Iighting appears to have a 'disconnect' with traditional martial arts training according to the non-traditionalists. The average person could not or did not have the patience or desire to learn something that was somewhat mythical. OI the street-Iighting styles indicate that the traditional styles are void oI practical application.
Iighting appears to have a 'disconnect' with traditional martial arts training according to the non-traditionalists. The average person could not or did not have the patience or desire to learn something that was somewhat mythical. OI the street-Iighting styles indicate that the traditional styles are void oI practical application.
Iighting appears to have a 'disconnect' with traditional martial arts training according to the non-traditionalists. The average person could not or did not have the patience or desire to learn something that was somewhat mythical. OI the street-Iighting styles indicate that the traditional styles are void oI practical application.
training according to the non-traditionalists. Many oI the street-Iighting styles indicate that the traditional styles are void oI practical application. Having started my training in 1958, I have seen numerous changes in the martial arts world over these many decades. In the beginning there was a mysterious Iorbidden Iruit` sort oI understanding oI these Ioreign ways. The average person could not or did not have the patience or desire to learn something that was somewhat mythical. I remember bullies who tried to pick on me, saying that I Iight like a 'girl because I kicked instead oI simply using my Iists. I was very proud to Iight like a girl and remember thinking a girl Iighter was the ultimate Iighter based upon these old Iashioned comments. When I was in the 5th grade, 3 guys grabbed me across the street Irom the local bowling alley which was located about 2 blocks Irom school. They didn`t like me because my Iamily was very poor and I wore shabby clothes and hand-me- down shoes that I got Irom the Boys Club (yes in those days it was not the boys and girls club). I didn`t have a Iather and my mother worked at a small coIIee shop Ior $18 per month plus tips. The only way we were able to eat was those tips. The rent Ior our house was about $60 per month and it was always a struggle. I had a job aIter school to help pay the bills. Anyway, back to the situation across Irom the bowling alley; two boys held me and one started punching me in the Iace. I grabbed his groin and squeezed with the tenacity oI a bull rider trying to get my 8 seconds in beIore the buzzer. These boys were all a year older than me and the boy screamed so loud that the bowling alley manager rushed over to stop it and basically pull me oII. I had survived this attack with some Ilare and style. The Iollowing year I went to another school and didn`t see those boys until we went to junior high school the Iollowing year. I met with each oI those boys individually and gained their respect by beating each in a Iair Iight. The last boy, the leader oI the pack, met me at school and I was suspended Ior a Iew months Ior Iighting at school. As I Iound out, it`s not a good idea to ever Iight at school or at work Ior that matter. It`s always better to walk away with a smile on your Iace knowing that ugliness was averted. My mother sent me to live with my Uncle Bill. He was the one who was responsible Ior introducing me to martial arts 7 years earlier. My uncle lived in Holden, Missouri, a small town where most oI the residents lived on small ranches or Iarms on 1 plus acre parcels. My uncle was a pretty religious man who had turned to the Mormon religion and married a girl who was oI that Iaith. I mention this because oI how I Ielt my uncle would react to things and how wrong I was. +-:/. D+- 7-:/ +-:/. D+- 7-:/ 31 My uncle was short only about 5`4 tall and very muscular. He held brown belts in both karate and judo that he learned while in the Army stationed in Germany in the late 1950s. I had and still have a great deal oI respect and love Ior him. Now back to the story; I went to school in this strange place or at least it was strange to me. The students were diIIerent than those in Oklahoma or Kansas in that they liked diIIerent things than I was used to. The boys were in knitting classes and they weren`t Iriendly to new-comers or maybe it was just how I remember it. I didn`t Iit in; no one would be my Iriend. I would have to sit out in PE, since I was not chosen to play on any team and had to eat alone in the caIeteria. One oI the boys kept picking on me in the line while waiting to get our lunch. He would tell me that iI he couldn`t kick my butt, he`d cry, I replied by saying that he should start balling like a baby right then and there. He was not amused, but I was! One day I was in study hall in the library and was squatting down looking Ior a book, when this girl leaned over and asked what I was looking Ior. As she leaned over she was wearing a pendant on a chain and she was really cute, so Ior some reason, I can`t explain, I reached up and grabbed the pendant, pulled her down towards me and gave her a little kiss on the mouth. She smiled and I thought, that was a good move on my part and I was Ieeling sort oI manly. The next day while I was sitting out as usual during PE in the gym; the door burst open and in walks this 'Ionzy-type dude complete with the greased back hair, leather jacket and chain hanging Irom his pocket. He had a bigger Iriend with him and he walked over to me and said 'I heard you were messing with my girl. I said 'I don`t know what you are talking about he replied by saying that someone saw me kiss her in the library. I said 'maybe you need to talk to her and not me. I said 'iI she`s your girl, she`s your problem. He pushed me and said 'we`re going to Iight. 32 OI course by now all the kids in PE were watching and thought that this guy Irom high school was going to give me a beating and they were laughing and happy about it. I told the guy to go talk to her and he started to push me again and I hit him pretty hard in the side oI the jaw. He went down like a stone in a deep pond. He was out and I looked at his stunned Iriend and said 'are you next? He said, 'She`s not my girlIriend. He helped wake up his Iriend and they leIt. All oI a sudden the other guys were asking me to play on their team. I guess I was now accepted in some weird way. Things were Iinally palatable Ior me and I thought I`d be ok until the end oI the school year. That was short- lived, since the one kid in the lunch line would not stop with the taunting. One day on the bus ride home he was sitting towards the Iront oI the bus next to his sister when he yelled back to me saying 'come up here so I can kick your butt. I said 'why don`t you come back here. He walked towards me and as he got close, I stood up and hit him in the mouth; he Iell back holding onto the seat rails to keep Irom Ialling on the Iloor, so I continued to hit him over and over again. Blood was all over his Iace and his sister was screaming at me. The bus driver stopped the bus and separated us. The bus driver made me sit in the seat right behind him. I thought I was in big trouble now and my uncle was probably going to beat me up when he heard about this. To say the least, I was saddened by this turn oI events. I dreaded telling my uncle about the Iight; however, as it turns out I didn`t have to, since by the time I had mustered up enough courage to tell him, the phone rang. It was the parents oI the boy that I was Iighting with. I listened as my uncle calmly told the man on the other end oI the phone how his son kept picking on his nephew (I had mentioned a Iew times how this boy was picking on me). My uncle said that the boy got what he deserved. Then my uncle said something so out oI character, I was a bit shocked. He told the man on the phone in an elevated voice that he`d be happy to come over and teach him manners iI necessary! 33 My uncle explained to me that he went through something similar when he Iirst came to Missouri and he understood what I was dealing with. UnIortunately I was asked to leave the school and my uncle had to send me back to Oklahoma to live with my mother. OI course in those days we didn`t have cell phones and quick communications. My mother had no phone and my uncle assumed I`d simply walk Irom the bus station to my house about 15 blocks away and be at home. I was 11 years old when I got oII the bus downtown. I had an old suitcase in my hand and I headed to my house. When I Iinally got there, the house was empty. The Iamily had moved. I asked the neighbors iI they knew where my Iamily moved to and they said they didn`t know. I was now on my own, with a dollar or so in my pocket, I searched Ior my Iamily. It took 3 weeks to Iind them. I slept under small over crossing bridges and in empty train cars. I had to be very careIul to spend the very minimum amount oI money Ior Iood. When I did run out oI money, I gathered 'pop bottles Ior reIunds at the local store and was able to get enough money to keep going. When I Iinally Iound out where my Iamily moved, I was very disappointed that they were living in a shack in an alley near the restaurant where my mother had recently started working. This little one room shack had tin walls and a tin rooI with no kitchen sink. We had to wash dishes in the bathroom sink. I got a job at the boys club working the basket room Ior the gym and also mowing lawns as well as selling hotdogs at the local Iootball games every weekend. I was able to get $60 together to rent a house around the corner that had 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. I moved the Iamily in and we lived there until we move to CaliIornia in 1967. 34 OI course my karate training came in handy every time I had to Iight one oI my mother`s many boyIriends over the years. I was a kid, Iighting these grown up men that were abusing my mother and we had some pretty knock down drag out Iights. I never cried and I never lost a Iight, none that I`d admit to anyway. In my mind I always prevailed. I was promoted to shodan (1 st degree black belt) in 1966 by Sensei Joe Spriggs, 8 years aIter I started training. I went Irom white belt to black belt and there were no color belts at all. In CaliIornia, we had a Iresh start and I continued to train by myselI. I was aIraid that iI I Iound a karate school, it would be so diIIerent they`d laugh at me or would not even let me train. Just beIore I joined the Marine Corps, I had a very large and very tough Iight with my mother`s boyIriend, Bob, who was a blackbelt in judo. He was an ok guy but I Iound some pills in my mother`s purse when she asked me to get something out oI it Ior her. I recognized them Irom pills one oI my school acquaintances showed me once and they were meth tablets. I conIronted her and she told me that they were her boyIriend`s pills he had given to her to hold Ior him. I Iigured she was telling me the truth, since she didn`t even smoke or take any kind oI medicine. One night, I had a date, I was 16 years old and my little brother wanted to go with me on my date. I said no and told him to stop asking. All oI a sudden Bob came up Irom behind and put me in a choke hold with both hands around my neck. I Iound out he was upset with me over the pill episode. At this point, I was looking at my mother`s Iace as I was being choked out then I reached up, released the pressure Irom his arm and threw him over my shoulders where he landed on his back. He instantly jumped up and hit me as hard as he could and I Ilew into the wall in the hall about 10 Ieet away. I came right back and started punching him back when he grabbed me and we Ilew into the lamp smashing it and as I got back up and started to continue, he said 'get out. I leIt and when I came home later, he met me at the door, telling me that he had been in many Iights; since he was a member oI the Hells Angles. He went on to say this was the best Iight he ever had. He said I was a real challenge and he apologized. I accepted his apology and Ielt like I was Iinally starting to get some respect as a young adult. I joined the Marine Corps, since I graduated Irom school early by taking and passing some challenge courses. My grandmother called the recruiter to talk me into joining. I did my time, spent 5 months over seas and was TAD in Okinawa in 1970 Ior a tournament in Naha at the Kadena Air Force Base. I took Iirst place in kumite and in kata. I also spent some time in Cambodia on an LP (listening post) where I hurt both my knees and received an early discharge as an honorably discharged disabled veteran. During these years, I continued my training and met my Shorin-ryu teacher in Hawaii, Miyagi Sensei. At this time there were a Iew known styles and as the years passed, I have noticed all oI these other styles, many claiming to be around Ior a long time. There are those who pretend to teach mystical no-touch stuII, Iancy mixtures with many pieces oI pure arts and 'street Iighting methods that promise to make you a killing machine. 35 I Iind it interesting that I keep hearing about street Iighting as compared to a 'martial art. That is one oI the silliest things I`ve ever heard, since I`ve been in many Iights and it has almost always been on the street or an ally or hallway or building or sidewalk or somewhere other than a dojo. Should all these styles be called ally Iighting, hallway Iighting or sidewalk Iighting? So many times the new-Iangled styles are nothing more than parts oI other proven 'arts without beneIit oI all the tuite` Bunkai, kata as well as mind and body connection and time-required preparation. Sometimes a new style was designed to give some sort oI power to a selI- serving power hungry egotist with a narcissistic personality. In the end and aIter nearly 55 years oI training, I believe that there are some very good combined styles and reasons Ior creating them, however, there is a huge void oI humble, modest yet noble patriarchs oI the martial arts that so many oI us love! 0ll#.llNNN.800flf0.0lI 36