig and Gilbert have performed like they’d never been injured. A sampling of Gilbert’s grand-championship vic-tories includes the 2007 Quebec Open and the 2007 and 2008 Battle of At-lanta tournaments. He took home gold medals in team and individual ighting at the East-West Open in St. Petersburg, Russia, in April 2008. He now serves as a coach for Team Paul Mitchell.

Emig’s tournament performances have included winning double NASKA and ISKA grand championships in 2012, which got him plenty of airtime on ESPN2. He also performed as a stunt double in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.

THE PATH AHEADEmig is pursuing a career in entertain-ment — speci ically, as a stuntman and motion-capture actor. He says he’s also starting a team destined for the NASKA circuit, where he hopes to create op-portunities for young martial artists who are out to follow in his footsteps.

Gilbert’s plans are very different but

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jason Brick is an Oregon-based freelance writer and martial art-

no less ambitious. He aims to continue his career as a ighter while maintaining his position with Team Paul Mitchell. In addition, he’ll continue running the dojo his father started — the same school where he learned the values, dedication and unwillingness to surrender that saw him through his ordeal.

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“DAMON GILBERT AIMS TO CONTINUE HIS CAREER AS A FIGHTER WHILE MAINTAINING HIS POSITION WITH TEAM PAUL MITCHELL.”


If You’re Into Reality-Based Training, You Need

to Be Familiar With the Reality of Violent Crime

BY SCOT CONWAY


“It’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by six.” This maxim is often used to justify high levels of force in self-defense situations. Much of

reality-based training assumes that we need to treat every violent altercation as potentially lethal.

But how much danger are we actu-ally in? Might we be training to become the criminal? If we treat every ight as an attempted murder, how often will we be guilty of using excessive force?

ASSAULTSOUTNUMBER MURDERSIn 2010 fewer than 13,000 murders took place in the United States. The total number of violent crimes known

Breaking down the numbers even more, we see that in general, four in 10 murders are the result of argu-ments that get out of hand. Arguments take two. Knowing how to de-escalate means we can eliminate 40 percent of the incidents in which someone other-wise would have tried to kill us.

Of the murders in which the rela-tionship between the killer and the victim is known, 22 percent of the time they’re strangers. In the other 78 percent, the killer is a family member, friend or acquaintance. The relation-ship between the victim and the killer is unknown about 44 percent of the time, so even if we make the logical leap that all those are “stranger mur-ders,” it still means the victim knows the killer about half the time.

When we analyze these stats, we see that the probability of being targeted by someone intent on killing us is very small. When we consider that mur-ders rarely go unreported while other violent crimes often do, especially if no one is seriously injured, we see that the probability is even lower.

NONLETHAL VIOLENCEIn the irst 23 years my dojo has op-erated, my students were targeted by violent criminals 29 times. Of those attacks, one incident involved two as-sailants. None of the attackers in those 29 incidents presented a weapon. Two of the events were resolved with ground ighting, one with throws, and the rest with a combination of strikes and locks. To the students’ knowledge, in none of the events was the crimi-nal intent on killing someone. The al-tercations ended so quickly, though, that the defenders admitted that they didn’t know the intent or motive most of the time.

This is just one martial arts school, but the events are within expectations. The lesson: If my students had treated each event as an attempted murder, they would have overdone their de-fense all 29 times.

So what did they do? Most of the time, the encounter began and ended with-out anyone being seriously injured. The criminal left the area, backed off or sim-ply stopped. In three cases, the attacker was taken into custody by the police. In several cases, the criminals needed medical attention. The police were called less than half the time.

to law enforcement, on the other hand, was 1.2 million. The ratio for 2010, the last year for which data are available, is therefore about 100 to one. In the past few decades, the ratio has varied by up to 20 percent, but the disparity has re-mained huge.

What this tells us as martial artists is we should be prepared for nonlethal attacks. If we’re attacked 100 times, chances are someone will try to kill us only one of those times. If 100 of our students are attacked, chances are only one of those incidents will involve the intent to kill. If we treat every at-tack as though we’re in mortal danger, we could ind ourselves using exces-sive force 99 percent of the time.


This re lects the reality we need to train for. In each of the 29 occurrences, the martial artists could have been guilty of using excessive force had they followed the it’s-better-to-be-judged-by-12-than-carried-by-six mantra. In most of the cases, they would have been judged by 12, and they would have been subsequently jailed.

For one woman, that’s exactly what happened. A former beauty queen, she was often the subject of unwanted attention. She’d learned “better safe than sorry” and treated all threats as potentially lethal. She got into an alter-cation with another woman, and when the woman came at her, the student grabbed her head and smashed it into her knee. She shattered the woman’s teeth and broke her nose. The student was taken into custody and, despite ar-guing self-defense, was convicted. She ended up doing some time in jail and was on probation afterward.

LEGAL ANDMORAL FRAMEWORKI once watched a krav maga mas-ter teach a gun-defense seminar to a bunch of black belts. The seminar went smoothly because of the skill level of the attendees. The master noticed one thing that dismayed him, however: Af-ter disarming the gunman, many of the attendees stepped back and pretended to open ire on the attacker.

The teacher stopped the seminar. “The gunman had a gun,” he explained. “You’ve hurt him, broken his trigger in-ger and disarmed him. Even if he has another weapon, his primary trigger inger has been snapped. He’s no longer

a threat. You can draw down on him, just in case, but you can’t shoot him.”

A similar notion applies to inish-ing techniques. Many styles teach self-defense sets that include attack-ing a downed opponent. If we strike someone — take out a leg, put him on the ground and then hit him another half-dozen times — it will probably be deemed excessive.

As martial artists, we must be aware of law and morality. The law will vary by ju-risdiction, but morality won’t. We should take steps to familiarize ourselves with the law in the areas we frequent.

Many states have a statute that al-lows us to stand our ground. They include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Ken-tucky, Montana, North Carolina, Okla-homa, Texas, Utah, Washington and West Virginia. This idea is also embod-ied in case law in other states, but as such, it’s subject to change.

In some states, however, we have a duty to retreat. I don’t know of any jurisdiction that requires us to retreat from our own home, but often if we’re not home or at our place of business, we have a duty to retreat in the face of a violent threat. It’s crucial for all of us

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A licensed at-torney, Scot Conway, Ph.D., is the master instructor at the Guardian Quest Dojo in Spring Valley, California. For more informa-tion, visit GQDojo.com.

to know which side of the street our state is on.

With respect to morality, many clas-sical martial arts teach a philosophy of peace. The goal is to avoid ighting. We gain skill at ighting so we can pro-tect the peace, restore the peace, and be safe to live our lives even under potentially dangerous circumstances. Even when the law might allow us to beat up an attacker or kill him, we do only as much as the criminal himself makes necessary.

Nevertheless, it pays to be ready. Should the time arise when we need to protect ourselves against someone intent on killing us, we would do well to already have that skill. If the attack is not that dangerous, we can always do less.

To make certain we’re prepared to do less, we must examine our tech-niques. Do we need to modify some moves so we can use them for the 99 out of 100 times that the other per-son does not want to kill us? If so, we should make the changes immediately. We should still learn the techniques that our style dictates, but we must prepare nonlethal alternatives and practice those, as well.

“EVEN WHEN THE LAW MIGHT ALLOW US TO

BEAT UP AN ATTACKER OR KILL HIM, WE DO ONLY AS MUCH AS THE CRIMINAL

HIMSELF MAKES NECESSARY.”

Why This Filipino Fighting Formula Is Regarded as One of the Best in the WorldBY DR. MARK CHENG


Like so many other Americans, my irst exposure to the Filipino martial arts came through Black Belt Hall of Famer Dan Inosanto.

Watching him and his students dem-onstrate their ighting techniques was mesmerizing — whether it was with a sword, a stick, a knife, a staff, a spear or their empty hands, their training meth-ods seemed comprehensive. However, most discussions in the media then and years later online seemed to portray the FMA as weapons-only systems revolving around the stick and knife.

The reality of what FMA encompass-es is complicated — and perhaps best exempli ied by the Doce Pares Club of Cebu, Philippines. Founded in 1932 by a group of 12 friends (doce pares in the local dialect) with backgrounds in nu-merous styles and lineages, it included men who would become icons in the modern Filipino martial arts.

Unlike many countries that have a contiguous land mass, well-de ined borders and a single language, the Phil-ippines is composed of numerous trib-al groups and ethnic in luences, count-less dialects and thousands of islands. Thus, when the Doce Pares Club was established, it sought to create a com-mon ground for practitioners of differ-ent arts to exchange knowledge.

Dionisio “Diony” Cañete is the son of Eulogio Cañete, a founding member and the club’s irst president. Diony recently visited Los Angeles as part of his retirement tour, well-deserved after having spent the past 38 years traveling the world to spread his FMA insights. Thanks to the coordinating efforts of his student Steve del Castillo, the grand-master set aside time so I could share his story and art with Black Belt read-ers. Before I met with him, however, I decided to spend time with his student.

EYES OPENEDDel Castillo, a professor at Mt. San An-tonio College in Walnut, California, took me into the wrestling room on campus to brief me on doce pares. We started with double-stick coordination drills, then worked on solo stick forms, stick-and-dagger combinations and inally single-stick entries, takedowns and locks. Throughout it all, he demonstrat-ed the ease and smoothness that char-acterize how doce pares functions in all ranges. Whether he was wielding a long staff or grappling with his empty hands, he had an answer for every situation.

His master, Diony Cañete, explained the roots of the art several days later.

“Doce pares is not a single system as most people believe,” Cañete ex-plained. “It is what we call ‘multi-style eskrima.’ When the founding masters irst got together in 1932, they were

men of different educations in the martial arts. While one master spe-cialized in long-range stick or sword work, another specialized in barao, or knife techniques, another specialized in the spear, and yet another special-ized in boxing techniques. This is what gives today’s doce pares students such a broad range of abilities. They had the bene it and unique privilege of learning from many masters at the same time.”

In those days, this was a unique ar-rangement. Even today, many FMA mas-ters guard their knowledge jealously and dispense it along ethnic, tribal, reli-gious or familial lines. For FMA masters of different styles and backgrounds to train and teach together under one roof was unprecedented.

The Cañete family was well-repre-sented with three of the club’s founding members. Today, their name is synony-mous with doce pares eskrima, but even among the family members, there’s di-

vergence in skill sets and focus. If you watch Diony’s uncle Ciriaco “Cacoy” Ca-ñete teach his system, you’ll notice a par-ticular lavor in his ighting techniques that seems different from what Diony teaches. The range seems tighter, the ac-tion faster and the low more elusive.

When questioned about this, Diony was forthcoming: “There are many dif-ferent systems under the roof of doce pares. That gives you the freedom to learn different FMA styles and skills, but you can also choose to specialize in a skill set or system that you have a par-ticular attraction to or ability in.

“Uncle Cacoy is superlative in korto kurbada, which is a closer-range style with lots of wrist snapping and curving strikes. He also achieved a high degree of skill in judo, jujitsu and aikido, which he integrated with his eskrima to create his own system, eskrido. In doce pares, there are three basic korto, or ranges: linear, which uses more blade-oriented cutting and slashing techniques; kur-bada, which is my Uncle Cacoy’s area of expertise; and original, which is now referred to as San Miguel style.”

ATTACKS NEUTRALIZEDTo illustrate the differences, the grand-master demonstrated a lowing se-quence of options using stick vs. stick. On his invitation, I attempted a fore-hand strike aimed at his head. He de-lected my stick and immediately sent it lying out of my hand, leaving me open

for a lurry of follow-ups. With another stick, I tried another strike, and he dis-armed me again. This time, he retained control of my weapon, which gave him twice the striking options against me. If it had been an old-school ight to the death, I’d have been begging for mercy.

To give me a taste of “close sparring,” which is based on korto kurbada, Ca-ñete told me to try to land a blow. As my stick whistled toward him, he de-lected it with his own and then moni-

tored it softly and luidly with his left hand. As I tried to disengage my stick hand from his checking hand, his stick was tapping me from every conceiv-able angle. His left hand seemed to sense my every move before I made it, giving him the information he needed to land the greatest number of blows from the safest positions.

The more I tried to block, the fast-er the combinations landed. Out of desperation, I attempted to grab his wrist. “Bad move,” he said. “Don’t

“DOCE PARES IS NOT A SINGLE SYSTEM AS MOST PEOPLE

BELIEVE.” IT IS WHAT WE CALL ‘MULTI-STYLE ESKRIMA.’’’

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grab or this will happen.” Using my grab against me, Cañete dropped me into a wrist-lock, elbow-lock and shoulder-lock flow.

Close sparring, I discovered, is an ex-ercise in speed, softness and sensitiv-ity. The training method yields ighters who are capable of wielding a stick that strikes like a serpent. The curved lines are almost impossible to follow, let alone predict.

Cañete took a break to answer a call, and one of his most prized pupils, Per-cival “Val” Pableo, showed me some

of the trapping methods he’s used to win multiple world championships. As we transitioned to espada y daga (sword/stick and knife), the grand-master rejoined us, quickly locking up my stick and knife and neutralizing me with only one hand. While I was standing on my tiptoes to lessen the pain from the lock, he smiled. Then he called on his son Gerald Cañete and Val to help me see more clearly what he was doing. The outcomes, however, were the same: total control regardless of the attack.

VERSATILITY MAXIMIZED“Doce pares is good for all kinds of peo-ple,” the elder Cañete said. “If civilians need to defend themselves, I can teach them a curriculum with more emphasis on disabling an attacker or controlling a bully that is appropriate for their needs. If security personnel need to learn from us, we have a highly effective and state-approved curriculum, which I developed to suit their legal limitations. For military personnel who need to dispatch their en-emies quickly and ef iciently, doce pares people have been teaching them for de- Ph

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cades. So whether you receive an attack with a stick, knife, punch, grab or what-ever, we make sure you are familiarized with the weapon and given a solution.”

As if to rib me about how easily he’d schooled me, the roving ambassador of eskrima added with a grin: “These techniques are not just for the young and powerful. You are a young man in your prime, and you can see how easily an old man like me in his 70s can take your attacks.”

It was true: I felt totally outmatched at every point of every exchange. Ca-

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Mark Cheng

ñete’s movements, while silky smooth, were never rushed. Regardless of how I attacked and with what implement, he consistently out-positioned me, making his follow-ups more ef icient for him and more painful for me.

From technique to technique and range to range, it became obvious that the la-vor of the movement was changing, as if the in luences from the component sys-tems were tangible. I asked Cañete how such systems can be taught together in a logical progression. “I was the one who cataloged the different techniques and

organized them into a curriculum,” he said. “My father’s only instructions were to give respect to all the founding mas-ters and to not show favoritism toward any one style. This was his vision.”

ART UNDERAPPRECIATED“When I irst came to the U.S. in the ’70s, I didn’t realize what a treasure I’d inher-ited,” Cañete said. “To me, martial arts training was just something I did since I was a boy. So when Dan Inosanto asked me what the name of our style was, I didn’t even have an answer. It’s because of his encouragement that I put so much into spreading FMA. In no small part, it is because of him that doce pares has be-come as popular as it has.”

Gerald Cañete, a master in his father’s system, explained another perspective on the breadth of the doce pares cur-riculum that his father organized. “If you learn only one system, you’re going to be good at that system, but you might be limited to the techniques that sys-tem favors,” he said. “If you learn a wide variety of techniques, you have more options and you’re educated as to what someone with a different background might try to use against you.”

Del Castillo added: “If you want to spe-cialize, that’s going to be easier if you’ve had a broader base of training. Doce pares multi-style eskrima gives you a great jumping-off point to go deeper into any of the Filipino martial arts.”

At that point, Gerald jumped back in. “My father has never hesitated, never been afraid to sacri ice his time, his money and his energy for Filipino mar-tial arts,” he said. “While some people are focused on making themselves the No. 1, my father’s been focused on mak-ing FMA as a whole the No. 1.

“Even after all these years, he still embodies that guiding principle of the original doce pares founders: to set aside differences and egos and politics to work for the greater goal of prepar-ing, preserving and promoting this in-credible body of knowledge. So many other instructors have enjoyed notori-ety and prestige because of his efforts in promoting FMA through all these years. It’s great to see him getting some of the recognition he deserves, espe-cially now that he’s retiring.”

Dionisio Cañete, right.

Sho Kosugi (right) and author

Jason William McNeil.


The year was 2006, and it was my irst visit to Hollywood. Whom did I choose to meet irst on that day? The foremost

name in ninja movies: Sho Kosugi.There I was, standing in Kosugi’s of-

ice in the heart of Tinseltown, having just wrapped an hourlong interview on the master movie ninja’s life, career and plans for the future, and the cam-era crew was making its way around the room, getting pickup shots. I was thrilled to have spent an hour hanging with my boyhood hero when Kosugi upped the excitement ante a notch.

“I don’t know if you’re interested,” he said, “but if you want more ilm …”

And with that, Kosugi opened a theretofore-unnoticed of ice door — seriously, it looked like a utility closet — and ushered us into his se-cret ninja lair. It harbored a treasure trove of every sword, throwing star, costume, metal claw and chain-mail mask that had ever appeared in an ’80s ninja lick. It also housed a plethora of scripts, original ilm prints and 8-by-10 glossy color photographs.

Once we pulled our jaws off the loor, the cast and crew very professionally ilmed every angle of the shinobi cor-

nucopia that Kosugi offered up for our cameras — then very unprofession-ally geeked out, tried on every piece of equipment and kept Kosugi an extra half-hour to pose for pictures. Ever the gentleman, he indulged our fanboy pro-clivities and even signed a poster for yours truly.

So what did we learn from our close encounter with Sho Kosugi? That if, even in a modest production of ice,

one can stumble across a secret room illed with ninja treasures, memorabil-

ia and death-dealing gadgets, then it’s obvious that the hidden world of the shadow warriors still hasn’t given up all its secrets. Here are 10 more titillat-ing facts I’ll bet you didn’t know — and didn’t even know you didn’t know — about the ninja.

1. Ninja Swords Had Leather Hand Guards, Not Those Big Square Metal Ones You See in the MoviesRisuke Otake sensei of Japan’s katori shin-to ryu explains: “This is so they will not rattle when moving around. They also have shorter blades and a longer cord.”

Historian Antony Cummins adds, “This is an obvious step for a shinobi to take, and the Shoninki (a historical text on ninjutsu) states that an o-waki-zashi is best — which is, of course, a short sword.”

[True Path of the Ninja, Antony Cum-mins and Yoshie Minami]

2. Ninja Fought in World War IIFrom a previously classi ied document: “A secret military spy school taught ninjutsu … as part of its curriculum. The Rikugun Nakano Gakko was run by the Japanese Imperial Army and was used to train military intelligence op-eratives in secret.”

Some 2,300 soldiers are believed to have graduated from the course before it was closed in 1945, when Japan sur-rendered to Allied forces. “The students weren’t just taught to sneak around in black footed-pajamas with katana and throwing stars … but also learned more practical methods of gathering intelli-

gence and sabotage, including bomb making and photography,” the docu-ment reveals.

[“WWII Ninjas? Secret Spy School Taught Ninjutsu Skills to Soldiers,” Adam Westlake, japandailypress.com]

3. Ninja Beat People With Live Snakes Anyone who’s seen Cannon Films’ 1983 classic Revenge of the Ninja can tell you two things: Ninja grandmas are awesome, and a kusari-gama is a short, sharp sickle with a chain or weighted rope attached to its handle. That attachment is used as a long-range weapon and for entangling a close-range opponent.

However, historical ninja didn’t limit themselves to mere chains and ropes. Masaaki Hatsumi, 34th grandmaster of togakure-ryu ninjutsu, says practitio-ners would sometimes attach “small, explosive charges or ireballs” and on special occasions “a bound, terri ied poisonous snake to the enemy’s body. The enemy would then be so busy deal-ing with the snake bites [that] he would be unable to counter the ninja as he ad-vanced with his ripping sickle blade.”

[Ninjutsu: History and Tradition, Ma-saaki Hatsumi]

4. Also, With Angry Cats!Kunoichi (female ninja) would some-times carry a luffy cat in their arms to conceal “a ninja dagger and smoke grenade,” Hatsumi writes. “[The cat] could also serve as a potent distraction weapon when thrown into the face of an unsuspecting intruder.”

[Ninjutsu: History and Tradition, Ma-saaki Hatsumi]

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Shadow WarriorsBY JASON WILLIAM MCNEIL

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5. Ninja “Magic” Comes From India, Not JapanThe shinobi mystic’s half-meditational, half-magical practice of kuji-in inger knitting, irst popularized in the ilms of Kosugi, was adapted from esoteric Bud-dhism. Before that, it was part of some sects of Hinduism. The earliest records of the practice are said to be written in San-skrit, a 3,000-year-old dead language.

Perhaps because of their mystical powers of concentration …

[True Path of the Ninja, Antony Cum-mins and Yoshie Minami]

6. Ninja Put UpWith a Lot of Crap — Literally “The most famous ninja assassination story is of how Uesugi Kenshin was

murdered in his lavatory by a ninja who had concealed himself [for days] in the sewage pit and who thrust a spear or sword up Kenshin’s anus at the crucial moment,” Stephen Turnbull writes.

Despite helping tip the political scales in favor of his presumed employer, Oda Nobunaga, the name of this muck-and-shadow-swathed hit-ninja, has been practically forgotten by history. The of-icial record simply lists Kenshin’s cause

of death as “a stomach ache in his toilet.”[Ninja: AD 1460 – 1650, Stephen Turnbull]

7. Sho Kosugi Is Not a Ninja,But He Plays One on TVThe world’s most famous movie ninja — the man who’s done more than any-one to bring Japan’s notoriously secre-tive shadow warriors into the ickle light of pop culture — is actually a mas-ter of shindo-jinsen-ryu karate. In addi-tion, he studied iaido and kendo while in college and, at age 18, became the All-Japan Karate champion.[Ninja: AD 1460 – 1650, Stephen Turnbull]

(As if his movie career and martial arts achievements weren’t enough, Kosugi’s publicist occasionally makes some noise about his client having been

informally trained in ninjutsu by a mys-terious “Uncle Yamamoto.” However, his existence hasn’t been con irmed.)

8. Sho Kosugi Wasn’tthe First Movie NinjaAlthough he’s certainly the most fa-mous — witness his of-course-we-cast-him-as-the-head-of-the-ninja-clan selection for the Andy Wachowski–produced 2009 homage to the genre known as Ninja Assassin — Kosugi is far from the irst black-clad shinobi to slink across the silver screen.

You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery’s ifth outing as British super-spy James

Bond, introduced Western audiences to Japan’s shadow warriors way back in 1967. Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer

Elite, starring Robert Duvall and James Caan, featured an extensive ninja battle on board a battleship, showcasing the slick kicking skills of the sensational Tak Kubota, in 1975.

9. Hattori Hanzo Was a Real PersonOf course, Japanese audiences have thrilled to the sight of cinematic ninja since movies and television irst found their way east. Arguably, the most fa-mous was Kage No Gundan (aka Shad-ow Warriors), a popular TV series that ran intermittently from 1980 to 1985. It starred Sonny Chiba as Hattori Han-zo. Not coincidentally, both the actor and the character were later co-opted by Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill.

What Gundan fans might not realize, however, is that Hattori Hanzo was the real name of the real person who was the head ninja in charge of ninja-ing for the shogun’s household. The name and the job were passed down from father to son for generations — although by the end, the position was mostly ceremonial and sadly vestigial: Foreign visitors reported seeing Japan’s top ninja being tasked with entertaining the shogun’s children by dodging snowballs in the courtyard.

10. Yes, You Can Visit a Ninja VillageJapan’s Koka Ninja Village is a popular tourist attraction. It features a range where you can throw shuriken, tunnels where you can explore once-secret es-cape routes and a nine-stage obstacle course where you can use “ninja tools” to try to walk on water or climb walls. There’s also a museum “displaying various manuals and tools used by the Koka ninja in the past.” Nearby is the Ninja Mansion, a 300-year-old building riddled with passages and more histor-ical artifacts.

However, before you sell all your worldly possessions and book your pilgrimage to ninjaworld, bear in mind that in Japan, the ninja exist mostly in history and comic books.

Therefore, going to Koka Village to learn the ancient art of the shadow warriors would be tantamount to showing up at Universal Studios for Spider-Man lessons.

If a trip to Japan isn’t in your budget, you can visit a ninja village closer to home. Ninja New York is a high-end sushi restaurant located deep under Manhattan. Step into an ominous-looking elevator with only one but-ton — down — and step out into a sprawling underground Japanese vil-lage. Ninja waiters will bring you su-shi, sashimi and sake to your heart’s content while cutting your food with razor-sharp katana and performing sleight of hand and lash- ire magic tricks. All this ninja goodness doesn’t come cheap, though. Dinner for three can exceed 500. And lest you think of saving a buck by skipping out on the tip, remember that your ninja waiters are armed and dangerous.

[Koka Ninja Village, japan-guide.com; ninjanewyork.com]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jason William McNeil is a freelance writer, martial artist and actor based in Southern California.

IF A TRIP TO JAPAN ISN’T IN YOUR BUDGET, YOU CAN VISIT A NINJA VILLAGE CLOSER TO HOME. NINJA NEW YORK IS A HIGH-END SUSHI

RESTAURANT LOCATED DEEP UNDER MANHATTAN.

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BETTER BUSINESS

Want your dojo to be more successful? Then focus on your kihon. It works, period. It’ll work for

you, and it’ll work for your students — just as it has for centuries. Unfor-tunately, it’s all too easy to neglect kihon. For example, you’re preparing your people for a tournament, and you let someone who doesn’t appre-ciate the value of kihon lead students through the warm-ups. The longer that person runs things, the more they spiral downward.

You must take pains to avoid letting this happen. You’ve got to bust your hump to keep your kihon in top shape, practicing the same stuff you teach be-ginners. And you need to ensure your students keep at it. The best way to do that is to make kihon an integral part

Basics Trainingby Floyd Burk

level of their training. In fact, the best instructors use kihon to help students connect the dots in almost every phase of their martial education. These dots — the basics — establish pathways for the mind and body to communicate. The training can lessen confusion, mak-ing it easier for students to choose the best move for the task at hand. As they advance, kihon becomes the tool for understanding the logic and reasoning behind the art.

It pays to remember — and to remind your students — that the best martial artists all drill in kihon. Those at the top of the charts on the tournament circuit come from dojo that never neglect the basics. Case in point: Of the 25-plus Black Belt Hall of Famers I’ve written about over the years, every one of them mentioned the importance of kihon.

There’s even a kihon connection for kids. Chuck Norris once wrote that not only is basics training good for students of every age, but it’s also especially im-portant for children. He said that when kihon is done in every class and in an orderly way, it gives kids a sense of se-curity. They arrive, line up and then be-gin the basics. In short, they know what to expect.

Norris went on to explain why: Many kids count on the dojo for the consis-tency they don’t get at home. Continu-ing education in the basics, along with positive reinforcement from you, can give them the structure they need.

AS YOU “RAISE” YOUR STUDENTS on a steady diet of kihon, they’ll start to take the basics as seriously as you do, and that will spill over into all aspects of their lives. Closer to home, they’ll contribute positively to the operation of the school. They’ll be good role mod-els. They’ll expound clear and concise messages when making posts on your website and Facebook page. They’ll in-

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FOR THOSE WHO may not know the term, kihon refers to the building blocks on which all other components of an art are built. It includes stance, positioning, footwork, hand strikes, kicks, and elbow and knee techniques — and sometimes even stretches, warm-ups and breakfalls.

Whatever your style, you start with kihon and proceed from there. And that’s where the problem often begins. The basics should always be your roots. They’re like your family — they must be visited, and visited often. This need not be tedious. You can change things up and make them as fun as you want. How? Take fundamentals like stretching, high kicking, fast punching and power striking, and start measuring the vari-ables as your students do them. Create a chart so they can gauge their progress.

KIHON ALSO CAN BE USED to drill students in preparation for the next

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KIT VERSION AT AMAZON.COMOFFENCE CARDS (kicks, punches, hard elbows/knees)........50DEFENCE CARDS (blocking, evasion, walk away, MERCY)50 FACE CARDS = MATH (FACERASE and FACESAVE)..................43WORD PROBLEMS: (WITH ANSWER KEY)Arithmetic & Algebra I, II (OPTIONAL)..........................................145Statistics & Calculus I, II, III, IV (Dif Eq) (OPTIONAL)...........25Chemistry & Probability (OPTIONAL)...............................................7Geometry & Pre-Calculus (OPTIONAL)..........................................11History & Linguistics (OPTIONAL)................................................2Physics & Trigonometry (OPTIONAL)..............................................20 TOTAL 139 CARDS

WHAT IS EGOBLOW®?THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO USE CARDS REPRE-SENTING KICKS, PUNCHES, BLOCKS, EVASION AND/OR MENTAL MATH WORD PROBLEMS TO SKILLFULLY DEFEAT AND/OR TO EMBARRASS OPPONENT. IDEAL GOALS OFEGOBLOW ARE TO EITHER WALK AWAY OR TO HARMLESS-LY RENDER THE OPPONENT HARMLESS (I.E., FIGHT WITH-OUT FIGHTING). ADULTS CAN EASILY KID-SAFE EGOBLOW BY REMOVING ANY UNWANTED CARDS. GOOD SKILL!!!

PEACE AT ALL COSTS IS COWARDLYC. CLEARE GLASHAUS, GRAND CHAMPION 1971,

B.A. LAS ’73,GREATLAND GAMES, POB 190816, ANCHORAGE, AK 99519

EGOBLOW.COM OR [email protected], TELE: (907) 360-4373

ALL Styles & ALL Ranks Welcome

TM

Est. 1972

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ElvisKarate.comTo order, call (800) 581-5222 or visit

blackbeltmag.com/shop

by Bruce Lee

Black Belt Books’ new edition of Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense gives martial arts enthusiasts and collectors exactly what they want: more Bruce Lee. In addition to the master’s insightful explanations on gung fu, this sleek book features digitally enhanced

photography, previously unpublished pictures with Lee’s original handwritten notes, a brand-new front and back cover, and introductions by widow Linda Lee Cadwell and daughter Shannon Lee. Fully illustrated. 112 pgs. (ISBN-13: 978-0-89750-112-5) Book Code 451—Retail $12.95

CHINESE GUNG FU The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense

(Revised and Updated)



The 164th issue of Black Belt was dated August 1977. It was 76 pages long and featured taekwondo stylist Alan Horn on the cover.

From the ArchivesVol. 15, No. 8, $1

Nationals Tae Kwon Do Tournament in South Korea. The reason he took up the martial arts is a common one: He

to black belt. When he returns to his country, the man will continue to teach Demura’s style of karate to his 340 followers.

-

“The idea is to land in such a way that the entire body absorbs the impact of a fall. If a 150-pound man falls,

he will end up with a broken arm or dislocated shoulder. However, if the force of the fall is evenly distributed from

Mike Stone prepares to launch a series of martial arts

rate of less that 5 percent. A back-of-the-book ad for Century Martial Arts fea-

giMichael Dillard. He was the boss of the company then,

-

-

A Black Belt

kenpo -

emotionally involved: You can step back and ask yourself

intended to absolve martial arts instructors of liability, a lawyer writes, “The courts take a dim view of a document

How does said lawyer recommend instructors avoid po-dojo.

(Note: Back issues are not for sale.)

black belt magazine - november 2014 usa.pdf

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