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From Ashida Kim scripts
Old Pine Tree Method of Unity and Self Discipline
Rev. Dr Christopher J. Bashaw, RN, sensei; Soke- Kosho Hoho Yooga a or “Old Pine Tree Method of Unity and Self Discipline,” a blending of Kosho Ryu Kempo and Tai Chi. Kosho Hoho Yooga takes the traditional teachings of the Japanese Warrior monk of 1235 AD (true self-defense, healing and spiritual arts) and makes it applicable for the 21st century. Sensei Bashaw holds Black Belt ranking in both Shaolin Kempo Karate, Mugei-Mumei no Jitsu as well as certification in Yang style Tai Chi. He is and has also been a Registered Nurse for over 2 decades (both miliatary and civilian). Over the last 20 years he has become certified as a Reiki Master/ Teacher developing his own system of Reiki, Kokoro Ryu Reiki System of Natural Healing, as well as taking vows as a Buddhist Priest and holds a Doctorates in Divinity. He is also a practitioner of western herbalism, internal and external chi kung healing, and shamanic practice. He is also a member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Christopher is also on the advisory board for AIANE (Asian Internal Arts of New England). Bashaw, sensei is also a CNFT (Certified Natural Fitness TrainerTM). Bashaw sensei is available for seminars and private instruction in the spiritual, healing and martial arts of Kosho Hoho Yooga.
KARATE STORIES:
By original History General Jim Butin
I mentioned earlier about my experience with Howard Jackson and the US Team I fought on in the 1st World Tae Kwon Do Championships in Seoul, Korea in 1973, my team was comprised of Mike Warren, Albert Cheeks, Archie Cole, Joe Hayes, and myself. The Koreans put me as the anchor man, usually reserved for the best guy, which I thought should go to Mike Warren, because he was one of the most talented fighters I have ever been around. We fought the Koreans in the 1st round of a double elimination event with 26 competing countries, so this really was a WORLD event, not like so many named championships that only include North America like we see today. Each of our team members seemed to be doing great against the Koreans but all lost their matches except me. I tied the Korean I fought in three two minute rounds, not impossible, but I thought it strange. I felt that I had beaten him, but no more than my team mates may have beated their foes. We went to the losers round, we fought the republic of China, these guys were smaller than us and one of the rules prohibited making face contact with your hands, knock them out with your feet, (no safety gear), but don’t punch them. Each of my team members, accidently or on purpose hit the 1st four fighters in the face and they all went down and were knocked out (they were gutless and did not want to get up!) This resulted in the 1st four matches ending in disqualifications with no winner. My anchor position could eliminate us from the event or I could win it and advance our team into the finals to fight Korea for the championship. I knew a punch to the face would end our competition, so I did nothing but kick my opponent through two rounds, in the 3rd round he moved in and punched me as hard as he could on the jaw and knocked me on my rear end. When I got up I really wanted to give him some of the same medicine, my coaches were jumping up and down urging me to stay cool and win the fight, which is exactly what I did and we advanced to the final round against Korea for the 2nd time!
Karate is a form of self-discipline training not to mention physical training, it is a perfect answer to helping your toddler become self motivated and disciplined thus, inspiring them to perform high in whatever they do.
kids karate houston
The Living Legend’s Celebrity Roast of Mark Gerry
Article by:Professor Gary Lee
The Living Legend’s Celebrity Roast of Mark Gerry
Article by: Professor Gary Lee
It’s June 17, 2011 at the Castro Valley Center of the Arts in Castro Valley, California. Martial arts stars are out tonight to attend the Living Legend’s Roast of Kajukenbo Sifu Mark Gerry . Meet James Lew, movie star and legendary performer; Ernie Reyes Sr., sixty four years young and one of the legends of sport karate; Harry Mok, stuntman, actor, producer, director and writer; Nicole Gerry, Miss California Model of the Year 2010; Cynthia Rothrock, sport martial arts icon and movie star; Frank Dux, inspiration for the movie “Bloodsport”, an actor, producer, director and writer; Eric Lee, the living legend, world renown kata champion, and author of martial arts instructional book and DVDs; Sonny Sison, actor, stuntman, choreographer, director and producer. Art Camacho, award winning action film director and action choreographer for the likes of Steven Seagal, and kickboxing champion and actor Don Wilson among others.
This celebrity roast is an extravaganza, a gathering of great martial artists both on stage and in the audience, and all are here to honor and roast a Kajukenbo legend, Sifu Mark Gerry, until he is well done! The greats on stage are definitely not going to pull their punches, they are Gerry’s best friends in the martial arts, some reaching movie stardom as actors and stuntman, some directors of the movies you and I watch everyday, all have made sincere contributions to the arts and each would be worthy of roasting.
I arrived in Oakland California early Thursday morning and was picked up by Todd Dunphy, Hawaiian Braddah, who is a class champion , tomorrow he will enter seven divisions at the Sid Campbell Memorial Event and win seven Gold Medals and Grand Champion of the event.
When I arrived at Mark Gerry’s home in the beautiful hills of Castro Valley, it was all I expected it to be, half beautiful home and half martial arts museum including photos, awards, rum cigars, a Dojo, Kwoon, sword displays and so much more!
I settled into my room off the Dojo area, next to sword room, and I had wall to wall pictures of Mark’s martial arts friends and acquaintances. Many of those friends would be attending the Roast tomorrow night and would also stay at the Gerry home. These guests would include Cynthia Rothrock, movie star and Queen of Kata and Black Belt Hall of Famer, movie star, director and stuntman, James Lew who also happens to be a History General for the Martial Arts History Museum. Also staying at the Gerry’s home was Art Camacho, Super Director for Don Wilson and Steven Seagal and a student of Eric Lee. Frank Dux, was there as well. Frank is the man behind the movie Bloodsport and one of the Black Dragon Fighting Society youngest members. Serious Sonny Sison, an actor, director, and incredible stuntman who, along with Art Camacho, shared with us about the business of acting and stunt work for martial artists. A real joy was Eric Kovoleski! He is a Tang Soo Do Master and a great martial artist, but even more, he is a great person, who, along with Dana Stamos, Director and Founder of USADOJO.COM and WorldWideDojo.com, lent a helping hand whenever needed, which meant many trips to the airport for the two of them!
Friday, the day of the Roast, is a busy day. People are arriving and the house fills up with the special people who will roast their friend, Mark Gerry.
I go outside to look at the beautiful view of Castro Valley and to gather my thoughts. This would be a huge event, maybe the biggest we had ever had in California, or anywhere for that matter, and I was to be the Roast Master. As I enjoyed the view, a tall distinguished man walks out of the house and asks me to direct him to our host.
I answered his question and realized that he was one of Mark’s special guests, he was Frank Dux, the man made famous by the movie Bloodsport! Dux did not star in the movie. Bloodsport was based on Dux’s life as a Kumite fighter. Somehow we got caught up in a conversation, and for three hours we stand and talk about history, Dux’s fighting years, his relationships with the Navy Seals and covert forces, his great friendship with legendary karate Master, Victor Moore and the Black Dragon Fighting Society, and about all the controversy that surrounds his life. Every now and then I throw in a story I’ve heard about him, just to confirm accuracies or to find out if it was all just hear-say, a story that has grown more outrageous though the years.
This conversation with Frank Dux was one of the most enjoyable I have ever had. An articulate and very knowledgeable man, Dux and I became instant friends. We continued to share in conversation, morning, afternoon and often late into the night for the next three days.
As more guests arrive, I realize that this would be a very special weekend, and not just because of the Roast itself. Todd Dunphy has been with Mark throughout the week helping to prepare for the event and as usual, he and his girl friend Grace are helping the guest as they come in.
Movie Director Art Camacho arrives, we hug and I think about Star Bash in Las Vegas. Art was finishing up “Sci Fi Fighter” using the event as a backdrop for the end of the movie, and Star Bash was a huge event. Art had flown me in to help run the event and to be Master of Ceremonies for the awards.
The Friday night of Star Bash, a huge thunder storm had shut down the freeway from Los Angeles and the tournament producers didn’t want to start the tournament until the road was open. Art came to the rescue, but not my rescue. Art says to me, “Gary, you need to entertain the audience until the tournament begins, help me pick out some players for a scene and go play with the White Tiger.”
I said, “I got the part about helping with the scene, but what Tiger?!! There was a huge five hundred pound white tiger on the set, and Art wanted me to entertain the crowd by hugging the tiger. I did what he asked, and I still think I’M CRAZY for doing so.
Next to arrive were “Super Stars “James Lew and Cynthia Rothrock. I remain very humble around them because we have known each other since the early days of Sport Karate competition in America, and they have earned our respect.
James would become an awesome player. With his Broadsword, he would take win after win blowing away the competition. He was soon picked up by Hollywood and he has acted with the best, from a knife fighting with Jean-Claude Van Dam in “Time Cop”, to being killed in” Lethal Weapon 4″ by Jet Li. He is one of the super stars in martial arts movies.
Cynthia is truly a Living Legend among martial arts legends, the Queen of Kata on the circuit, and an exceptional martial arts actress, however, when I was hugging her and paying my respect, I flashed back to 1982 and the Top Ten Nationals in Stockton, California. There was about twenty of us competing in weapons that day and here comes Cynthia with her double-hook swords. She whip’s us all and earns her very first Grand Championship, only one of the many that followed. I took third place to her that day and it was a humbling expierence and from it I have a saying I have carried with me and I share it with all my Black Belts, “You are not a real man until you get beat by a lady in kata,” lol. Then, of course, there were the China O’Brien movies which shoot Cynthia to fame and fortune!
With Cynthia was a young man of Tang Soo Do Korean Karate, Eric Kovoleski. He was part of Miss Rothrock’s history, his father was Cynthia’s first instructor in Pennsylvania and he, a close friend to Cynthia. Eric is well mannered and was very helpful in setting up the event. He also took the time to create and give to each one of us Roasters and Celeb’s, a Tang Soo Do Korean Certificate of appreciation, my first Korean document.
It is Friday afternoon and we are all getting ready for the big event. Dana Stamos has been made Stage Manager under the direction of Mark Gerry’s talented son, Nicholas Gerry, who is running the show. We all go to the theater to set the show in order. I get a ride from fitness guru, Tracie Soder who is one of Ernie Reyes Black Belts. Later at the event she performs a difficult fitness routine flawlessly.
I arrive at the event earlier than most so I can set up the Museum of Sport Karate display and booth. This way I can concentrate on greeting the guests as they arrive.
These Roasts are such great events because they bring people together to show our respect for one another. Men and women liked Ming Lum, Al Novak, George Baker, Jamie Cashion, Jimmy Willis, Dan Tosh, Robin and Janis Taberna, Robert Parham, Bob Machimeir, Mark Stoner, Dana Stamos, and so many others attend such events.
The show starts out with a bang! Mark Gerry, dressed like Elvis Presley, sings Your Cheating Heart. He does a great Elvis impersonation and the audience loves it. What a way to break the ice! Then one by one the special guest are announced and Roasters, Miss California Nicole Gerry, Sonny Sison, Harry Mok, Frank Dux, Ernie Reyes, Art Camacho, James Lew, Eric Lee, Cynthia Rothrock, are introduced. You know this super star lineup is ready to roast Mark Gerry over some pretty hot coals.
The Master of Ceremonies Jeff Applebaum, a professional comedian and class act, entertains us while introducing this evenings acts, which include some very talented martial arts demonstration teams and some beautiful dancers, including Mark Gerry who loves to dance.
Tracie Soder opens for the the performers with a challenging fitness routine. Then comes Team Internationals, the Long Beach International team and they perform spectacular feats of martial arts prowess, with proper technique and beauty. Next comes the always flawless kata performance of Todd Dunphy.
Up next, the Ernie Reyes demo team, who have performed for some forty years. This performance, including drums and karate, is truly a creative masterpiece of style by the majestic Ernie Reyes. Using his vast knowledge of perfect performance, this demonstration of talent gave this old timer goosebumps and thrilling moments that I will never forget. It was a perfect performance, Five Stars!!!!!
The thrilling ride never stopped during this evening, but only kept getting better and more spectacular!
Next came a seriously impressive Tango performed by professional dancers Lisette Pereile and Julian Ramil. Following them, the beautiful ballerina Musette and Mark Gerry performed another very elegant dance, their passion for dance filling the stage.
This great entertainment is followed by the Hall of Fame Awards and a short intermission.
Jeff Applebaum does a fantastic job entertaining all of us and adds much class to an event that had been tested eighteen times before. Now it was my turn to take over as Roast Master. I knew this part of the evening was going to be a roller coaster of feelings because many of us had been friends for thirty or, for some of us, forty years. Starting in sport karate competition, some moved into commercials, television, movies and media, becoming stronger people, representing each of us who love the martial arts on an international scale. We had remained a family through the years, and that was the theme I wanted to share during this part of the evening. It is Ohana and the Aloha spirit that created the atmosphere in that standing room only theater in Castro Valley, California, that night and it was the Taberna’s and the Gerry’s and Eric Lee, and myself who had helped create this amazing moment. The lineup of Roasters was just too good to be true and the roast was, of course, all in fun, friend to friend, but I just had to introduce the Roasters with funny little remarks, all in jest, of course.
Nicole Gerry showed a wonderful father daughter presentation as she teased her dad endlessly. Sonny Sison and Harry Mok were hilarious as they roasted their friend Mark Gerry. Frank Dux even had Mark arrested and handcuffed by the local sheriff. Ernie Reyes. Art Camacho, the great director, made a classic film of Gerry’s life. James Lew and Eric Lee made him take off his shirt to show everybody his muscles and the roasters threw dollars bills at Mark’s feet. It was all very funny stuff and if you weren’t there with us, you missed a great evening.
When it was Miss Rothrock’s turn, she roasted Mr. Gerry with a vengeance, as they were an item a few years ago, and she knew just where to strike to do the most “damage”. Not really, Cynthia is a classy lady and it showed. Mark’s rebuttals were a little “R” rated, but not too much so. He is also a classy guy who took it all in stride as he was roasted by the cream of the crop in martial arts competition and entertainment.
As we closed I presented to Mark a Tsunami Hoi-ryu Musashi Sword, live and battle ready, donated by Samurai Supply. I also took the time to invite everyone to the Sid Campbell Memorial Event scheduled for the next day. The event was sponsored by the Golden State Karate Association.
After the Roast, I thought I was the last person at the theater, everybody had left to attend the after party. I was sitting outside the Theater when My new friend, Frank Dux, walked around the corner and said “I think we’ve been left behind! ”
We finally made it to the after party which took place in Mark Gerry’s home. It was 3:00 am when I finally laid my head down to sleep. Tomorrow would began another day set aside to celebrate the life of Sid Campbell, the man who had a giant impact on my life, and my son’s life, and of course, on the lives of all who would attend the Sid Campbell Memorial Event the next day.
7:00 am came way to early, but Dana Stamos and Eric Kovoleski got me coffee, and helped me set up and my booth at the tournament. It was a beautiful booth, with prints and memorabilia, T-shirts and other goodies from the Museum of sport karate. When the tournament started they ask me to say something about Sid Campbell and what he meant to me and to my son. I also had a presentation to give to Dr. Dan Tosh and we inducted him into the Karate Masters Hall of Fame as a Board Member with permission from Hanshi Andrew Linick , the founder of the KMHOF in 1972. We inducted Sid Campbell in spirit into the Karate Masters Hall of Fame as well and Harry Mok and I presented the certificates to the three best friends Sid had, all of who held his hands as he left this earth to go to the Dojo in the sky. Receiving Sid Campbell’s Karate Masters Hall of Fame Certificate were Grand Master Dan Tosh , Grand Master Eric Lee, and Grand Master Mark Gerry.
A great weekend, a great roast, a great tournament, a great gathering of friends, and, as I said earlier, after all these years we’re still together, some in body and others in Spirit! Thank you, Mark Gerry, for all your hospitality and for allowing us to roast you!
Article edited by Dana L. Stamos
Photos by Kent Vives
The five books
Kanjisenki.jpg
Although it is difficult to grasp it from the book, Go Rin No Sho, these books are actually the teachings which Musashi preached to his students in his own dōjō. Despite taking some ideas from others, the books are not based on any other school of teaching.
The five “books” refer to the idea that there are different elements of battle, just as there are different physical elements in life, as described by Buddhism, Shinto, and other Eastern religions. The five books below are Musashi’s descriptions of the exact methods or techniques which are described by such elements.
The term “Ichi School” is referred to in the book, Go Rin No Sho. When referring to such books, it refers to “Niten No Ichi Ryu” or “Ni Ten Ichi Ryu”, which means, when literally translated, “Two heaven, one school”, although many could see the translation as “Two Swords, One spirit”, or “Two Swords, One Entity”. However, the translation of “Two Swords, one Dragon” was thought to be a transliteral misinterpretation of the Kanji word Ryu.
The Book of Earth chapter serves as an introduction, and metaphorically discusses martial arts, leadership, and training as building a house.
The Book of Water chapter describes Musashi’s style, Ni-ten ichi-ryu, or “Two Heavens, One Style”. It describes some basic technique and fundamental principles.
The Book of Fire chapter refers to the heat of battle, and discusses matters such as different types of timing.
The Book of Wind chapter is something of a pun, since the Japanese character can mean both “wind” and “style” (e.g., of martial arts). It discusses what Musashi considers to be the failings of various contemporary schools of swordfighting.
The Book of the Void chapter is a short epilogue, describing, in more esoteric terms, Musashi’s probably Zen-influenced thoughts on consciousness and the correct mindset.
[edit] The Book of Ground[1]
The ground book, according to Go Rin No Sho, is mentioned as the book which refers expressly to the strategy taught by Musashi at the Ichi School, and it is said to be how to distinguish the way through “Sword-Fencing”, or “Swordsmanship”. The idea of strategy mentioned in this book is that of situational strategy, such as techniques and tricks to use when fighting indoors, outdoors, on a horse, or in various other conditions. The book or discipline is that of strategies taught to Ichi school students who would be encouraged to be very astute in their study and strategy:
Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground … These things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see. You must study hard.
Upon their mastery of the strategy and timing listed in the five books, Musashi states that you will be able to defeat ten men as easy as you could defeat one, and asks: “When you have reached this point, will it not mean that you are invincible?”
The strategies listed in this discipline or book relate to situations requiring different weapons and tactics, such as indoor weapons. Musashi states that the use of halberd-like naginata and spears are purely for on the field, whereas the longsword and accompanying short-sword can be used in most environments, such as on horseback or in fierce battle.
Musashi also mentions the gun as having no equal on the battlefield. It is the supreme weapon on the battlefield, until swords clash—then it becomes useless. He also notes that the gun is somewhat lesser than the bow, since at that time guns were not very accurate at ranges any longer than point-blank in addition to the disadvantage of being unable to see the bullet and adjust your aim as you would with a bow. Not to mention, in the 17th century, the gap in reloading speeds between skilled archers and skilled gunmen was rather large.
One of the principles of the Niten Ichi-ryū is that one should be versed in many weaponry skills. Musashi indicates that during battle you should not overuse one weapon—this is as bad as using the weapon poorly since it becomes easy for an enemy to find a weakness in your style after countless uses of the same weapon.
Timing, as explained by Musashi, is the core principle in strategy which is listed in the Ground Book. The idea of timing as explained within the ground book is that you must be able to adapt your strategy to timing with your skill, in that you must know when to attack and when not to attack.
In The Book of Five Rings he writes on timing:
“Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. In all skills and abilities there is timing…. There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain.”
[edit] The Book of Water
The water book concerns strategy, but it also includes various other factors which perhaps a warrior reading the book should take into consideration, such as spirituality, religion, and one’s outlook on life. The meaning of water in relation to life is flexibility. Water demonstrates natural flexibility as it changes to conform with the boundaries which contain it, seeking the most efficient and productive path. So also should one possess the ability to change in accordance with one’s own situation to easily shift between disciplines, methods, and options when presented with new information. A person should master many aspects of life allowing them to possess both balance and flexibility.
The spiritual bearing in strategy, which Musashi writes about concerns your temperament and spirituality whilst in the midst of, or in formulation of a battle. Being a buddhist, most of what is written in the section concerning spirituality refers to principles of calmness, tranquility and spiritual balance;
In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm.
This balance refers to what could be thought of as yin and yang within yourself. The over-familiarity or over-use of one weapon is discouraged by Musashi, as it would be seen to reveal your spirituality to your enemy. The idea is that a perfectly balanced spirit is also a perfectly balanced physical presence, and neither creates weakness nor reveals it to your enemy.
During battle, the spirituality and balance is something of which Musashi notes that you should take advantage. Since small people know the spirituality of big people, they can thus note differences and weaknesses between each other. This is something which seems easy, but it is said to change when you are on the battlefield, as then you must know to both adjust your spiritual balance according to what is around you, and to perceive the balance of those around you to take advantage accordingly.
Just as your spirit should be balanced, your various techniques be honed to a perfectly balanced demeanour. In terms of stance, much like balance within the trooper, Musashi notes that stance is an important part of strategy, or battle: Adopt a stance with the head erect, neither hanging down, nor looking up, nor twisted. This is part of what Musashi notes as wedging in.
In regards to the gaze of someone, he notes that a person must be able to perceive that which is all around him without moving their eyeballs noticeably, which is said to be a skill which takes an enormous amount of practice to perfect. He notes that this is again one of the most important parts of strategy, as well as being able to see things which are close to you, such as the technique of an enemy. It is also used to perceive things far away, such as arriving troops or enemies, as that is the precursor to battle. You can then change your actions according to what you see.
[edit] Attitudes of swordsmanship
Upper
Middle
Lower
Right Side
Left Side
The five attitudes of swordsmanship are referred to as the five classifications of areas for attack on the human body. These are areas which are noted for their advantages when striking at an enemy, and the strategist is said to think of them when in situations where, for any reason, you should not be able to strike them. Then his mind should adjust accordingly.
Your attitude should be large or small according to the situation. Upper, Lower and Middle attitudes are decisive. Left Side and Right Side attitudes are fluid. Left and Right attitudes should be used if there is an obstruction overhead or to one side. The decision to use Left or Right depends on the place.
As each is thought of as an attitude, it could be thought of that Musashi means to practice with each “attitude” so that you do not become over-reliant upon one, something which Musashi repeatedly notes as being worse than bad technique.
“No Attitude” refers to those strategists who do not go with the use of the “Five Attitudes” and prefer to simply go without the attitudes of the long sword to focus entirely on technique, as opposed to focusing on both technique and the five attitudes. This is similar to taking chances as opposed to making chances.
The attitude of “Existing – Non Existing”, mixes the Five Attitudes with the Attitude of “No Attitude”, meaning that the user of the longsword uses the techniques and principles of both at whichever moment he or she finds most opportune.
“In-One Timing” refers to the technique of biding your time until you can find a suitable gap in the enemies’ defense, to which you will deliver one fatal blow to the enemy. Although this is said to be difficult, Musashi notes that masters of this technique are usually masters of the five attitudes because they must be perceptive of weaknesses. It is rumoured that Musashi disgraced a former sword master by using such a technique with a Bokken, but there are no descriptions mentioning “In one” timing.[citation needed]
“Abdomen Timing of Two” refers to feinting an attack, then striking an enemy as they are retreating from the attack, hitting them in the abdomen with the correct timing of either two moves or two seconds. Although the technique seems relatively simple, Musashi lists this as one of the hardest techniques to time correctly.
“No Design, No Conception” refers to When word and actions are spontaneously the same. Aside from this philosophical approach to the meaning, the technique is relatively simple to explain: if you are in a deadlock with the enemy, using the force from the cut, you push with your body and use the disciplines outlined in the Void Book to knock the enemy over.
This is the most important method of hitting. It is often used. You must train hard to understand it.
“Flowing Water Cut” technique refers to if you come into a fight with an enemy of a similar level to you in swordsmanship. When attacking fast, Musashi notes that you will always be at stalemate, so like Stagnant water, you must cut as slowly as possible with your long sword. At the beginning of this technique you and your opponent will be searching for an opening within each other’s defense. When your opponent either tries to push off your sword, or to hasten back as to disengage it, you must first expand your whole body and your mind. By moving your body first and then that of your sword, you will be able to strike powerfully and broadly with a movement that seems to reflect the natural flow of water. Ease and confidence will be attained when this technique is continuously practiced upon.
“Continuous Cut” refers to when you are again faced with stalemate within a duel, where your swords are clasped together. In one motion, when your sword springs away from theirs, Musashi says to use a continuous motion to slash their head, body, and legs.
“Fire and Stone’s Cut” refers to when your swords clash together. Without raising your sword, you cut as strongly as possible. This means cutting quickly with hands, body, and legs.
“Red Leafs Cut” refers to knocking down the enemy’s long sword in the spirit of the “No Design, No Conception” cut.
[edit] The Book of Fire
The Fire Book refers to fighting methods unlike the specific fighting techniques listed in the Water Book. It goes into a broader scope in terms of hints as to assess a situation, as well as specific situational instructions.
He notes obvious advantages of armor and preparedness before a duel or battle as it applies to one man or a whole group of men:
As one man can defeat ten men, so can one thousand men defeat ten thousand. However, you can become a master of strategy by training alone with a sword, so that you can understand the enemy’s stratagems, his strength and resources, and come to appreciate how to apply strategy to beat ten thousand enemies.
The dependence of location according to the Go Rin No Sho is crucial. You must be in a place where man-made objects such as buildings, towers, castles, and such do not obstruct your view, as well as facing or standing in a position where the sun or moon does not affect your vision. This is purely so that your vision is focused on nothing but the enemy, and thus there is more concentration upon the enemy’s stratagems. Musashi also seems to note the age old strategy of the High Ground:
You must look down on the enemy, and take up your attitude on slightly higher places.
Other kinds of tactics which of Musashi tells are way of ensuring that the enemy is at a disadvantage. Forcing yourself on the non-dominant side of a trooper is one way because the left side is difficult for a right-handed soldier. Other disadvantages, such as forcing enemies into footholds, swamps, ditches, and other difficult terrain, force the enemy to be uncertain of his situation.
These things cannot be clearly explained in words. You must research what is written here. In these three ways of forestalling, you must judge the situation. This does not mean that you always attack first; but if the enemy attacks first you can lead him around. In strategy, you have effectively won when you forestall the enemy, so you must train well to attain this.
Ken No Sen (Attacking) is the most obvious method of forestalling an enemy because a head on collision forces both parties to a standstill. Although it is not mentioned, Musashi must have been well aware that this method would also be the most likely to have a higher death count than the others due to the sheer mass of enemies because more than one enemy could then attack a single soldier or trooper.
As the name suggests, Tai No Sen (Waiting for the Initiative) is invented for very opportunistic and decided battles between parties. The main idea being to feign weakness as to open a weak spot, or Achilles’ heel, in the opposing force, and then regrouping to exploit such a hole by attacking deep within the enemy’s party. Although it is not mentioned, this would most likely be to kill the officer of the highest rank as an attempt to remove the tactical centre of a group of soldiers. A method particularly useful for Musashi or others, if attacking a general directly, would signal the end of the battle upon his defeat.
Only a small amount of text is written about Tai Tai No Sen (Accompanying and Forestalling). Albeit very confusing, the idea of Tai Tai No Sen is circumventing an ambush or quick attack from the enemy by taking the initiative and attacking in full force. Musashi admits himself that this is a difficult thing to explain.
Although there are other methods, they are mostly situational methods relating to the crossing of rough terrain, and battling within such rough terrain. Although it spreads over two or more paragraphs, most information is common sense, relating to caution and avoidance of such situations.
The idea of timing, as with singular battles, is known as the most important part of attacking next to the skill of participants. However, the type of timing in this instance is somewhat different from the timing noted in The Ground Book since this variety of timing requires looking at the various physical factors which affect an enemy during battle, such as determining if strength is waning or rising within a group of troopers.
The idea of treading down the sword is a very simple technique. Squashing an enemy’s attack before it starts by using a form of charging and then attacking under the veil of gunpowder smoke, and arrow fire, the initial attacks used when starting battles can be highly effective. Individually, it refers to attacking the enemy’s sword, breaking it, removing it from play, and a technique of controlling it through direct blade on blade contact.
Like Musashi mentions in his philosophical style, there is a cause for a collapse. As there is collapse within an enemy, such as waning in his numbers, Musashi notes that one must observe such events and use them to his advantage.
Interestingly, he notes that an enemy’s formation can fall if they lose rhythm. It was known that in such battles, drummers drummed a tune for their other fellow soldiers to march to; and, if the rhythm was lost, it led to a “collapse when their rhythm becomes deranged”.
[edit] The Book of Wind
Whereas most of the information given in the previous books is useful in such a way that it could still be applicable today, this book is primarily concerned with the specific details about other strategies that existed at the time. The broader lesson from this book is that an important part of understanding your own way is to understand the way of your opponent as precisely as possible.
Musashi notes that although most schools have secret and ancient strategies, most forms are derivative of other martial arts. Their similarities and differences evolved through situational factors, such as indoor or outdoor duelling, and the style adapted to the school. He indicates that his appraisal may be one sided because the only school he had interest for was his own, and, in a way, he does not see parallels to his own creation and work. However, he still admits that without basic understanding of these alternate techniques, you will not be able to learn Ni Ten Ichi Ryu, probably for reasons of finding the wrongs in other techniques, and righting them within yourself in Ni Ten Ichi Ryu.
The main difference that Musashi notes between the Ichi School and other strategists and schools is that other schools do not teach the “broader” meaning of strategy. There is a strategy above sword-fencing: “Some of the world’s strategists are concerned only with sword-fencing, and limit their training to flourishing the long sword and carriage of the body.” The book has many paragraphs on the subject of other school’s techniques, and much of the text lists the ways that other schools do not conform to the ideals which he himself writes about in the Book of Five Rings, such as footwork, sight, and over-reliance or over-familiarity with a weapon.
[edit] The Book of Void
Although short, the void book lists, philosophically, the nature of both human knowledge and other things. The void book expressly deals with “That which cannot be seen”.
“By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist.”
The Book of No-thing, according to Musashi, is the true meaning of the strategy of Ni Ten Ichi Ryu. It seems very esoteric in nature because he seems to note that you must learn to perceive that which you cannot understand or comprehend. He notes that in this Void, what can be comprehended are things which we do and see, such as the way of the warrior, martial arts, and Ni Ten Ichi Ryu. At the same time, in the Void, things we do not do or see (which he calls Spirit), are part of the information which we perceive on a conscious level, but with which we have no physical relationship. It is arguable whether Musashi is referring to religious spirituality or if he is actually explaining a way to live a life and process thoughts.
“In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.”
In the above quote, Musashi speaks of “virtue and no evil”. This may mean “goodness and banishment of evil” or “purpose and non-existence of good and evil”, and the exact meaning is open to debate.
It is with the greatest pleasure to announced the appointment of ‘International Director’, for The Traditional Okinawan Kobujutsu Association & Martial Arts Federation (TOKAMAF), for USA/TEXAS has been excepted by Professor Gary Lee, 9th Dan Okinawa Martial Arts
Hawaiian Martial Arts
Museum of Sport Karate
Philip Bradley
Founder
Professor Gary Lee 9th Dan, Founder of The Museum of Sport Karate , has Graciously excepted the award of ‘The Life Time Membership Award’, for his tireless work he has undertaken on forming this Museum of Sport Karate Masters in Preserving the History of Martial Arts in America, the acodales of your fellow American Martial Artists say’s it all, The Award is presented for long and dedicated service to preserving the history of Martial Arts, from The Traditional Okinawan Kobujutsu Association & Martial Arts Federation..He is also reconized by the International Ryukyu Karatejutsu Research Society Honor Roll Hall of Fame Historian of the year for 2010,in the same year the United States Black Belt Hall of Fame gave him the Founder’s Award for 2010 for creating the Museum of Sport Karate.
In 2011 he is the International Director of the Traditional Okinawan Kobojutsu Association & Martial Arts Federation USA / Texas
He also sits on the Board of Advisers for the Karate Masters Hall of Fame and writes four world Karate columns for major Magazines. He is a sought out speaker and Master of Ceremonies for some of the most pretigious events in the world ,the Super Grands World Games, Masters Hall of Fame , Martial Arts History Museum , The living Legends Celebrity Roast and many others .He has been called”The voice of Sport Karate” by his peers.
Professor Gary Lee has earned these accolades for he has paved a path for others to follow .
In the sixties and seventies traveling all over the country as a Black Belt Player he established himself as a winner and the rest is history .Creating the Famous Six Flag Karate Shows in the eighties , being nationally rated for over twenty years, nominated and inducted into thirteen Black Belt Hall of Fame’s, a Golden Greek Winner and Master Hall of Fame Alumni. Professor Lee has come a long way from his journey leaving Hawaii .He now concentrates on showing respect and acknowledgement of the pioneers and legends of Sport Karate.by building a internet Museum and physical building in Sugar Land , Texas
http://www.sportkaratemuseum.org
http://www.memoirsofanamericansamurai.com
The History of Traditional Karate Pioneers, Legends and Champions in the 20th Century.™
MARTIALFORCE.COM
PRESENTS
The Living Legend’s Celebrity Roast of Mark Gerry
Article by: Gary Lee
It’s June 17, 2011 at the Castro Valley Center of the Arts in Castro Valley, California. Martial arts stars are out tonight to attend the Living Legend’s Roast of Kajukenbo Sifu Mark Gerry . Meet James Lew, movie star and legendary performer; Ernie Reyes Sr., sixty four years young and one of the legends of sport karate; Harry Mok, stuntman, actor, producer, director and writer; Nicole Gerry, Miss California Model of the Year 2010; Cynthia Rothrock, sport martial arts icon and movie star; Frank Dux, inspiration for the movie “Bloodsport”, an actor, producer, director and writer; Eric Lee, the living legend, world renown kata champion, and author of martial arts instructional book and DVDs; Sonny Sison, actor, stuntman, choreographer, director and producer. Art Camacho, award winning action film director and action choreographer for the likes of Steven Seagal, and kickboxing champion and actor Don Wilson among others.
This celebrity roast is an extravaganza, a gathering of great martial artists both on stage and in the audience, and all are here to honor and roast a Kajukenbo legend, Sifu Mark Gerry, until he is well done! The greats on stage are definitely not going to pull their punches, they are Gerry’s best friends in the martial arts, some reaching movie stardom as actors and stuntman, some directors of the movies you and I watch everyday, all have made sincere contributions to the arts and each would be worthy of roasting.
I arrived in Oakland California early Thursday morning and was picked up by Todd Dunphy, Hawaiian Braddah, who is a class champion , tomorrow he will enter seven divisions at the Sid Campbell Memorial Event and win seven Gold Medals and Grand Champion of the event.
When I arrived at Mark Gerry’s home in the beautiful hills of Castro Valley, it was all I expected it to be, half beautiful home and half martial arts museum including photos, awards, rum cigars, a Dojo, Kwoon, sword displays and so much more!
I settled into my room off the Dojo area, next to sword room, and I had wall to wall pictures of Mark’s martial arts friends and acquaintances. Many of those friends would be attending the Roast tomorrow night and would also stay at the Gerry home. These guests would include Cynthia Rothrock, movie star and Queen of Kata and Black Belt Hall of Famer, movie star, director and stuntman, James Lew who also happens to be a History General for the Martial Arts History Museum. Also staying at the Gerry’s home was Art Camacho, Super Director for Don Wilson and Steven Seagal and a student of Eric Lee. Frank Dux, was there as well. Frank is the man behind the movie Bloodsport and one of the Black Dragon Fighting Society youngest members. Serious Sonny Sison, an actor, director, and incredible stuntman who, along with Art Camacho, shared with us about the business of acting and stunt work for martial artists. A real joy was Eric Kovoleski! He is a Tang Soo Do Master and a great martial artist, but even more, he is a great person, who, along with Dana Stamos, Director and Founder of USADOJO.COM and WorldWideDojo.com, lent a helping hand whenever needed, which meant many trips to the airport for the two of them!
Friday, the day of the Roast, is a busy day. People are arriving and the house fills up with the special people who will roast their friend, Mark Gerry.
I go outside to look at the beautiful view of Castro Valley and to gather my thoughts. This would be a huge event, maybe the biggest we had ever had in California, or anywhere for that matter, and I was to be the Roast Master. As I enjoyed the view, a tall distinguished man walks out of the house and asks me to direct him to our host.
I answered his question and realized that he was one of Mark’s special guests, he was Frank Dux, the man made famous by the movie Bloodsport! Dux did not star in the movie. Bloodsport was based on Dux’s life as a Kumite fighter. Somehow we got caught up in a conversation, and for three hours we stand and talk about history, Dux’s fighting years, his relationships with the Navy Seals and covert forces, his great friendship with legendary karate Master, Victor Moore and the Black Dragon Fighting Society, and about all the controversy that surrounds his life. Every now and then I throw in a story I’ve heard about him, just to confirm accuracies or to find out if it was all just hear-say, a story that has grown more outrageous though the years.
This conversation with Frank Dux was one of the most enjoyable I have ever had. An articulate and very knowledgeable man, Dux and I became instant friends. We continued to share in conversation, morning, afternoon and often late into the night for the next three days.
As more guests arrive, I realize that this would be a very special weekend, and not just because of the Roast itself. Todd Dunphy has been with Mark throughout the week helping to prepare for the event and as usual, he and his girl friend Grace are helping the guest as they come in.
Movie Director Art Camacho arrives, we hug and I think about Star Bash in Las Vegas. Art was finishing up “Sci Fi Fighter” using the event as a backdrop for the end of the movie, and Star Bash was a huge event. Art had flown me in to help run the event and to be Master of Ceremonies for the awards.
The Friday night of Star Bash, a huge thunder storm had shut down the freeway from Los Angeles and the tournament producers didn’t want to start the tournament until the road was open. Art came to the rescue, but not my rescue. Art says to me, “Gary, you need to entertain the audience until the tournament begins, help me pick out some players for a scene and go play with the White Tiger.”
I said, “I got the part about helping with the scene, but what Tiger?!! There was a huge five hundred pound white tiger on the set, and Art wanted me to entertain the crowd by hugging the tiger. I did what he asked, and I still think I’M CRAZY for doing so.
Next to arrive were “Super Stars “James Lew and Cynthia Rothrock. I remain very humble around them because we have known each other since the early days of Sport Karate competition in America, and they have earned our respect.
James would become an awesome player. With his Broadsword, he would take win after win blowing away the competition. He was soon picked up by Hollywood and he has acted with the best, from a knife fighting with Jean-Claude Van Dam in “Time Cop”, to being killed in” Lethal Weapon 4″ by Jet Li. He is one of the super stars in martial arts movies.
Cynthia is truly a Living Legend among martial arts legends, the Queen of Kata on the circuit, and an exceptional martial arts actress, however, when I was hugging her and paying my respect, I flashed back to 1982 and the Top Ten Nationals in Stockton, California. There was about twenty of us competing in weapons that day and here comes Cynthia with her double-hook swords. She whip’s us all and earns her very first Grand Championship, only one of the many that followed. I took third place to her that day and it was a humbling expierence and from it I have a saying I have carried with me and I share it with all my Black Belts, “You are not a real man until you get beat by a lady in kata,” lol. Then, of course, there were the China O’Brien movies, which shoot Cynthia to fame and fortune!
With Cynthia was a young man of Tang Soo Do Korean Karate, Eric Kovoleski. He was part of Miss Rothrock’s history, his father was Cynthia’s first instructor in Pennsylvania and he, a close friend to Cynthia. Eric is well mannered and was very helpful in setting up the event. He also took the time to create and give to each one of us Roasters and Celeb’s, a Tang Soo Do Korean Certificate of appreciation, my first Korean document.
It is Friday afternoon and we are all getting ready for the big event. Dana Stamos has been made Stage Manager under the direction of Mark Gerry’s talented son, Nicholas Gerry, who is running the show. We all go to the theater to set the show in order. I get a ride from fitness guru, Tracie Soder who is one of Ernie Reyes Black Belts. Later at the event she performs a difficult fitness routine flawlessly.
I arrive at the event earlier than most so I can set up the Museum of Sport Karate display and booth. This way I can concentrate on greeting the guests as they arrive.
These Roasts are such great events because they bring people together to show our respect for one another. Men and women liked Ming Lum, Al Novak, George Baker, Jamie Cashion, Jimmy Willis, Dan Tosh, Robin and Janis Taberna, Robert Parham, Bob Machimeir, Mark Stoner, Dana Stamos, and so many others attend such events.
The show starts out with a bang! Mark Gerry, dressed like Elvis Presley, sings Your Cheating Heart. He does a great Elvis impersonation and the audience loves it. What a way to break the ice! Then one by one the special guest are announced and Roasters, Miss California Nicole Gerry, Sonny Sison, Harry Mok, Frank Dux, Ernie Reyes, Art Camacho, James Lew, Eric Lee, Cynthia Rothrock, are introduced. You know this super star lineup is ready to roast Mark Gerry over some pretty hot coals.
The Master of Ceremonies Jeff Applebaum, a professional comedian and class act, entertains us while introducing this evenings acts, which include some very talented martial arts demonstration teams and some beautiful dancers, including Mark Gerry who loves to dance.
Tracie Soder opens for the the performers with a challenging fitness routine. Then comes Team Internationals, the Long Beach International team and they perform spectacular feats of martial arts prowess, with proper technique and beauty. Next comes the always flawless kata performance of Todd Dunphy.
Up next, the Ernie Reyes demo team, who have performed for some forty years. This performance, including drums and karate, is truly a creative masterpiece of style by the majestic Ernie Reyes. Using his vast knowledge of perfect performance, this demonstration of talent gave this old timer goosebumps and thrilling moments that I will never forget. It was a perfect performance, Five Stars!!!!!
The thrilling ride never stopped during this evening, but only kept getting better and more spectacular!
Next came a seriously impressive Tango performed by professional dancers Lisette Pereile and Julian Ramil. Following them, the beautiful ballerina Musette and Mark Gerry performed another very elegant dance, their passion for dance filling the stage.
This great entertainment is followed by the Hall of Fame Awards and a short intermission.
Jeff Applebaum does a fantastic job entertaining all of us and adds much class to an event that had been tested eighteen times before. Now it was my turn to take over as Roast Master. I knew this part of the evening was going to be a roller coaster of feelings because many of us had been friends for thirty or, for some of us, forty years. Starting in sport karate competition, some moved into commercials, television, movies and media, becoming stronger people, representing each of us who love the martial arts on an international scale. We had remained a family through the years, and that was the theme I wanted to share during this part of the evening. It is Ohana and the Aloha spirit that created the atmosphere in that standing room only theater in Castro Valley, California, that night and it was the Taberna’s and the Gerry’s and Eric Lee, and myself who had helped create this amazing moment. The lineup of Roasters was just too good to be true and the roast was, of course, all in fun, friend to friend, but I just had to introduce the Roasters with funny little remarks, all in jest, of course.
Nicole Gerry showed a wonderful father daughter presentation as she teased her dad endlessly. Sonny Sison and Harry Mok were hilarious as they roasted their friend Mark Gerry. Frank Dux even had Mark arrested and handcuffed by the local sheriff. Ernie Reyes. Art Camacho, the great director, made a classic film of Gerry’s life. James Lew and Eric Lee made him take off his shirt to show everybody his muscles and the roasters threw dollars bills at Mark’s feet. It was all very funny stuff and if you weren’t there with us, you missed a great evening.
When it was Miss Rothrock’s turn, she roasted Mr. Gerry with a vengeance, as they were an item a few years ago, and she knew just where to strike to do the most “damage”. Not really, Cynthia is a classy lady and it showed. Mark’s rebuttals were a little “R” rated, but not too much so. He is also a classy guy who took it all in stride as he was roasted by the cream of the crop in martial arts competition and entertainment.
As we closed I presented to Mark a Tsunami Hoi-ryu Musashi Sword, live and battle ready, donated by Samurai Supply. I also took the time to invite everyone to the Sid Campbell Memorial Event scheduled for the next day. The event was sponsored by the Golden State Karate Association.
After the Roast, I thought I was the last person at the theater, everybody had left to attend the after party. I was sitting outside the Theater when My new friend, Frank Dux, walked around the corner and said “I think we’ve been left behind! ”
We finally made it to the after party which took place in Mark Gerry’s home. It was 3:00 am when I finally laid my head down to sleep. Tomorrow would began another day set aside to celebrate the life of Sid Campbell, the man who had a giant impact on my life, and my son’s life, and of course, on the lives of all who would attend the Sid Campbell Memorial Event the next day.
7:00 am came way to early, but Dana Stamos and Eric Kovoleski got me coffee, and helped me set up and my booth at the tournament. It was a beautiful booth, with prints and memorabilia, T-shirts and other goodies from the Museum of sport karate. When the tournament started they ask me to say something about Sid Campbell and what he meant to me and to my son. I also had a presentation to give to Dr. Dan Tosh and we inducted him into the Karate Masters Hall of Fame as a Board Member with permission from Hanshi Andrew Linick , the founder of the KMHOF in 1972. We inducted Sid Campbell in spirit into the Karate Masters Hall of Fame as well and Harry Mok and I presented the certificates to the three best friends Sid had, all of who held his hands as he left this earth to go to the Dojo in the sky. Receiving Sid Campbell’s Karate Masters Hall of Fame Certificate were Grand Master Dan Tosh , Grand Master Eric Lee, and Grand Master Mark Gerry.
A great weekend, a great roast, a great tournament, a great gathering of friends, and, as I said earlier, after all these years we’re still together, some in body and others in Spirit! Thank you, Mark Gerry, for all your hospitality and for allowing us to roast you!
Photos by Robert Raney
Flashback, ous ,,we are at the Arnolds Classic in Columbus Ohio in 2005 ,Tokey Hill sponsored Garett Lee to fight in his group and I am doing a movie premier for “Black Salt’ the movie and a Living legends for Bill Wallace ,Don Wilson, Jim Harrison, Alan Goldberg, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Brown, Steve Mohamed Sanders, Michael DePasquale Jr ,Chuck Zito, Tokey Hill, Bernie “Pops” Kransoo, and of course my sponsors from the very first Roast, Century Fitness graciously donated the following awards that was taken on a national poll!,,,,The Mahalo Award from the Ed Parker legacy went to Alan Goldberg, the Jim Harrison Natural Fighter Award went to the legendary Bill” Superfoot”Wallace and super cool special award THE SHIN KICKER AWARD went to Ken Knudson , Why, he was the meanest, toughest sport karate fanatic practitioner of that particular technique around at that time in Sport Karate, being from the Chicago area , those guys were just mean! not many would deliberately kick you in the shin to make your body and head go down so you can be kicked in the head easily, this is what he told me when we gave this personal award to him in front of his friends and the world of martial arts ! Grand Master Ken Knudson ,Warrior , Professional Shin Kicker!!
Andrew Linick
Prof. Gary Lee is a true entertainer, showman, stunt man and Martial Arts educator. His crowd-pleasing performances engage his audiences and bring them to frenzy while he teaches the 1400-year-old ancient oriental techniques of Okinawa-Te. GM Lee’s amazing skill, power and grace thrills adults and children of all ages. Whether it be a demonstration of Iaido (Way of the Sword), or Okinawa weapons of self defense, one thing is certain–you’re going to take home a part of his genuine martial arts history, realistic self-defense moves and lots of laughs.”
—GM Andrew S. Linick, Ph.D., Hanshi, Ju-dan アンドリューLinick博
http://issuu.com/kickbxn5/docs/issue5
Please welcome my dear friend and pioneer Mr.John John Townsley to this very elite group, Many stories but this my favorite, early eighties, Six Flags, running schools ,traveling , Master Townsley comes in my life and trains with Larry Lunn from Ohio who trained with George Anderson and Dr. Maungi Gyi, a group of pioneers, Larry and Mr.Townsley would train hard at my Dojo, lock the the doors and fight bare knuckle, old school , awesome stuff!, his wife Mrs. Townsley was the most positive input in most of the top competitors at the time because she would travel everywhere to the best events , write great stories, shoot and publish amazing pictures and her opinion on sport karate was always a breath of fresh air. She changed my life by the comments in Official Karate Magazine and Favorite Fighting Techniques Column in a time when publicity in sport karate was growing ,very humbling she chose to profile my history, she help change the life of a lot of Sport Karate people at that time in History and Mr. Townsley we get to show respect to you for taking care of us all those years by this group’s attitude toward Karate Do and also thank you for setting up the Test for me to Third Dan with Jack Farr, Dan Anderson, Rick Fowler, Larry Lunn ,Mako, recognizing my Test.
You sir , your Son’s and your lovely wife are in my memories and heart of Karate Do.
Remember The Pro-Am Association , look at the patch on my GI, Bob Barlett, your confrontation with the Young Brothers and flying in Super Bad Daryl Lassitor from Chicago , Kevin Scott and I beating the crapped out of the Young Brothers Team at Ed Youngs Karate studio Tournament , Black Belt Karate Studios , your son’s Black Belt Test, The Judging , it was a fun time !
Mahalo , sir and welcome
Gary
Texas is bigger than life and has a reputation of of stronger, bigger than life surroundings, why should sport karate be any different in a state where though many of Texas sport karate legends are legendary and hero’s to many a fan. In the thirty years of sport karate in Texas we have had many organizations have State Sport Karate Championships, AOK, S.O.C.K., TNT, PKC and it was hard to really know who the best sport karate fighter was in the state, add the traditional groups ,the WKF, USKA Alliance and the Tae Kwon Do groups ,ATA, ITF , WTF, in 2011 it is hard to know who is the best Black Belt point fighter is in Texas and then you always have the sleepers , the so-called unknowns that will put a whoopin on you .
Well, with all these groups is there room for one more organization to offer a State Title that is worthy of saying your a State Champion from Texas ????
Boice Lydell, the founder of the National Black Belt League sanction this event and other states will have their own State Championships that will lead to the The World Championship, Super Grands .Winners get Gold Rings , Belts and Certificates but most of all the respect of winning and earning a real World Championship in Sport Karate in Weapons Kata, and Sparring .
Lawrence Loebe, Bear as he is better known as , a new breed of producer who has paid his dues and earned the respect of his peers and fellow competitors.
NBL State Arbitrator Daryl Stewart and Master Bear Loebe, Producer of the SKIL Games
He believes there is room for one more State Championship and he proved it October 28 and 29 at the beautiful Crown Plaza Hotel in Houston, Texas
Besides the chance of going to the World Games though this event ,he wanted to find out without doubt who was the best Black Belt point fighter in Texas was , a few years ago The Back Alley Bash tried to established this answer, however The Undisputed Division , a idea created by Bear and his incredible desire to improve our sport though solid Black Belt Competition . Top Texas Ten Black Belt Ratings predict The Undisputed Division will be a bit hit for Texas Competition.
Bear is no stranger to high promotion , he is a sixteen time NBL World Champion and has traveled all over the world to increase his knowledge of the Martial Arts and it has paid off because this was one of the best Karate Events we have been to this year and from of the looks of ideas he has , it is just going to get better each year.
The incredible sponsors he brought together was impressive, Century, Samurai Supply, Fine Designs, Kemako, Quy Tran Photographer, Top Texas Ten Black Belt Ratings,The Museum of Sport Karate, Memoirs of an American Samurai Book signing sponsored by Century and America’s Best Business Management who sponsored The Undisputed Division with $500 cold hard cash going to the winner!
Bear has done something very special ,not only has he brought together some of the finest producers we have in the state to form this unique group but has brought in seasoned producers Ryan George, Peewee Blanco and Jeff and Jan Shadoin from Louisiana , not since the old ,old Karate Illustrated Magazine days! were the two states together, Louisiana and Texas together again in the ratings and sharing sport Karate!
Louisiana Fighting Legend Ryan George and Family
The very Best Judges, competitors and legends of the sport came out to support this event.
The State Championships awards were impressive Gold Medals and plaques for Divisional winners.
This was a Five star rated event for Top Texas Ten .
Friday night Some basic competition but the highlight was the Texas verses Louisiana bout between Ryan George Senior and Junior fighting the Team of Norman Roberts and the ever fun loving GOP’s Chris Gallio.
It was a war but in the end The George’s from Louisiana came out on top.
Louisiana’s Terror Ryan George Jr.
The Saturday’s competition was fast and furious and there were some outstanding performances by some of Texas finest sport Karate competitors, Rachel Aqunio, Ronnie Zappata, Sage Northcut and Colbey Northcutt were very impressive as always.
A very special note James and Hayley Nicholas drove though the night from Little Rock, Arkansas to work the America’s Best booth and talk to school owners about their productive and successful program .
The day went by fast, however you know everyone was anticipating the end of the State competition to introduce The Undisputed Division and the final show .
This event invited the Top Texas Ten Rated fighters and open division from seventeen in age and up to Seniors and they all showed up , the best of the best ,eight rated fighters and two honorable mention wanted the title of undisputed and the $500.00 cash prize.
The great, awesome and incredible NBL World Champion Regena Thompson was the Center judge along with Legendary World Champion Tony Lopez ,two living legends of the sport.
A lucky Hawaiian and World Champion Tony Lopez
Each fighter was paired up by the draw of the cards , two minutes first to five points , winner goes on , single elimination and this had brought the best together ,however Chad Cannon rated number one was not there and Garett Lee ranked number seven hurt his knee earlier in the State Championships .
Rated fighters Chance Turner ,Peter Chartouni , Jason Cartouni, Chris Gallio, Jason Holmes,
Tracy Snow were a few of the Stars of Texas that showed up ,a fresh face and rising star is James Urias from Team GIPSY, youngest competitor on stage , he was very impressive, fast and accurate, someone to watch in the future !
Senior Fighter, James Urias and Gil Urias , Coach of Team Gipsy
The first round was hard and fast and fighters were eliminated one by one
Jason Holmes and Cobra Kai’s Tony Mosely
One of the highlights of this event ex-rated fighter Tony Mosely came to fight and he was in costume ,wearing a Cobra Kai Karate Uniform from the movie “The Karate Kid” including all the cool patches .everyone in the audience was screaming “Sweep the leg Johnny!!! “, lol
It was Great , Jason went on into the final round to face Chris Gallio .
Super Star Chris Gallio being coached by Regena Thompson
In the end it was Jason Holmes fighting Chris Gallio for the prize of $500.00 and it was intense ,even though they are very good friends they are professional competitors ,both certified world class champions , it was as good as you imagine even better !!
Bear invited the best SPORT KARATE COMPETITORS IN TEXAS and if you did not show up you missed a event that was exciting and well run and most of all has potential to become a Super Event for Black Belt Competition.
Jason Holmes and Chris Gallio
Tracy Snow and Chance Turner
Chris Gallio and Peter Chartouni
Ryan George and Chance Turner
Jason Chatourni and Chris Gallio
Winner of the Undisputed Division Jason Holmes with $500.00 and award
and the Undisputed Divisional Title for 2011
The best in Texas Sport Karate!
a Karate Fable
I went to a event and supported my son who fights on a regular basis and did my book signing and Museum stuff and sometimes sitting down and watching everything from that view ,you get a different perspective of what going on at a event, one of the things I have notice in the past few years is the increased of so called Grand Masters and very, very young kids wearing Black Belts at the open events of sport competition.
This is something has bothered me and for a while and the story your about to read is simply my opinion.
First Karate Rank Certificate
On April 12, 1924, Gichin Funakoshi, the “Father of Modern Karate,” awarded karate’s first black belt dan upon seven men. The recipients included Hironori Ohtsuka, founder of wado-ryu karatedo, Shinken Gima, later of gima-ha shoto-ryu, and Ante Tokuda, Gima’s cousin) Kasuya, Akiba, Shimizu and Hirose. This beginning was a highly personal, yet formal ceremony in which Funakoshi is said to have handed out lengths of black belting and a hand brushed menjo (diploma) to his pupils.
Origins of Martial Arts Certificate Borders Design
The origin of the phoenix and classic border design originates in the imperial court of China and was only used on Official documents by the Emperor.
Three symbols of the Phoenix border.
* The Phoenix is a symbol of Virtue, Morality, Benevolence, Faith and Courtesy. The male is on the left side and the female on the right facing each other on the top center of the certificate.
* The Cloud placed on the top center of the certificate, between the male and female Phoenix symbolizes luck as clouds bring rains for farming.
* The Paulownia, situated on the sides and bottom of the certificate along with Chrysanthemum (crest of the Royal Family of Japan) symbolize an oath to the Gods.
Four symbols of the Classic border
The Blue Dragon is identified with the water gods and the gods of fertility who invoke the rains on which the harvest depends. To Confucian scholars, this mythic creature of supernatural powers represents strength, virtue and loyalty.
* The Phoenix is a symbol of Virtue, Morality, Benevolence, Faith and Courtesy.
* The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West, and it represents the west and the autumn season.
* The Black Tortoise is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the Black Warrior of the North and it represents the north and the winter season. It is usually depicted as both a tortoise and a snake, specifically with the snake coiling around the tortoise.
Professor Gary Lee
Let us always remember where we came from and the roots of what we do ,every time we award rank remember the origins of earning a real Black Belt , not by signing a contract or paying for it, I am very proud to say and humbled that I have never paid for any classes ,all was earned by cleaning toilets, bathrooms, hallways and sweeping after a work out ,very lucky,very humbled.
However ranked is important if you have a sense of authority or transfer knowledge to others. As a white belt looks at our Dojo of many instructors , let them find knowledge of your humble beginnings and remember how excited you were when you learned your first lesson , whether it was a a cool self defense move or a hand movement or a incredible kick.
Ok ,That was a long time ago and most black belts don’t even care but we should !
A Diary of a Black Belt
A Journey of a lifetime , not three or four years, not ten or twenty years, but a life time of work , dedication , Loyalty , tenacity, knowledge, attitude and humbleness, with lots of training and person’s to support you, once you make the decision, then it is a journey of a lifetime !
“Groups of black belts were in the ocean doing kata underneath the moonlight. I was overwhelmed and from that moment I knew what I wanted to be, a black belt, a real BLACK BELT. When I left Hawaii in 1969 I had my Black Belt, a white gi, a 1969 Black belt Yearbook, a 5’8″ cream Gordon and Smith Twin Fin surf board and …that broken broom.”
This is a karate fable of thinking!, using my journey and showing what hard work does and showing the reader also in the end of the story where this Ranking of Black Belts have gone !
This was written to educate and to show where we have gone on letting anyone have a BLACK BELT. We have allowed flukey ,ego maniacs and wanna -be’s to open Karate schools and they are taking over our cities with their personal crap , they have no foundation and no understanding of what teaching martial arts are about and it is embarrassing to the real Karate pioneers and hard working teachers that have established true martial arts in this country and sad there is nothing we can do about except make fun of it.
Be careful who you train with and always check his credentials and background in martial arts .
Aloha
10th Kyu White Belt
White Belt -beginner,
Eye of the Tiger potential , but very ignorant in the beginning.
I am a little nervous, but the instructor is cool, he hollers a lot, not at me but every time he throws a punch or kick, weird, hope he doesn’t make me do it!,
I ain’t crazy about hollering at people it’s bad enough I have to wear those funny looking pajamas and on top of it all I hate wearing white,
I wonder what that is all about having to wear white, I get bored real easy even though it is cool when they kick!
I like how they do a bunch of punches and kicks together and the it looks real ,kinda like a movie , looks cool in person !
I’ll use the coupon up and quit after I get those funny looking PJ’s!
3 months Later.
9th yellow Belt
Karate is like the Ocean ,wild ,unpredictable and dangerous!
Received my first belt, pretty cool!
Scared to death from the time I walked in the Dojo, yellow looks good on me, wow!!, every body beat me up today, Kata was the hardest, fighting was fun, that Mr.Tanaka hit me hard, knocked the wind out of me, STUCK ME PRETTY GOOD !!, but he’s cool , strange but cool!
Hoorah!! I am a yellow belt, yeah!
I can’t believed I passed, it was the the hardest thing I have ever done and the most fun!
It was like a new Horizon!
I didn’t think Karate was this way , I mean it is fun but something different, I really can’t put my finger on it yet, it is not just learning the respect but the way everyone works together everyone treats everyone is the same, even the Black Belts are beating on you, I like that !
Six months later
8th Orange Belt
As the day ends, feel in your heart you have absorbed much knowledge!
Man in my heart I thought the yellow belt test was hard, but this test was the hoot!!
They had me do this drill called “Bull in the Ring”, no warning of this drill, I have never practice for this drill , I never seen it in class , it was a advance only drill!!, I am nervous , what are they going to make me do , I’m nervous !, a circle of Black Belts , Kyu grades and surprises surround me and are given numbers, a instructor calls out one number and that number attacks you with a punch or a kick or grabs you, I have to defend myself in front of a board of Black Belts, spectators and fellow students, now after I have gone though three or four circles of basic technique, the board says “Kick it up a bit ,please” so now the Instructor is calling out four and five numbers at a time and now I feel my Karate and it happens ,block, sidekick, front leg sweep, drop my knee on his chest, punch him, grabbed on the right shoulder, break the little finger and thumb from second opponent, lock his arm , symbolize breaking it , KIA very loud with much spirit, elbowing the head several times, grabbed his groin rip it , hammer fist his foot, his head drops, elbow him in the face , get up and third opponent puts me in a bear hug, back head butt to face , stomp the foot hard ,drop to low horse stance , right and low elbow strikes to both sides of his body, step across pop the groin ,when his head drops down ,poke his eyes, sweep him, stomp him , stand up and be ready for next opponent.
My Karate was for real and My instructor had just proved it to me, the rest of the test was strong, hard but easy compared to being taught under certain circumstances , it is good to know real Karate at this level and I wonder if I will ever make Black Belt , that is way to far to think about that, but I think I want to try, man I’m tired but I am a orange belt now in Japanese Karate and now I want to train as much as ever and learn as much as I can .
Ten months later
7th Blue Belt
What will I learn in my next class?
Today’s test for my Blue belt , we were introduced to Sport Karate point fighting and let me tell you it is different than anything we have done up to this point , first of all, it is about Ippon , one technique knock -out or symbolizing a knock -down or knock -punch or kick to a legal target area ,cool!! .This part I didn’t like, we had to wear hand pads and footpads and hear gear and mouth pieces and groin cups , to much stuff! , one of my friends told me there is a karate competition where there is knockouts and one punch ippon attitude and there are different circuits, you can win trophies and awards cool!, I might like this avenue!, my first tournament is in two months after my next test , I will train for this and be prepared, kinda nervous about doing this karate stuff in public but my Sensei says competition is good but only 1% of real Karate, always remember that, so another door has opened, oh, one more thing I learned a new word today “Oss!! ,meaning respect and acknowledgement of one’s attitude toward you , You say it not because Sensei tells you to say it , but because you have earned the privilege to say it among your fellow warriors and peers ,this is loyalty, this is trust, this is acknowledgement ,oss
First Sport Karate Tournament
Very exciting to say the least ,hundreds of people watching you perform and the pressure of representing your school, but mainly your Sensei , Tanaka Sensei has got me here, now I do this day for Sensei, I have told no one my thoughts but this is what my hearts says.
I have trained hard for this thousands of punches on the Makiwara, hundreds of kicks, take downs, sweeps and follow up, I am defensive ready, I can be offensive also, back fist , reverse punch, spin back kick, I owned them, Sensei has taught me that, have confidence in your technique, pure PMA, live for the ippon , if your going to do sport karate, do the best that you can and go for the win!
Got disqualified for excessive Contact, reverse punch to the body, he could not continue !, judges said it was excessive with no control , Oss ,, Sorry, Tanaka Sensei please forgive me.
One year later
6th Green Belt
The Test was hard but different this time , I was totally prepared because I want this! , I want this real bad!, all I think about is Class and Sensei Tanaka
I can’t believe I have stayed a year and now in the advanced class , I mean , this is a big deal, my background , my attitude when I first came here , a complete turnaround !
I AM ALLOWED TO WORK OUT IN THE ADVANCED CLASS !
I am so excited!, oss
I have learned so much and my life has changed , attitude, just believing in something is cool, and now I get to work out with Mr. Tanaka, Sensei , he is so different than the other Black Belts, different I mean he is sharper ,more precise ,almost scary he is so fast , now I get to hit the Makiwara , boards cover in hard rope at punching and kicking heights, I would watch sometimes the advanced class and Black Belts would hit the Makiwara 500 times , exhausted , knuckles bleeding , back then I thought they were crazy and I would laugh at it , now I can’t wait to get permission to do it and work on my kime and get my knuckles bleeding !
Bull in the ring , pure self defense and street application, Kata, Application of Kata, Bunkai precision movement of the Kata applied to uki’s attacking, this is what I have learned and I want my Black Belt.
Bull in the Ring in Acapulco, Mexico
Sixteen months later
5th
Green Belt /Black stripe
I have been a advanced student now for almost a year and today I test for my Black Stripe today, this will be a two part story for what I feel now and how I feel after the test.
I have to admit it has been tough, these classes are harder, more complicated and way over my head.
I have to listen and watch the Black Belts , they are a tight nit group , very friendly but stern.
I didn’t understand washing the toilets and cleaning the bathrooms the first three months before I could workout, but now I do, you earn everything and when you do, you appreciate it so much more, cleaning, earned me the privilege to learn more for it humbled me in a way you can’t explain unless you experience it and the Black Belts knew that.
Sure they would make fun of me but, they would also teach me, guide me and beat the crap out of me. They taught me how to love the pain!
My next entry will be after the Test , five Black Belts are going up in Dan ranks , guess I am going to be fresh meat, hope not but, don’t mind since all of them beat me up every night anyway!
I am sitting in back of this Japanese Sushi Bar over on the big Island and the entry about the Test is pretty short and sweet I passed, got my butt kicked all over the place, broke my first board and saw one of the Black Belts go berserk in Bull in the Ring, he wasted a couple of dudes, I mean knock them out cold, they had to be revived with smelling sauce , I was so nervous when they called my number to grab him, he dumped me but didn’t hurt me like he did those Black Belts , scary as hell, real Karate!
I feel one of my best test, starting to understand how the animals play their part also didn’t Bleed!, no broken bones! and my uniform {Gi} didn’t get ripped.
I have gone though three uniforms, ripped and torn ed from body, finally for my birthday got a Tokaido Brand 14 ounce canvas from Japan.
Sensei said “I will grow old with this Gi”, oss!
Twenty-one months later
4th
Purple Belt
This was the hardest test I have ever been a part of because of the bunkai, all bunkai had to be performed for all Pinan ,Teki and Heian Kata and then applied , you would start your kata, the board would stop you ,you would be asked to perform bunkai and then go on .
I did five rounds of “Bull in the ring” and was a Uki for all the Black Belts going for higher Dan Ranks . I believe I was more wasted before my basics as I have I have never been before because I had to do all the bunkai and “Bull in the Ring” with the Black Belts, five bad, bad dudes, beat me up pretty good , love the pain!!
The fighting was the normal except that this test, the Board seem to emphasize this group needs to know strong ,strong BASIC’s, there was nine of us going for purple and four going for third brown and five Black Belts testing . I believe the word Kihon meaning basic was thrown at us hard and the other new word is Kime , Focus my technique in precision standard.
After this test, also ,a couple of the Black Belts came up to me and said I did good, I was really humbled, after all I haved come a long way in my training but especially in my attitude.
Sensei came up to me and pulled me to the side, he was always so polite but mysterious at the same time, he said” Purple belt is like being at the ocean’s edge and your ready to venture out into the water, deep water, full of danger and life, these are the brown belt years, purple will prepare you for that encounter and hope you are prepared well for most brown belts quit for they just can not take the pain!, oss
Two years later
3rd Brown
Making Brown belt was impressive, Basics, Basics, Basics and more Basics, Konk Ku Dai, Seisan kata, Advance Teki Kata all Kata Bunkai applications, Black Belt attackers only “Bull in the Ring” and one on one, two on one, three on one, four on one, five on one Kumite , no rest between rounds , no water, no excuses , no quitting and, Well I have graduated from cleaning the toilets to sweeping the front of the matted area everyday before the Black Belt Class , Sensei says he did this so all the Black Belts can see me all the time and see I have good technique in sweeping, I said in much respect , “They see me enough when they beat the crapped out of me ! sir”, said with much respect , oss
One year later
2nd Brown
This test I was in charged of setting everything up, I spent the night in the Dojo and help host the special guest Sensei Tanaka brought in, went to the lumber company and got the bricks and boards for the Test, set the chairs, tables and made all the refreshments, got all the paperwork together, it is like preparing for a huge storm that you know is coming, can’t believe I’m testing for second Kyu Brown , what a ride it has been !!
Gotta go, Black Belts are arriving, will write later if I survived!!
Well, I am at the hospital with four of us that got banged up today ,my finger is broken and I am the lucky one, the other guys got knocked out by our special guest today at the Test and one guy is not waking up, everything was OK, until we got this guy in a corner, bad mistake, he hit Charlie first, round kicked Bobby, did a picture perfect jump spin back kick in the face on Kea and kicked my hand when I grabbed him, he smiled as if he knew he had hurt me , we were all going for second Kyu except Kea, he was going for Black, maybe that’s why he knocked him out.
Update ***I was in the back room and heard the Black Belts talking , they said Kea was running his mouth about the test and he was not going to be stopped , well I hope Kea wakes up , heck I hope we passed, so many people were hurt when we left for the Hospital , I don’t know , brutal test !!
Learned a lesson, never talk out loud before a High Dan test and say your thoughts if you do expect a world of hurt !, oss
Kea finally woke up , I didn’t leave his side though the night, scary night, man that was a heck of a test, it wasn’t the toughest test but it was the one that made me the most nervous.
Real Karate is a scary adventure like a bad, bad storm!, oss..
Passed .
Three years later
1st Kyu Brown
Bull in the ring , pure self defense and street application, Kata, Application of Kata, Bunkai precision movement of the Kata applied to uki’s attacking, this is what I have learned and I want my Black Belt.
I know I am a Black Belt now in my mind heart and body ,I just have to go though the hardest part of my life the next five hours or so and show I am ready to be a white belt all over again and realize making Black if I do, it is a whole new beginning , just like starting over with good strong basics ,oss
Sensei has me fighting and doing Kata every weekend at any event he can put me in ,normally I run Sepai or Ni Gi Shi Ho or Teiki Kata ,if I tie I run Supra Empi, a Goju form I learned from a Goju Student visiting Sensei Tanaka two years ago , it normally wins Grand , don’t use it unless extreme conditions ,oss
This Test I am ready , I want Black Belt really bad!,, oss
It was what I expected and also learned a great lesson ,never quit, always do the best you can and always help a friend in need , today I sacrificed a situation and saved a friend but I got stuck pretty good for the decision ,afterwards ,a couple of Black Belts came up to me and said they would have done the same thing ,that made me feel pretty good ,even though I got a bruised rib and black eye , take care of your bra’s
Passed.
Three Years Later
Shodan Black Belt
The Sam Chapman story and the introduction of Safety Gear.
Sam Chapman was a American Karate Instructor , a marine, a southern sport karate legend, inventor, artist, pioneer, leader and trainer of champions, I know because I was one of those lucky, lucky Black Belts that lived, breathe, slept Karate in those early years with Sam , I actually lived in the basement of the school under neath the steps , it was quite comfortable and Karate 24/7
Sam trained early with Ernie Lieb, the founder of the American Karate Association {AKA} and together with other great men like Mike Sullenger, Sam became the representative for the AKA in a southern part of the world, Green ville South Carolina. The Karate School of Green ville was the only Karate school in the ever growing textile milling city, there was one other school Billy Hongs Tae Kwon Do, but that story comes later, lol
Sam would become a southern legend in the early years of sport karate in that part of America and would help create some incredible sport karate champions, they all went different directions but they all started with Sam. men and ladies like, Becky Chapman, Bobby Tucker, Larry Black, Greg Cromer, Jerry Rhome, Will Wright, Sherman Williams, Gary Landgreth, Blane Silver, Rhonda “Ridge hand”Alexander and many others.
Sam was hard core when it came to teaching his way of Americanized Karate and it work for a lot of us , it was hard for me for my traditional background from a early age was hard to adapt to his way of thinking, but to this day, if interviewed I always say Sam Chapman taught me how to point fight in American Tournaments and I have pass that down to my students and my son.
Here are some of my favorite stories of those early years, I love you Sam, oss
1972, I am chasing karate tournaments and girls, I see the advertisement for the only karate school in Green ville so I go and visit, it was early afternoon and I walked in off the street , no appointment, I opened the door, bowed said oss and looked and saw Sam for the first time.
He had his feet up on his desk with a big old cigar, smoking, he was drawing a new logo, in shorts with a long Beatles style haircut, I had my GI and Black Belt only and I walked over to him and he said to me “you a Black Belt , huh, you like to spar?, I got some boxing gloves ,do you kick , we can kick too , if you like, let me go change.
He then put out the cigar, went and changed into his uniform and we fought for thirty minutes or more when he kicked me so hard he knocked me into the wall and five or six trophies fell on my head, plus I turned my ankle really bad ,but I was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop , he was cool and beat me up in a good way , Sam left to get Ice and while he was gone, back then I was stupid!, anyway I went over by the desk where the floor was hard and started stomping my ankle to numb it so I could continue to spar when Sam got back with the ice , I was up and ready to continue ,could not pull it off, he knew I was in a lot of pain, so we got in his little Porsche which was really cool back then, lol
He took me to the Hospital , stayed with me and I didn’t leave him until I opened the largest nightclub in the city ,The Electric Warehouse.
Two years later , Safety Gear was being introduced around the country , schools were changing, it changed the industry but I hated it , I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t wear them, one day Sam and I were by ourselves and he wanted to show me that these new accessories would worked and they will changed sport karate , well he beat me up pretty good, but afterward he said” Gary this is what I will do for you every knockout or knockdown you do from wearing those gear I have given you, I will put a notch in the glove, you get five notches , I will buy you Chinese dinner at Wang’s restaurant, our favorite place to eat”, well I thought that was cool,
I ended up with fourteen notches and two Chinese dinners.
Another one one of Sam’s motivational skills was the Tasmanian Devil patch!
Win third place or higher in ten tournaments in fighting and Sam would award you a Tasmanian Devil Patch of the character from loony tunes cartoons with the letters F L H meaning Fight like Hell!
The first recipient of that award was Bobby Tucker, the fastest man on the planet, that is what three time champion, Black Belt Hall of Fame and best friend Keith Vitali says “Bobby and I fought twenty times, each of us winning ten each, he is the fastest karate fighter in the country with tenacity and class, he was amazing!”
Bobby every Thursday like clock work would arrived at the school in his jeep, park it across the street in the same spot , walk in , say hi to Sam , watch class and the go dress out, wrapped his hands, tape up , mouth piece in,sometimes safety gear, sometime not, depending on what mood he was in or what Sam had told him who to stick tonight!
Bobby was a hundred -forty five pounds, he was so fast and accurate and he had technique, he could play or drop you . I never saw him lose a single fight those Thursday nights when he would fight every one, sometimes twice or more, all weights and remember World Champion Jerry Rhome and others who were fantastic bobby fought, it was a time of champions, it was a time to build champions, it was sport Karate wars!
Hitch hiking across America, “Memories of a American Samurai”
I am publishing my first book in two weeks, “Memories of a American Samurai” and this is one of the many memories I have coming to the mainland at a early age.
I was nineteen years old, hitchhiking for the third time across the United States chasing waves with my little five – seven Gordon twin fin surfboard right outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I stopped in a little convenient store for a soda pop and was in back of the store when I heard in a loud voice ” Give up the money or I will shoot you, I mean it, I will shoot you and your Dog!
For some reason I thought of my little dog I had in Hawaii and I didn’t care about the gun, foolish but instinct set in. I grabbed a couple of can goods and a shovel I saw ,threw the cans to the right and hit him on the left in the head with the shovel, the robber fell dropping his gun.
The store owner kicked the gun away and soon the police arrived. The store owner made me out to be a hero but in my heart I was saving the dog and I just acted out of instinct to survive, it was my first encounter with a gun since I had come to the mainland and my Sword training had given me ability’s, even with a shovel.
The store owner offered me money for what I did but I could not take money for something I would have done anyway, naturally.
Now that I am much older I realize how I reacted back then wasn’t the smartest thing to do and in my mind I have analyze what I did and still believe it was thinking of him shooting that little dog, not the owner and it did not even occur to me at the moment I could have been shot or been killed all I cared about was him saying he was going to shoot a animal.
Martial arts teaches you not to think but react at the moment the occasion arrives , the thinking should be done in the Dojo or Kwoon where you have your teacher to help you and teach you to make the right decisions, however reality is a different animal.
I can remember distinctly, I did not think about the future or the fact of danger, just I did not want a little dog to be shot and that is when courage took over.
The training of martial arts teaches you to be smart, that is why I threw the cans to make assailant look the other way, the shovel was the weapon at hand and I thought of all those times I saw Kyoshi hit his students with his Shinai and whacked them across the head just for not paying attention or just his personal punishment he would give us because that is the way they did the training back in the day or at least in Hawaii.
Why did I pick up the shovel instead of using my Karate?, well I was taught in my weapons training that the weapon that you train with, any weapon was a extension of my hands, there fore, I did think of Karate even though I hit him in the head with the shovel, mind you, all this happen in a few seconds, a flash before your mind and I know now that I have talked about it. If it wasn’t for Karate and for the intense training I did in Hawaii, it might have turned out different .
Thank goodness I didn’t have to hit him with my surfboard , it’s funny though that afternoon right out of Oklahoma City, it is a super flat desert land and it was the first time I saw the Black clouds of a major storm, it got real quiet and from the sky huge pieces of ice started falling hard, it was the first time I encountered a Hail storm.
I put my Gordon and Smith Twin-fin surfboard, my pride and joy, next to my Tonfas I carried.
I put the surfboard over my head to protect me . My hands were beat to bleeding and after the hail storm my board was battered up with huge holes in it .
I remember digging a hole in the desert and burying the surfboard and crying not wanting to leave it in the desert.
What a day !, almost got shot, hit a guy with a shovel, saved a little dog , experience my first hail storm ,buried my best friend ,the surfboard and was heading toward another karate event.
I love Karate !
Yu
{Heroic Courage} Rise up above the masses of people that are afraid to act.
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all.
A samurai must have heroic courage.
It is absolutely risky, it is dangerous.
It is living life
completely, fully, wonderfully.
Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
Replace fear with respect and Caution.
Two years later
2nd Black , Nidan
The first National Black Belt League World Breaking Championship, 1993, New Orleans, USA
Aloha,
In the 80’s and early 90’s, I always broke boards , bricks and tiles before I would perform Kata in competition,no one else did that !
but first we need to go back to Six Flags Astroworld, Houston Texas, 1982-1994.
They asked me in my contract to break one board per show, eight shows a day plus two practice breaks, that is ten boards a day!
Well I wasn’t going to pay for the cuts or the boards, so I went after
sponsors, most thought I was crazy for asking for a board and brick sponsors, but finally I found Furrow Lumber Company and the manager had seen one of my performances and was impressed, so they cut 5,000 white pine boards and donated 3,000 bricks to be delivered at Six Flags , Six Flags were blown away and had nowhere to put them, so they built a special building just to house the boards and bricks for me and my crew made up of the best kids I could find would go to the building and pick the best boards with no cracks or knots and the bricks I would break everyday in the shows.
I ran that particular show for three years and still had some odd thousand or so boards and bricks left over.
A few years later I was back doing the Hollywood Stunt show for the popular amusement park and they wanted me to break again and use all that wood and bricks left over, this time I was a little smarter and charged a small fee for each board or brick I broke and SAG gave me a fee also, so I was getting paid though contract and SAG to break each show , ten shows a day plus two rehearsals, added the thirty -foot high falls, weapons routines, getting shot at and dodging knives and getting beat up by beautiful stunt ladies , it was a living and I loved it.
In 1992, the newly formed National Black Belt League had their first Championship in Atlantic City ,New Jersey with no Breaking competition, however I entered five divisions and won five national titles with breaking boards over my head and doing speed breaks before the Kata divisions I had entered.
The following year they offered a beautiful Ring and the first National Black League World Championship, I entered with a field of over fifteen seeded players, I had a second place seed from competing all year in conference events. the number one seed was David Gambino from California, a vicious breaker with a strong reputation to break anything!
I knew breaking boards and bricks were not enough to win the the title, so I added comedy, speed breaks ,vases on uki’s heads fill with confetti ,knocking the vase off their heads with jump spin kicks and breaking bananas and two-ply toilet paper and of course the mandatory breaks to impress the judges, I don’t believe in spacers in between the boards, bricks or tiles, I have never cheated and I believe when you used spacers this adds momentum and takes away from the purity of the breaking technique.
I won the title and the the ring, I wear it every day not in vain but the memory of all the boards, bricks, tiles, bananas and toilet two-ply paper I have broken though the years, lol
Later in 1994 I created the Kids Expo which was at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas and I would break also, however when it came to the Toilet paper break at the end of the show, for some reason I could not break toilet paper, I guess I was getting old and weak in technique so I would find the smallest kid in the crowd and put them on stage to break the toilet paper , they would break it every time!!
I would be embarrassed ,hug them and help them off stage knowing no matter how tough I was, making the audience laugh was a gift and I was very lucky to be able to do that gift, a very lucky Hawaiian!!
Whether you do speed breaks or hard breaks ,it is all about technique.
This what people must understand, one board, brick or tile broken symbolizes breaking a bone in a human body with Karate technique utilizing your Bunkai you learn from Kata which is the essence of Karate, pure Kata, pure Bunkai, pure Karate.
The Texas AOK , the early years
There are so many Texas legends that have influenced my career here in Texas since I blew in from Hawaii in 1979 but one of the most colorful personalities has to be D.P.Hill from Dallas.
D.P was a great Champion and friend, he was the first brother to become a Black Belt under the Allen Steen list of Legends in a time it was not easy to become a Black Belt.
This is one of my favorite memories , not the bloody nose that I recieved but the friendship I developed with one of the great legends of Texas sport Karate ,the legenary Four Fingers of Death Master D.P Hil,Texas Legend
The Great Four Fingers of Death , a Texas Legend, a great man and friend, he is missed but will never be forgotten!, a flash back sir , 1981 ,I am at Tim Kirby’s Sunbelt open and fighting “Outrageous” Jerry Jones one of D.P Hill’s Black Belt , he was about 6’2 and as you know I am about 5’7.
D.P ,Ant Allen , Calvin Cross ,Chuck Timmons and the Dallas entourage was cheering him on. Master D.P did not know me but he used to love to watch me do Japanese Kata, really back then nobody was doing Japanese Kata in Texas in open competition. When I lined up he notice I had no coach or anyone cheering for me, so he walked to my side of the ring and in his gruff unique way of talking said ” I LIKE GARY LEE, IF NO BODY GOING TO COACH GARY LEE, I’D GOING TO COACH GARY LEE ,YOU DON’T MIND ME COACHING YOU GARY LEE , I’D LIKE YOU KATA, I’D HELP YOU BEAT MY STUDENT GARY LEE,YOU’D JUST GOT TO LIST ION TO ME, I’D JUST SHOW YOU HOW
TO BEAT ‘OUTRAGEOUS”, HE’D DON’T LISTON TO ME ANYWAY, PUNCH HIM GARY LEE, PUNCH HIM ”
I was kinda freaking out but I thought it was so cool of him doing what he did , of course “Outrageous” hit me with that patented jump spin back kick and busted my nose, blood was everywhere, Grand Master James Toney was the center judge , he gave me some paper towels and said “Welcome to Texas”, Master D.P came up to me and said “You need to learn the art of ducking Gary Lee”, We became such good friends , every time I would see him after that I always showed my love and respect and of we got to Roast him with a Celebrity Roast many great martial artist was there World Champion Ishmael Robles, World Champion Tim Kirby and World Champion Chuck Timmons
A great memory OF Sport Karate, the four fingers of death, Master D.P Hill, R.I.P
The Michael Depasquale Senior experience
As I was going though the hundreds of pictures of the Museum of Sport Karate has collected one touched my heart for he was a great man and friend, he was one of the founding fathers of martial arts in the United States and his style of martial Arts has brought together all Ju-Jutsans ,now it is studied all over the world. His son has stepped into his shoes and has carried the legacy his father laid in the martial arts community, of course I’m talking about Soke Michael DePasquale Sr.
He was legendary in the Martial Art community and respected in the law enforcement circles for he was one of the first to teach the FBI, CIA and the local police groups around the country.
His International Federation of Ju- Jutsuans has grown to thousands around the world and his memory will be forever though the Museum of Sport Karate.
It is 1994 and Pop’s was flying me everywhere for the Sherman Oak Raiders National Karate Team, It was Grand Master Jhoon Rhee National Karate Championships in Washington D.C.
To start things off, the airline lose my luggage and everything is gone except for my karate bag.
I enter five divisions that day, placed in four ,however the division I remember the most was the traditional Black Belt Kata group. Michael and his father were there and watching the division and later I found out he had stopped to watch me for he enjoyed the way I presented Kata and had watched me perform many times before.
I was humbled.
That day, I did have a goal, not only to win but beat my rival in Kata Sifu Dann Baker .
We were neck in neck in the ratings and I had a couple dozen of second places already from him, to be honest, I had never won a first place to him.
I believe that first place win that day came from knowing great men beside the judges were watching!
It is 2004, a amazing Korean stylist by the name of Yong Song Lee had a event and invited me to be the guest speaker, it was spectacular giving my address to a five hundred plus crowd, in the group were two great martial artist, Grand Master George Alexander and Michael DePasquale Jr.
I would meet these two great men and talk with them about the vision other great pioneers had and then I asked them to be History Generals for the Museum of Sport Karate .
I remember Grand Master Alexander, one of the great performers, veteran and historian of our time staying with me at the restaurant until two o’clock in the morning talking about Okinawan and American sport karate history
It was so cool!
Later in the year I was performing at Bill Violia’s Kumite Nationals in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and I would share a taxi with Master Depasquale Jr. to the airport and we talked of his father, cross ranking and possible Living Legend Roast for him later.
Now it is 2005 and my son and I are invited to fight at Tokey Hill’s event, Tokey really liked Garett, paid his entry fee, made pop’s pay my entry, lol
That night at the Living Legends Awards Banquet we were handing out Legends awards from Mike Dillard and David Wahl from Century Martial Arts , the Ed Parker “Mahalo” Award, the “Shin kicker” Award and the Jim Harrrison “Natural fighter” Award, the Awards went to Alan Goldberg, Ken Knudson and Bill “Superfoot”Wallace .
Then Michael DePasquale Jr. was asked to come to the podium and says ” My father and I feel that Gary has worked hard and has earned this cross ranking of Black Belts to recognized his commitment to Karate, Sport Karate and the Museum of Sport Karate .
I was awarded a honorary certificate 9th Dan ,Okinawan Karate signed by Michael DePasqaule Sr., Michael DePasquale Jr., Jim Harrison , Ken Knudson , Bill Wallace, Don Wilson , Steve Sanders , Dennis Brown , Tokey Hill, Chuck Zito, Bob Wall, William J D’Hrso, Weslely Snipes, John Bluman,Twain Marx Kennedy, Master Choi and Masayuki Shimabukuro. I know with out his love for Kata and our brief but short encounters none of this story would have happen , he will forever be in my memory of my journey here in the mainland.
I was humbled.
Now it is 2007, we have lost Soke Di Michael DePasquale Sr. but with the Roast of his son we honored his memory with a tribute video .Garett Lee performed a Japanese Kata tribute to Chris Canning, a young man we lost to soon to a terrible tragedy , Garett for his performance received the Chris Canning award from Chris’s father , very heart warming!
Donna Jackson sang the Living Legends song to a legendary group of American heroes that were there to honor both senior and junior DePasquale legends, Jeff Smith , Bernard Kerik, Gary Alexander, Keith Strandsberg, Keith Vitali, Joe Hess , Alan Goldberg , Shawn Flanagan, Young Song Lee, Bob Wall and Adam James were few of the Roasters.
When Michael got up after the Roast and spoke of his father ,we were all in tears not for sadness but of joy and honor to have known ,spoke with and shared with such a great American , martial artist and kind , caring person that was Michael DePasquale Sr.
A American Legend to be remembered forever in our hearts and mind .
Five years later
3rd Black , Sandan
Dr Maung Gyi and his Wisdom, a American Living Legend in martial arts
The world has been blessed with great, great men in and around our society and in the the martial arts world.
We have seen men and ladies rise to almost perfection and become legendary figures in movies, television and other ventures, it is a journey of ego, but controlled ego if under the right teachers, these lessons are taught by someone before the legends made their names in the martial arts, they had teachers who were very special, great men like Dr. Maung Gyi.
Robert Trias, Dr.Maung Gyi, Phil Koppell
I know he has touch a lot of lives and most of all this is a love letter to a man that changed my life and journey in the martial arts, this is the wisdom of Dr. Maung Gyi.
Teacher of Teachers
My first remembrance of Dr.Maung Gyi was fighting the Bando guys in Ohio, they were animals, they wore all black, won everything in Kata and weapons and most of all I remember they hit very, very hard!
I actually got knocked out by one of those animals at the Official Karate Magazine Regional event in Ohio, then got beat by Tokey Hill, Tokey was from Sensei Don Madden Dojo in Ohio and was a pure animal, but such a gentleman outside the ring, because of his efforts and hard work we will have USA Karate Do in the World Olympics, his dream ,our dream!
The second encounter was in 1982, Houston Texas and Sensei Larry Lunn, ous, comes in my life as a instructor and friend. He was under Grand Master George Anderson out of Akron Ohio, but had spent some time with the Bando guys.
He taught me the Eagle Kata from Bando and to this day it is part of my Black Belt test for mandatory Kata and Bunkai , lots of seconds, a few firsts , Grand Championship wins, State titles, a National Black Belt League World Championship, not a bad journey for a Kata from Bando.
Then it is 1992 and Zulfi Amed comes in my journey and we are traveling all over the world, rivals in Sport Karate, but outside the arena we were very close friends, his style was called Bushiban. He had Matshibushi Ward from Okinawa was the Budo or Bushido part , then the Ban was for Bando, enter Dr Maung Gyi again in my life .
My son is born and of course I give him to Master Amed , Grand Master Ward and Dr.Gyi and they are part of the reason he does immaculate Japanese Kata and were the Head Judges at his first and second Dan test.
Though the years Dr. Gyi would come in and do seminars and share with us his knowledge and divine wisdom, one seminar I don’t remember what year it was.
Garett was performing with me doing my sword routine in front of Dr. Gyi , afterward Dr. Gyi came up and said “Garett I predict great things for you, here is something for you to help you on your journey, I have carried this everywhere with me, but now it is for you, it’s heavier than normal, I filled it with sand so I can do more damage”.
I stood back in awe and saw my son received a gift that was obviously very special.
A black , bamboo walking Jo, filled with sand , Dr. Gyi had just finished his seminars using it beating up opponents and showing his way of beautiful martial arts motion and technique.
In those many years I would absorb as much as I could in the short times we were together.
I looked forward to our yearly encounters at Bushiban Headquarters and at the Black belt test were I have became part of the Bushiban martial arts family.
Then the moment Dr. Gyi changed my direction in my attitude and help me make decisions that help create the Museum and the Living Legends Celebrity Roast.
I had just received the the 1997 Golden Greek Award from Texas Sport Karate and I was at the event of the year, Bushiban’s celebration with Dr.Gyi, he called me into the main office and sat me down , I thought I had done something wrong , but again it was a just another lesson in the journey.
He put his hand on my knee and looked me in the eyes, it was a special moment.
he said “Gary, you have spent your life knocking down things and being a warrior, now it is a time of healing ,now you reverse you momentum and put it to good, build the Museum, always tell the truth, put your energy to raising your son, I believe in you”.
It did changed me, that moment, knowing a great man , not just a great Black Belt,
a founder, mentor to hundreds, he cared enough to share with me , it was motivating and now you understand why I am so passionate about the project of the Museum of Sport Karate overall.
So now you will understand the heart of this letter, Dr Gyi is a great teacher and he has taught me to share and to believe in miracles, for life is precious.
We have a few Great Sport Karate Legends who need healing and I believe in the thought process of thinking of someone special and that thought process will touch these great men of Sport Karate .
Satch Williams a sport Karate Legend, Part of that early group of pioneers that dominated sport karate, he is need of a heart transplant and please remember him .
Dean Evans ,better known as Flem Evans, History General, U.S.K.A. Legend is in the hospital having surgery ,please think of him.
Tino Tuiolosega, History General, a legend among legends, founder of Lima Lama , Duke Tirschel told of stories of how Tino would teach the legends we know today , he is in the Hospital and not in real good condition, please think of him .
Rudy Smedley , History General, A Texas Sport Karate hero , in the eighties ,he traveled all over the world representing the USA, he is in the hospital having surgery for the second time , please think of him.
Kenn Firestone from Hawaii, great fighter ,History General, braddah and dear friend, he was in a terrible car wreck a few weeks ago , still in ICU under watch , we know you will back soon little braddah , please think of him .
Yes,
Dr. Maung Gyi taught me , not so much in the art of combat but art of healing and thinking of others , a special gift to pass on in the world today!
So you see Dr. Gyi is a great man of wisdom and thought and because of him he has helped create a healing for all of us, look around there is someone you know that is special and was put there to help you and guide you on your martial arts journey, seek them out , share with them , Liston to them , share with them , hug them!
The History of Traditional Karate Pioneers, Legends and Champions in the 20th Century.™
Gary Lee being disqualified for excessive head contact, protested the call,was over ruled .
Eight years later
4th Dan
Ten to twelve years later years later
5th Dan Shihan Master Teacher
Fifteen years later
6th Dan, Sensei
Twenty years later, Honorary
7th Dan, Sensei
Twenty-five years later,
World Registry
8th Dan, Sensei
9th Dan, Kyoshi
Thirty five years later
The Art of Wining, Memoirs of an American Samurai
Memoirs of an American Samurai
The Art of Wining!
http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-American-Samurai-Warriors-Journey/dp/1463698062/
The Instructors.1963-2011
The Black Belt Academy adventure, 1980 to present
Rodeo Square , The Susie McDowell story. 1982-1999
Astroworld, The Six Flag Amusement Park years. 1982-1998
The Demonstrations. Have Black Belt Will Travel
Bass Fishing ,The Texas B.A.S.S Federation Championship and Central Divisional. 1987
The National Karate circuits. 1992, TNT, AOK, NBL, S.O.C.K, USAF, NASKA
The Astrodome,Houston,Texas and Creating Kids Expo. 1992
The Police academy Hollywood Stunt show. 1993-1996
The National Black Belt League Years and the World Breaking Championship.1992-2004
The Amateur Organization of Karate and the Golden Greek Award. 1997
Black Belt Magazine Festival and Palm Springs, 2004
The Battle of Atlanta experiment , 2008
The Masters Hall of Fame , The Karate Masters Hall of Fame , The NBL Black Belt Hall of Fame,The AOK Black Belt Hall of Fame , World Martial Art Master Black Belt Hall of Fame, Bushiban Black Belt Hall of Fame, Texas Black Belt Hall of Fame, United States Black Belt Hall of Fame 2010 recipient, “Founders Award”
International Ryukyu Karatejutsu Research Society
Honor Roll
Hall of Fame
Historian of the Year
2010
International Director ’2011
The Traditional Okinawan Kobujutsu Association & Martial Arts Federation (TOKAMAF), for USA/TEXAS
United States Karate Federation,1st place , Gold Medalist Weapons, a total of 61 competitors in the weapons division.
1992 , Dallas ,Texas , USAF Nationals
The Black Dragon Fighting Society memories, John Keehan, Lawrence Day , Ashida Kim and Frank Dux
http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-American-Samurai-Warriors-Journey/dp/1463698062/
Biography
Professor Gary Lee- Born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Professor Gary Lee is an international karate champion, master karate teacher, a writer for many martial arts publications, a Black Belt Hall Of Fame inductee, and a historian of sport karate. He was also a professional stuntman for many of Hollywood’s favorite martial arts films. He now devotes his intention to Black Belt TV, a martial arts network he helped create in 2005.
Professor Gary Lee 9th Dan, Founder of The Museum of Sport Karate Masters, has graciously accepted ‘The Life Time Membership Award’ from The Traditional Okinawan Kobujutsu Association and Martial Arts Federation. for the tireless work he has undertaken on forming the Museum of Sport Karate Masters in Preserving the History of Martial Arts in America, The Award is presented for long and dedicated service to preserving the history of Martial Arts, the accolades of his fellow American Martial Artists say it all.
Gary Lee began studying karate in 1963 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was only six years old. He earned his Black Belt in 1969 and moved to San Francisco, California on the mainland. At the age of fourteen, he began a journey that would take him all over the United States, meeting and training with the pioneers and legends of the martial arts. In the early days, training and competing was different than it is today. Karate was mysterious and unexplained and, as a real Black Belt with a no nonsense attitude about his art, Gary walked into a karate school assuming all karate instruction was alike. He learned early that this is not so and that not all instruction or instructors were alike.
Some of the incredible Black Belts who have been part of Gary’s journey and who have signed his Black Belt Diplomas beginning in 1969 are a who’s who of the martial arts. These include:
Sensei Torio Kishi, Andrew Tamper, Sam Chapman, Mako, Sid Campbell, Jack Farr, Rick Fowler, Dan Anderson, John Townsly, Chuck Vito, Tokey Hill, Ken Knudson, Bob Wall, Jim Harrison, Allen Steen, George Minshew, John Chung, Daryl Stewart, Ed Daniel, Ronnie Al, Dennis Brown, Steve Muhammed Sanders, Wesley Snipes, Michael Depasquale Sr., Michael Depasquale Jr., Don “The Dragon” Wilson, James Toney, Royce Young, Ishmael Robles, Tim Kirby, Matsbushi Ward, Dr. Maung Gyi, Benard Braverman, J. Pat Burleson, William Ping Hi, Harry Young, Ming Lum, Dale Kirby, Joesph St. Ives, Tim Vought, Bill Wallace, Seung Au, Jim Butin, Jose Santa Maria, Linda Denley, to name a few of the Masters and teachers who have touched Gary Lee’s life. The first Karate teachers who promoted Gary Lee and who would be considered his most current instructors are Andrew Tamper (passed), Sid Campbell (passed), Sam Chapman, Jack Farr, Al Hippert, Mako (passed), George Minshew, Matsbushi Ward, Dr. Maung Gyi and the Hawaiian Black Belt Society.
From 1969 until 1999 Gary Lee traveled all over the United States competing then retired from open competition. He had an incredible career with many, many wins. In 2006, he donated five hundred trophies and awards from his collection to the Make a Wish Foundation, and donated his Tenth Degree Black Belt Certificate for auction. He has been inducted into Masters Hall of Fame, The AOK Hall of Fame as Competitor of the Year, The National Black Belt League Hall of Fame as Texas Competitor of the Year, Kumite Nationals, a $1000.00 scholarship is given in his name, National Black League World Breaking Champion, Black Belt Kata, and Weapons and fighting Titles. In 1993 Gary was the Bushiban Hall of Fame Man of the Year. In 1997 he won the Texas “Golden Greek” Award. He has been rated in the Top Ten Ratings in fighting, weapons, kata, and breaking for many groups and organizations such as S.E.K.A, A.O.K, NBL, S.O.C.K, USAF, SKI, and TNT.
A 9th Degree Black Belt, he received his Professorship of the Martial Arts in Hawaii in 2002.
Professor Gary Lee has always been very innovative in creating martial art projects though out his career:
*The Kids Expo, a project to introduce children to the martial arts.
*1984 – Created first Karate show for Six Flags Amusement Parks called The Texas Karate *All-Stars performing 5,000 Live shows in front of millions of spectators until his retirement in 1997.
*Star performer at the Hollywood Stunt Show at Astroworld theme park.
*Produced the Living Legends Black Belt Nationals.
*Co-producer and Co-founder of Black Belt TV Martial Art Exclusive, the first Internet martial arts channel.
*Produced 17 Living Legends Celebrity Roasts of the Pioneers of Martial Arts
*Founder of the Museum of Sport Karate
*Founder of the Top Texas Ten Black Belt Ratings
*Reconized by the international Ryukyu Karatejutsu Research Society
Honor Roll
Hall of Fame
Historian of the Year
2010
*United States Black Belt Hall of Fame
Founder Award
2010
*United States Member Black Dragon Fighting Society.
Yudansha 9th Degree Black Belt
Signed by Count Juan Raphael Dan’te, Ashida Kim, Dr.Lawrence Day, Hanshi Frank Dux
Founding members.
Currently Professor Lee devotes his time to the Museum of Sport Karate, a non-profit organization created to preserve sport karate history and pioneers of the American golden years from 1946, when the first sport karate studio opened, to 1999, when the first Living Legends were born. He also writes the “Kabuki Warrior Tales” for USADOJO.COM and many other martial arts entities and is a Sport Martial Arts adviser for http://www.worldidedojo.com.
He is the representative for http://www.samuraisupply.com/ a Japanese sword company and performs sword shows all over the world. He is the associate producer for the Martial Art Masters of Texas Live Radio Show. He is on the Board of Ad visors for the Karate Masters Hall of Fame and the Masters Black Belt Hall of Fame.
Currently Professor Lee devotes his time to the Museum of Sport Karate, a non-profit organization created to preserve sport karate history and pioneers of the American golden years from 1946, when the first sport karate studio opened, to 1999, when the first Living Legends were born.
Welcome to the Official Site of The Museum of Sport Karate™
The History of Traditional Karate Pioneers, Legends and Champions in the 20th Century.™
Masters of Texas Live Radio Interview with Professor Gary Lee
http://mamastersoftexas.com/mp3/MAMOT-2010-05-19.mp3
***************************************************************************
10th Degree Fantasy Black Belt
Founder of style
Who has the authority to give out Tenth Degree Black Belt Diplomas and certification and how on earth did so many Grand Masters appear on the planet with out question , every body has the right to question , speak their mind and share information of knowledge they know is true ,this was a simple journey of a simple black belt who learned the hard way there are obstacles in every sport ,however a Black Belt is the excellence of achievement ,not about sport , not about winning a confrontation, it is about learning not to give up and sharing to be the best you can be though your positive mental attitude, but some where lurking ,maybe in a city near you or even in your community.
if you do your research!
Some where out there there is one of the So called Grand Masters Intergalactic Universal Supreme World State County Grand Master wanna-Be’s of the world opening a MARTIAL SCHOOL NEAR YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE , , HAVING YOU SIGN A CONTRACT AND GUARANTEEING YOU A BLACK BELT IN ONE YEAR!!! TRAINING YOU TO HANDLE 36 WEAPONS OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION,TO BREAK BRICKS,LEGS ARMS AND OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY NOT ALLOWED TO SAY IN PUBLIC, LABELING YOU AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS MEN ON THE PLANET AND YES ,YOU COULD OPEN A SCHOOL TOO, IN TWO YEARS AND BE THE GRAND MASTER SUPREME INSTRUCTOR AND IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON AND ON !
2012 WHAT’S NEXT ?
Heya i am for the primary time here. I came across this board and I in finding It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to give something again and help others like you aided me.
Dreaming!
hope your doing well
Professor Gary Lee
Thank you Keith Keith D. Yates for your vision ,this is the outline of the Museum of Sport Karate,not showing is the Duane R. Ethington Library of Knowledge, the Allen Steen Sport Karate Gymnasium, parking lot, Lake ,Camp ground, Zen area, The Ed Parker Room for American Kenpo, The Peter Urban Room for Goju Karate, The Sid Campbell Room for Okinawan Karate and Kobudo, The William Oliver Room for Kyokushin Karate, The Wally Jay Room for Jit Jitsu and The Ming Lum Room for Gung -Fu, there will be other specialty Rooms and last a internal flame 24/7 for our Memorial for our pioneers and Legends we have lost .
The complex will be surrounded by Black and Grey flat rock in shape of a BLACK BELT and each rock will be sponsored by corporate America with a one foot inlay so each History General Sponsored will put his HAND PRINT into the concrete. Creating the Museum of Sport Karate Golden Fist of Fame for generations of fans martial artist and family to share for years ,Oss
http://www.sportkaratemuseum.org
Investors, Ambassadors and sponsors please inquire 832-315-5585
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Renshi = polished or scholarly samurai
Kyoshi = Instructor samurai
Tasshi = Expert samurai
Hanshi = Model samurai
Only bestowed upon those black belts who excell beyond the rest.
Prof. Lee:
Enjoyed your writings very much. Like yourself, I began my karate journey many years ago. I spent 3 months studying Tac Wan Do after my army service at Ft. Benning,Ga. Then I moved back home to Nashville and was fortunate to join Nashville Karate Club under Denny Shaffer. Not only was Denny one of the greatest karate masters but he was, and is, my best friend.
Oddly enough Denny is in Greenville, Sc. http://www.shaffersdragons.com. My journey with Denny began in 1969. You mentioned Kong Ree, whose tournment in Memphis garnered me 3Rd place in black belt division. I met Bill Wallace at that time and discovered what a great guy he is. The only first place I ever won in the black belt division was in Oak Ridge in ’71 or ’72. At one time I fought and defeated another you mentioned,David Deaton. I was a Ni-Dan and decided to retire after Denny left Nashville.
One of the best fighters I ever defeated (Surprised you did not mention him) was Ron McNair, the astronaut killed in the Challenger Disaster in ’86. We were both brown belts at the time and he was such a fine gentleman.
Anyway, thanks for bringing back such memories of the “fun” days. Don’t know if you had heard but Joe Lewis is fighting cancer.
Black Belt Brother,
Jim Lindsey
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Wishing everyone a happy holidays,oss
I went to James Clark USKA Alliance Karate Tournament last weekend , this is a very special event for me for it is heavily influence by the old USKA Robert Trias crowd of old day, Dr. Jordan does a superb job running the alliance, but I go there for James, he is my fishing partner and Karate brother and the great hero’s of American Sport Karate show up , One particular hero of mine Grand Master Glenn Keeney always comes down and we sit and talk of history, he is a walking history book and Mr. Keeney, Parker Shelton, Bill Wallace , Artis Simmons, Victor Moore and so many ,many others made the USKA the most respected Black Belt Kata and fighting circuit in the 70’s and 80’s.The Karate Illustrated Magazine ratings were important too , However the USKA were the Traditional Circuit without a doubt, it was the best of the best sport Karate.
Saturday morning I was dress out and take a lot of pride my old USKA Gi, Kids were around my booth and one kid turned and said , Mr.Lee, your patch, the one of the United States on your sleeve, it looks like the one sensei wears , I was excited another Trias International Society member in the room , Master Parker Shelton had given me mine, he was the first president of the USKA and my mentor for many years because he likes to dump people , it’s a Judo thing , oss ,well it was the Alliance tribute and respect to the original patch, not the original one and all the high ranking Alliance masters wear it. When the Master of Sport Karate pass, Robert Trias, his disciples all went their Karate ways , However Master Trias will never be forgotten for his vision of sport karate in America and what he did for all of us ,oss
WINNING ISN’T EVERYTHING, IT’S THE ONLY THING:
Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the …discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat. I don’t say these things because I believe in the ‘brute’ nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour — his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear — is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” Coach Vincent T. Lombardi..
http://youtu.be/ZmcfS4A2Hyk
MartialCafeTV’s Katana Sword Reviews – The Tsunami Wheel Katana
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Professor Gary Lee 9th Dan, Founder of The Museum of Sport Karate Masters, has Graciously excepted the award of ‘The Life Time Membership Award’, for his tireless work he has undertaken on forming this Museum of Sport Karate Masters in Preserving the History of Martial Arts in America, the acodales of your fellow American Martial Artists say’s it all, The Award is presented for long and dedicated service to preserving the history of Martial Arts, from The Traditional Okinawan Kobujutsu Association & Martial Arts Federation
Aloha
Dear Mr . Allen ,
This a is real thrill for me for I have watched you from 1979 when I first moved here from Hawaii and in 1980 ,you gave me my first live Television interview at the Memorial City Mall Valentine’s Celebration , three days of karate on a stage in the middle of the mall , it was so packed ,the Fire Marshall asked me to cancel one of the shows so they could move people around.
Channel 13 has been good to my career though out the years with the 5,000 performances with Bob Logan and Six Flags ,Astroworld FAMILY !, I did two shows Gary Lee’s Texas Karate All -Star Show ran for three seasons and then the Police Academy Hollywood STUNT Show in the 90’s ran three seasons, retired as the oldest stuntman in the park ,Mr. Ward and Shara’s commercial made me a house hold name in those years great times !, can’t forget all the coverage for you guys gave me for Kid’s Expo at the Astrodome Arena , we made a lot of Kids famous with those shows and last thank you for covering my Bass Fishing Career with the Ranger Boats Kids Fishing shows ,winning the 1987 Texas B.A.S.S Federation Fishing Championship changed my direction for a few years but Kids were always the advocate for me for I was that one kid that made it from the Islands .
The great coverage you gave me for Trick Casting shows at Holders Fishing Show every year at George R. Brown Convention Center,that was fun!
I produced the first B.A.S.S Federation Team Championships on Lake Conroe 1987, be fore the the Miller Lite $100,000 crazy years, Kenny Houston from the Oilers was there and Channel 13 Tim Nelson covered the event, with all the adventures , it has always been Karate, sir and now I run a Sport Karate Museum in Sugar Land , Texas and Iwould like to honor your work in Sports in Houston and share what you have done for my career, very humbly , I had not been on Television until I came to Houston and you being my first interview is special to my memory.
October 13 Saturday at the South west Hilton at a Celebration of fighters in the martial arts world will be honored along with special guests I call “The Gathering ”
Thank you Mr. Bob Allen and Channel 13 for the memories!
Aloha
http://www.sportkaratemuseum.org
Hitch hiking across America, “Memories of a American Samurai”
I am publishing my first book in two weeks, “Memories of a American Samurai” and this is one of the many memories I have coming to the mainland at a early age.
I was nineteen years old, hitchhiking for the third time across the United States chasing waves with my little five – seven Gordon twin fin surfboard right outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I stopped in a little convenient store for a soda pop and was in back of the store when I heard in a loud voice ” Give up the money or I will shoot you, I mean it, I will shoot you and your Dog!
For some reason I thought of my little dog I had in Hawaii and I didn’t care about the gun, foolish but instinct set in. I grabbed a couple of can goods and a shovel I saw ,threw the cans to the right and hit him on the left in the head with the shovel, the robber fell dropping his gun.
The store owner kicked the gun away and soon the police arrived. The store owner made me out to be a hero but in my heart I was saving the dog and I just acted out of instinct to survive, it was my first encounter with a gun since I had come to the mainland and my Sword training had given me ability’s, even with a shovel.
The store owner offered me money for what I did but I could not take money for something I would have done anyway, naturally.
Now that I am much older I realize how I reacted back then wasn’t the smartest thing to do and in my mind I have analyze what I did and still believe it was thinking of him shooting that little dog, not the owner and it did not even occur to me at the moment I could have been shot or been killed all I cared about was him saying he was going to shoot a animal.
Martial arts teaches you not to think but react at the moment the occasion arrives , the thinking should be done in the Dojo or Kwoon where you have your teacher to help you and teach you to make the right decisions, however reality is a different animal.
I can remember distinctly, I did not think about the future or the fact of danger, just I did not want a little dog to be shot and that is when courage took over.
The training of martial arts teaches you to be smart, that is why I threw the cans to make assailant look the other way, the shovel was the weapon at hand and I thought of all those times I saw Kyoshi hit his students with his Shinai and whacked them across the head just for not paying attention or just his personal punishment he would give us because that is the way they did the training back in the day or at least in Hawaii.
Why did I pick up the shovel instead of using my Karate?, well I was taught in my weapons training that the weapon that you train with, any weapon was a extension of my hands, there fore, I did think of Karate even though I hit him in the head with the shovel, mind you, all this happen in a few seconds, a flash before your mind and I know now that I have talked about it. If it wasn’t for Karate and for the intense training I did in Hawaii, it might have turned out different .
Thank goodness I didn’t have to hit him with my surfboard , it’s funny though that afternoon right out of Oklahoma City, it is a super flat desert land and it was the first time I saw the Black clouds of a major storm, it got real quiet and from the sky huge pieces of ice started falling hard, it was the first time I encountered a Hail storm.
I put my Gordon and Smith Twin-fin surfboard, my pride and joy, next to my Tonfas I carried.
I put the surfboard over my head to protect me . My hands were beat to bleeding and after the hail storm my board was battered up with huge holes in it .
I remember digging a hole in the desert and burying the surfboard and crying not wanting to leave it in the desert.
What a day !, almost got shot, hit a guy with a shovel, saved a little dog , experience my first hail storm ,buried my best friend ,the surfboard and was heading toward another karate event.
I love Karate !
Yu
{Heroic Courage} Rise up above the masses of people that are afraid to act.
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all.
A samurai must have heroic courage.
It is absolutely risky, it is dangerous.
It is living life
completely, fully, wonderfully.
Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
The Apple does not fall far from the tree, The Garett Lee Story
By Accounƭ Securìƭy in Museum of Sport Karate Master Members · Edit Doc
Texas Warrior!
The First Living Legends Celebrity Roast and the Black Belt Testing of Garett Lee
South West Hilton, Houston ,Texas
1999
This is from the new book “Memoirs of an American Samurai” and the story of a young man’s quest in the martial arts ,back in a time it was unheard of a child wearing a Black Belt.
He was tested in front of Legends in Karate ,Allen Steen, Jim Harrison ,Linda Denley, Ed Daniel ,James Toney just to name a few from the thirty five legends that tested him for three long hours ,after ward he got a standing ovation and everyone signed his Diploma.
Ten years later at Bushiban Head Quarters in Deer park ,Texas, he tested for second dan ,a birthday present from Zulfi Amed, he brought in Dr. Maung Gyi, Matshibushi Ward from Okinawa, Steve Selby , Wade Kirkpatrick , Termite Watkins and a panel of past and future pugilists, He had to fight K-1 Star Eric Loveless three rounds, Eric is 6’3, Garett is 5’6.
Again passed , Signed Diploma , Garett is a special case for I wanted him to be the best he could be , if his decision was to be a Black Belt ,he was going to have every opportunity to be around the very best!
Garett Robert Lee was born in Houston, Texas on January 10th 1992 into a family of Martial Artist. His father is well known across America as an excellent competitor, knowledgeable Black Belt and founder of the Living Legends Celebrity Roast. Garett’s mother holds a Black Belt and she was a winning competitor during her competition years as an under belt and Brown Belt. Long time friend and World Full- Contact Karate Champion Ishmael Robles said at Garett’s Black Belt Test, “ Garett is destined to be the next layer of champions Texas produces, but the main reason he is going to be a champion is because he was born in Texas!”
Garett has been immersed in martial arts since his father hung toy throwing stars and nunchaku above Garett’s crib. He was competing by the age of two and performing on stage with his father across America. Rumor has it that his dad would drop him off at karate schools and leave for hours, some time for days. It is a fact that he would leave him at the SHAOLIN TEMPLES around Houston so he could learn Kung Fu with the live-in Monks. He fought his first full-contact kickboxing match at age six at Rumble At Round Rock World Championships. He won fifty first places in forms and fighting from National Black Belt League, Texas Tour, A.O.K, Texas Karate Organization and Sport Karate International…wait a minute, kids can’t really be Black Belts, they have no power and they can’t do all the things a real Black Belt does.
What Is A Real Black Belt?
Garett earned his black belt at seven years of age. That was unheard of in the real karate world and thought to be of a farce. No child was seen as capable of breaking boards, fighting, self-discipline, attitude, Bunkai, Kobudo weapons, and do, Ku San Ku, ,Ni Gi Shi Ho, Unsu, Sesien, Sanchin Sempai (these are all Black Belt Kata), all the waza’s, and of course the basic Kion Katas that are required in Okinawan Karate. He also endured the pressure of a panel of thirty living legends in the martial arts who graded him. This had never been done before, but that is what makes Garett very special. They passed him and signed his certificate endorsing his skills as a Black Belt. The reason Garett has excelled in the martial arts and has done almost impossible feats in traditional and sport karate is the fact that he has many teachers!
Garett has performed in many places and in front of thousands of karate spectators but his most cherished memory is when he did his routine at The Bob Wall’s Celebrity Roast in front of Chuck Norris, Roy Kurban, Richard Norton, Jeff Smith, Troy Dorsey, Raymond McCallum, Steve Fisher, and the great Lou Casamassa.
Grand Master Casamassa had given Garett’s dad the sword Garett used in the demonstration that night.
and it gave Garett goose bumps because he knew how much his dad loved and respected Grand Master Casamassa.
Another memorable event was performing on the Super Grands stage at two years of age and breaking a board over his father’s head. When he was four years old Bernie “Pops Kransnoo” put him on the Sherman Oaks Raiders National Karate Team and his sport karate career begin. He would perform wherever his father would have a performance; it was like “Have Black Belt Will Travel”. Garett has had an incredible traveling career but because he pursued many goals in 2005 we are sharing about that year.
He Who Travels Sees The Water Fall Differently Than Others Who Don’t .
His school, family and other things in life are important but sport karate and performing is in Garett’s destiny, as you probably already understand by now. He has a wish to be the best he can be. His favorite saying comes from Rick Clunn, World Bass Fishing Champion and Five Time Winner Of The Bass master Classic;
“There Are No Limits To Reaching Our Goals With A PMA
(Positive Mental Attitude)”
In 2005 Garett started out chasing the A.O.K, the Texas karate circuit. He finish with a number one seed in the east and went in to the State Championship with eight first places in a row in kata and fighting. After a tremendous year in this circuit, and being picked as the youngest member on Team Focus, he won two state titles; one in 12-13 Black Belt Kata and the other 12-13 Black Belt Fighting.
Then he went to Columbus Ohio for Arnold Martial Arts Festival as the special guest performer for Black Belt Television. He performed to the title song for the movie “Black Salt” in front of an array of the following V.I.P’s
The legendary Tokey Hill sponsored Garett at the World Karate Federation event, at the festival, where he won kata and fighting. Sometimes, opportunity comes once in a life time and if you don’t take advantage of it, it may never come again. This is what Garett experienced in Houston one Saturday. Stan Witz, a producer from Las Vegas introduced his event in Houston at the Fonde Recreation Center. Ms. Linda Denley was his sponsor and Garett entered all divisions winning everything including the Adult Black Belt Kata division. Then it was on to The Battle of H-town, across Houston to the north side of town, where he won Kata and fighting. Garett had won two major karate events in one day!
Then he was on his way to Pittsburgh to the National Black Belt League qualifying event for Super Grands in Buffalo New York. He competed in Japanese Kata in a field of thirty competitors. He finish third, securing him a seed at the World Games at the end of the year. He was on stage as guest performer for ESPN 2, where he performed spectacular feats with Young Sung Lee and Dr.Patrick Price. Garett came back home to Victoria, Texas and competed in the NBL Conference Event, where he won both his divisions in Kata and fighting, giving him his fighting seed at Super Grands.
One of Garett’s favorite events is Wayne Nyugen’s TKO’S Ocean State Nationals in Galveston, Texas. Wayne, better known as the “White Ninja” from the movie “Sidekicks”, has watched Garett grow up and sponsors him every year at his event.
This year Garett won his fighting division and kata division and he won his very first Grand Championship. It was very special when Master Nyugen gave Garett a samurai sword for winning his event. In the old days the ultimate gift was getting a sword from your teacher.
The Black Belt Magazine Reunion and Festival was a huge event in Hollywood, California.
All the stars came out for this one and Garett was right in the middle of the action. He was there to audition for a part in the new show “Are You the Next Martial Arts Superstar?”, and to perform on stage for Black Belt Magazine. He did get to hang out with Gene LeBell, Chris Casamassa, Michele “The Mouse” Krasnoo, Bob Wall, John Chung, Eric Lee, Dan “The Beast” Severn, Young Sung Lee, World Karate Champion Linda Denley, Leo Fong, George Alexander (Master Alexander was so impressed with Garett’s skills that he asked him to be his Uki for his performance on stage, what an honor!) While he was there he got to work out with some great martial artist like STUWART SHUMANN AND KEN FIRESTONE. Garett is a season traveler and has done more in the past few years in his karate than most people have done in a lifetime.
The Test and Four Hours Later
Garett’s Black Belt exam was “an old fashioned BLACKBELT test (meaning something most adults would fail) under Allen Steen, Ed Daniel, Skipper Mullins, Fred Wren, Jim Toney, Jim Butin, Al Garza, Dan Anderson, Royce Young, Linda Denley, Zulfi Ahmed, Jim Harrison, Jimmy “Gato” Tabares, Ishmael Robles, Stacy and Pablo Mejia, Tim Kirby, George Minshew, Glen Wilson, Larry Ritchie, Richard Jenkins, Ronnie Al, Daryl Stewart Matubushi Ward, Head Of The Okinawan-Japanese Karate Federation, (just to name a few). Garett performed his basic and advanced techniques, then several weapons kata, then went through his ten forms, fought ten rounds (not including the multiple attacker rounds). When the dust had settled all the above named Black Belts signed Garett’s Black Belt rank certificate and at age seven Garett was the youngest child and very first child Allen Steen And Jim Harrison ever put their signature on. That made history!
His favorite fighters are Ray McCallum, Tim Kirby, Linda Denley, Wade Kirkpatrick and of course Demitrius (“the Golden Greek”) Havanas, and his dad. His favorite forms are Tetsu, Ni Ji Shi Ho, Eagle and Unsu and Sempai Kata.
His Godfather Dr. Mauny Gyi, Founder Of Bando Said “He is a worker and future champion of the world, a real champion not a paper tiger. He is a Kata machine and fights like the old days, hard and fast!”
Having been brought up in Texas Garett has heard all the “war stories” about the great Texans Demitrius Havanas and Raymond McCallum. His dad took Garett to a tournament in the Austin area when he was in the peewee divisions and they spent the night with fellow Texan Black Belt Tim Kirby. Garett fell asleep to the stories of Havanas for a lullaby. After being asleep several hours Garett rose silently, Tim and Garett’s dad watched in quiet surprise as Garett performed “sleep kata”, he then went through a few sparring combinations and then fell back into bed breathing deeply again in a heavy sleep. The next day as the tournament got under way, Mr. Kirby gave Garett a patch, not just any patch, this patch read “Greek”. The Golden Greek, This was given to Tim Kirby (from the A.O.K) for being the best all around male Black Belt in Texas in 1981 the year Demetrius Havanas died in a tragic plane crash.
Tim had carried the patch all these years when he would fight out of state and it was priceless to him, but Garett had touch his heart and Tim was compelled to give him the famous patch. His dad won the Golden Greek Award in ’1997 , so Garett knew how important this was even at his early age.
Tim told Garett that morning, “I carried this patch everywhere I fought after Greek died and I felt his spirit with me every match, I want you to have it and remember Greek is with you”. Garett makes sure this is on his uniform when he enters the ring.
He does have a life outside of karate, his mom makes sure of that. Garett maintains an A average in school and enjoys playing “video games” of all sorts. He enjoys fishing; another activity Garett and his father spend time doing together. Garett looks forward to competition but admits its not all about trophies, he enjoys sparring and the “challenge” it brings. Garett’s favorite technique is the Texas chamber sidekick and the ridge hand. Garett says “The Sidekick I love because I can stop anyone with it and the ridge hand because of its history! J.Pat Burleson and Mike Stone invented the ridge hand but it was Jeff Smith, Linda Denley, Steve Fisher and Garett’s dad who perfected it for sport competition.
Garett has three main sponsors,Team PKKA, Chuck Norris’s KICKSTART program and of course Hawaiirock Productions.He has been coached by George Minshew since he was five and now coached by World Champion Jason Holmes . He has had offers from Kellogg of Battle Creek, Infiniti and Fox TV but his family wants him to concentrate on his education first and his youth.
Garett has never forgotten the famous last words at his test by Grand Master Allen Steen, “Your education is your most important journey without it you will not have the vision to carry out the opportunities that await you in the future.”
Currently Garett is training for his second Dan Black Belt exam and looking forward to seeing all the Martial Art Living Legends at the Michael DePasquale’s Roast his father is hosting in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Garett is considering “invading” the WTF and USTU in hopes of fighting his way to the Olympics. He wants to represent the United States in Karate competition like his dad did all the years he competed. What’s in his life for the future? He smiles and says with a big, big grin, “girls and cars and all the fun stuff adults get to do!”
Update 2009
Garett is 17 years old now , it is hard to believed he has been a Black Belt karate fighting champion for ten years. Traveling different national karate circuits , Garett “Spaz” Lee has define the words “Have Black Belt Will Travel”, however he is doing fine and still having fun!
In Kata he runs Sepai and in fighting he has been picked up by World Champion Jason Holmes (JDog) and the PKKA National Karate Team. He has won every tournament he has entered 3rd place or higher except for SUPER GRANDS in 2008, for the past two years, pretty impressive because he fights everywhere, any group, any rules. NBL, AOK, TNT, SKI, WKA, PKC, USKA, International rules, Texas rules!
He has won two Texas State Titles in fighting and one in Kata. Just recently he won and placed in The Back Alley Bash, a fight club in Houston, Texas. To let you know how much intensity this young Texas Warrior has toward sport karate, even now after ten years of living off the road with his father and doing show after show, in town after town, he still loves sport karate!!!
In 2008 at the Masters Hall of Fame he was asked to perform his flawless Japanese Kata “Sepai ” in front of the Living Legends of the martial arts and help open the history making event .
On his 17th Birthday, Garett fought as an adult in the first P K C National Karate event in Texas at the Alvin Community College in Alvin Texas.
Garett entered the men heavy weight division and won. He then entered a new sport where you score only one point and then all five judges score you at the same time. No time limit, the Ippon Kumite will be the talk of the sport circuit for true one punch or kick fighters! Garett won that division.
Then he won the Grand Championship in fighting. He has now been chosen to be on the Texas P K C National Team to fight.
The great Legendary Flem Evens from National Fighting fame helped Sponsored him for that event!
Ask what the future is for Garett and he says “traveling, meeting new friends and seeing old ones but if I had to say one thing to someone, ‘Look Good , Fight Good’”.
Ranked 10**
Garett “Spaz” Lee
Twelve{12} out sixteen{16} Black Belt Scouts from the Top Texas Ten Black Belt Ratings voted this seventeen year old Karate kid into the ratings last year and the reason why, he can hit you with an natural speed and has a tendency to do better when he ‘s losing by making spectacular come backs
Here are some reasons why, 1st Place Battle of Atlanta, PKC Texas Team, 1st Place, Back Alley Bash runner up 4 times, Won 12 events in a row! U S .Championships 1st Place , U S. Open 1st Place ranked Number one in fighting AOK, PKC {Texas region } and N B L for the year 2009.
2010, AOK State Champion, TKO State Champion,Grand Champion,1s Place NBL Conference event, Back Alley Bash Champion, Grand Champion Art of War, The Super fight.
2010
Garett Lee Earned 2nd Degree Black Belt
Garett Lee earned his Nidan in Shorin-Ryu Japanese Karate which was presented by his Bushiban Family and Godfathers Dr. Maung Gyi and Matshibushi Ward (Mabo).
On the Board
Daryl K. Stewart, Mark Campbell, David Dobbs, Deddy Mansyur
Eric Loveless, James Clark, Wade Kirkpatrick, Jason Holmes, Dona Pettway
Other Board Members were Steve Selby, Matshibushi Ward, head of Japanese-Okinawan Federation, Steve Selby, Termite Watkins, Texas Legend Olympic Boxing Coach, Master Kiyoshi Nishime, Grand Master Zulfi Amed, Becky and Roger Bornstein, Tandy Robinson, Brakke Jull, Dr. Lance Hoover, Nishime -son, Ricardo Liborio, American Top Team Coach.
It had been ten years since Garrett Lee’s last black belt test in front of a legendary board, at eight years old. it all seems surreal, but after ten years of in your face fighting and kata, wins at The Battle of Atlanta, five Texas State titles, and PKC and AOK number one fighting seed and U S Open and U S Championships, Garett had the opportunity to prove his abilities and love for true karate do. Garrett’s mentor Grand Master Zulfi Amed gave him a birthday present he will always remember!
He is part of the new breed of Sport Karate Warriors with a old flair!
THE DRAW
By Gary Lee
Edited by Dana Stamos
In the sixties martial art weapons had not been introduced into martial arts events around the country, in fact the half time shows were either weapons demonstrations or self defense techniques displayed because they were spectacular to watch. Sooner or later producers got smart. The legendary karate Master, Sid Campbell was one of the first to introduce weapons competition on the west coast and the great Master Aaron Banks introduce weapons on the east coast.
One of the Museum of Sport Karate’s™ all-time favorite martial arts weapons performers was was Hanshi Andrew Linick, who won countless weapon’s kata championships. He would dazzle thousands of spectators with his flawless skill and his rare talent mystified audiences and judges alike. His Okinawan weapons expertise included: Nunchaku, Sai, Bo, Kama, Tonfa and Sword. Grandmaster Linick is known by his peers as the teacher’s teacher or the Okinawan Weapon’s Technician.
Some of the super stars of weapns in the sixties and seventies were Eric Lee, Al Dacascos,Tadashi Yamashita, Andrew Linick Ph.D, Hidy Ohcai, Dale Kirby, Cindy Rothrock, Mark Dacascos, James Lew, Phillip Koppel, James Cook and many, many others.
In the early seventies weapons had a division of their own and anything was allowed, Kung Fu, Staffs, Sai, all the Kobudo weapons, farm tools and even spears. At the 1981 Fort Worth Pro-Am, in Fort Worth, Texas, a competitor pulled a 357 Magnum pistol fill with blanks and shot at the judges. It was very loud and frighting. He was arrested, but it shook up the crowd. I hit the floor and dove behind a chair. I took third place that day. It was the loudest third place I had ever won.
To me, the most tenacious of all martial art weapons is the sword and I have studied it with great reverance. I have seen it used both in the past and in the present by many who compete or perform. So often I see it used improperly. It would make me nervous when I saw someone wearing a sword upside down or touching the blade, or letting some one touch the blade. It hurt to see them drop the blade, or cut himself or the uki. Sometimes the competitor would loose the blade and it would go into the audience and hit some innocent bystander! In those days there were no medics on hand and it was scary stuff.
The draw should be pure, touched by no one except the competitor and the owner of the sword. After you draw you clean your sword, oil your sword and clean your sword again. Why, because a good blade should be nourished, taken care of like a brother, with responsibility. The blade is your partner and you become one, because in a different time, your life depended on it.
I had a spectacular experience competing with the sword in Guatemala City in 1993. There were some 5,000 Guatemalens in the audience and their cheering was deafening. When I walked on stage and drew the sword, they became utterly silent, I could hear only the thunder, and the bright light of the lighting cracked around me in the huge outside dome. Special super star guest, Bill Ryusaki, said “I have never seen someone awe and quiet a huge crowd like this since Bruce Lee performed at the Long Beach Internationals. It was amazing!
There is always someone at a Sport Karate event if there is a weapons division that draws. You may not see him or know he is there, but if you disrespect his sword he will let you know, yes I said “his sword”.
You never see the purest drawers competing at a sport karate event because drawing for them is not display. I do believe in competing with the sword and demonstrating the sword, Kubuki acting at it’s finest, drawing at your best, but I understand those who do not wish to compete or perform in demonstrations as their’s is a different world.
In 1982 I started my journey in Shorin Ryu Karate Do with Sid Campbell and it was a great journey.
He not only taught me Karate but weapons and particularly the art of the draw , he was my Sensei and friend ,Together with a hand full of pioneers , Ken Knudson , Allen Steen , Jim Harrison , Pat Johnson, Mike Stone, Duane Ethington and a few others the idea was formed for the History Generals to help guide the journey called the Museum of Sport Karate and for the past few years we have grown into what we are now ,a part of the martial arts community .
Here is the letter he wrote for the world to know what SPORT KARATE meant to him and his world.
We miss you Uncle Sid especially this time of year .
Thank you for your knowledge , love and Karate .
Forever your student and Uki
Gary
Hanshi Sid Campbell, another time ,another life
A Statement from Sid Campbell, an American Sport Karate Pioneer
Aloha and welcome,
The Sport Martial Arts Museum Organization under the guidance of founder Gary Lee is a major step forward in preserving the past, unifying the present and strengthening the future of the sporting aspects of our art. It is also the official home of the history, traditions and accomplishments of great martial artists that pioneered the way in bringing these exciting sport-oriented martial traditions to the United States and spreading it throughout the western world.
What we see today in the vast expanse where the martial arts have entrenched itself in American’s culture and social fabric is a plethora of positive human qualities that was spawned by the martial arts sport movement. Through venues like karate tournaments, major action-adventure motion picture productions, professionally sanctioned televised events, martial arts schools, law enforcement agency defense tactics curriculum, Internet connectivity, seminars, magazine publishers, equipment supply companies, instructional books, educational DVDs, video arcade games, etc. — can all, in one way or another, trace its roots back to the sport martial arts competitors of the early 1960s when the Asian martial traditions were being introduced to the world. More specifically, it was the martial arts competitors, tournament producers and the fans of that bygone era that we today call the “golden age” of karate in America is of where this expansive and phenomenal growth evolved from in the first place.
Being fortunate enough to be one of the first Americans to teach Okinawan karate in the United States and western world during karate’s “golden age” of the 60s, I was blessed to be a part this cultural evolution. To be a small part of this dedicated cadre of this movement which now touts tens of millions of practitioners on a global scale still humbles me beyond the scope of words alone.
In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined that the martial disciplines like karate, kung-fu (gung-fu), judo, jujitsu, ninjitsu, tae kwon do, kempo, escrima, kendo, aikido, iaido, kali, capoeira, savate, sambo, kobudo, pankration, bugei, wushu, mixed martial arts and eclectic martial arts would have reached that level of popularity in the past forty some odd years. And, to see the art I love so much endure these sometimes tumultuous times and undergo so many innovative changes along the way while still retaining the quintessential essence of its original purpose and traditional values is truly astounding. Perhaps what is just incredible about this form of physical expression that emphasizes moral and ethical values is that it has helped develop some of the finest human beings that these past four decades of growth can produce. I must attribute this, at least in part, to the exceptional martial arts educators that have dedicated their life and energy to elevating the spirit of the warrior and teaching the arts that has been a way of life for a select few for the past fifteen hundred years.
The Sport Martial Arts Museum was created and founded on the premise that the efforts, dedication, perseverance and enthusiasm of these early practitioners would be preserved and passed forth for posterity sake. A noble cause in deed when we stop to think that many future generations will know who was responsible for this phenomenal growth and worldwide popularity from a sport perspective. Again, I must reiterate that this worthy endeavor to document, archive and house the sporting aspects of these myriad of martial disciplines that were, in part, responsible for this global popularity of the martial arts is the righteous and just action to take so that future generations will be able to share in the excitement, enthusiasm and camaraderie that was unwittingly nurtured in karate’s “golden age” of karate in America. And, as with any endeavor that attracts the interest of millions of avid devotees, preserving the past, unifying the present and strengthening the future needs a strong foundation to insure existence. I believe Gary Lee has set the cornerstone in place through his unceasing efforts and true love for the martial disciplines to guide this endeavor into the future. His insightful perception will undoubtedly insure that the sports aspects of the martial arts will be preserved and passed forward for many, many generations to come. For that, we will all be deeply indebted.
As you visit the Five House you will step back in time to when America and the western world was embracing the cultural traditions of Asia and forming an international bond that is stronger today because of his many years of hard work. Essentially Gary Lee has captured time in a bottle so that others can share these moments and drink from that same fountain of knowledge that America’s karate pioneers enjoyed from its introduction in 1945 in Phoenix, Arizona.
With great respect and Aloha,
Malama pono,
Sid Ka’imi Campbell
10th dan, hanshi, kaicho
Founder, the World Okinawan Shorin-ryu Karate-do and Kobudo Association (WOSKKA)
Founding Member, WorldBlackBelt.com
Karate grandmaster, artist, author, actor, tournament producer
Karate Bass Fishing Tournament style, a tale of two sports!
By Accounƭ Securìƭy in Museum of Sport Karate Master Members · Edit Doc
One of the first public autograph appearances was at Astroworld , Houston Texas , I was sort of out of place, I really did not belong here but Astroword’s media department made me come , I thought because I was surrounded by some of the greatest Basketball and Baseball players in the world , I kept thinking why am I here?, it was a great year 1989 and I had brought a couple of winners, signed a new contract with six flags, rated in four different karate groups national and state, created Kids Expo and Hawaiirock Productions and the biggest thrill winning the B.A.S.S Federation State Championship and represent Texas in the the Central Championship.
People have asked me how I could do both and be a Champion at both and I always say the same answer ” IT IS KARATE , MY WAY OF LIFE, KIME, FOCUS, AND CATCH BIG FISH!”
This is where my life would change forever and I would be chasing BIG green fish for the rest of my life !
I am a Bass fisherman!
Twenty years of teaching Kids to fish and have fun !!
Are you addicted to Bass fishing?
Do you stop at every Tackle shop you see even if it’s going the other way on the freeway to check out just if they have a new spinning Lure?
Are you so bad that you start thinking about your next trip as soon as you get out of the water to hook your boat from the trip you just did?
It is Friday night and you pull into the motel , the parking lot is full of boats all players are getting ready for the next day event.
You notice that most the guys and pros are at the local guide roost talking smack and drinking that legal stuff but you stay at the motel sharping your lures and fine tuning everything cause you know it is 60% luck and 40% technique of being prepared for anything that can happen and murphy’s law always kicks in when you do not expect it.
Finally ,you go to bed .
You close your eyes and count BIG Bass in the live well.
ALARM!!!!!!!!!!!
It is 3:00 am , a cup of coffee, unplug the Battery charger, secure everything and go to the ramp , except this event you may ramp anywhere you want , just be at the weigh in at 3:00 pm or be penalized.
You decide to chance it ,lose a couple of hours fish time ,but it will be worth it if your hunch is right,so you drive to the other side of the dam to the east for more shade and for the past three days of pre fish you have been following the birds.
The birds find shad, the shad draw fish!!
Sometimes schools of fish form, the shad gather sometimes they will corner thousands of those tiny morsels in a cove or against a set of rocks !
The Pattern
Black and Blue Stanley Jig with a no.11 black pork frog dipped in Fish Formula and thrown against rocks or structure , count to five slow , pop or moved slow , count to ten this time, wait!
The BIG fish
Found a back water cove off the main channel of the river though a maze of Cypress trees , it was so confusing you had to spray paint the bottom of the trees to find my way out , everything look fishy, which tree??
Then you see a opening, the first you thought was “thank you lord for letting me leaving that spray paint in the boat!”
Then your pre – vision sets in and you see a ripple over by a hanging log , another boil , the buzz bait , hooks in the tree for a couple of seconds and falls ,your reel ratio is high speed and you do not make a full turn when he swallows the buzz bait whole , you do what you have been taught , wait three seconds ,you try to break your arm and set the hook !
You know it is a big fish by the way it pulls and the Kistler Rod was the reason you landed the fish .
Two times it went under the Ranger Commache 464, a old Ranger but it’s family .
You believe the worst is going to happen , lose the fish, break the rod and of course my Kistler came though this time to maybe win my first Championship.
Final weight on BIG fish 9.70
Watch the birds!
You know BIG fish become BIG fish because they feed under the remains of what the schools miss, a theory but it is a pattern and as a Champion you must have many patterns to fish and win, part of that 40% technique you must have.
The Pattern works, Five fish , with one BIG one over nine pounds, you have culled six times, nine teen bites for eight hours of fishing, really only four hours because of traveling time going to the other ramp!!
You pull up to the weigh in , they have already had two waves of fisherman come in and you know you have to have twenty pounds to place and you also got a shot at BIG BASS pot too.
Some one yells “he’s got it ,so far biggest fish has been seven {7} pounds, you get butterflies in your stomach because when you weighed it on your scale it was nine pounds plus, but it does not matter until they weigh it officially and you pass the polygraph.
You know every one is watching for your the last to come in the third wave, BIG tournament over 350 hard core fishing bass anglers all wanting to win .
You dig into your live well ,pulling out all your fish saving the BIG one for last , Holy crap You could win this !
The walk to the scale is a long walk ,your nerves are going crazy until they get your bag and it is like a dream,
you need four {4} ounces to win!
Nobody remembers second place, they weigh your fish and you have seven ounces over the last top weight total, twenty seven ponds two ounces
27.2 pounds!!!!! A new Champion on a old lake ,
plus you won BIG BASS pot, at ten dollars each angler put in times 350 entries ,
Steak tonight!!
More fun than a barrel of Crappie!!
Bassaholic!
We are sorry to say ,there are no cures except get in the water and fish !
Go early
and
Stay late!
Two weeks earlier pre fishing for the State Championship
I t is pouring down rain and thunder storms are predicted though out the weekend ,you are here with six other Top Ten qualifiers to pre – fish for the State Championship but mother nature has played a joke and has given you the worst conditions to find fish and give you some insight on why , when ,where and how you are going to plan to win and place in the top twenty .
You know from past experience that the sponsors only pay attention to the top twenty and offers do not come as easy as people think .you have to work and learn the marketing game of the outdoors and be around the right people.
My partner was a born Louisiana Coon ass and could fish the socks off anybody I know, he was one of the Top Six from his club and this was his 7th State Championship to qualify.
His name was St.Joe and he was gruff, but a die hard tournament Bass Fisherman! So St.Joe and I met at the ramp at 4:00 am and talked our smack ,put our rain gear on and Motorcycle helmet, back the Ranger into the water and headed out ,we could not fish for it was hard, hard rain coming down , but this was conditioning our mind in case the tournament has bad weather. We slowly pulled out into the basin that led to the river that led to the lake we found flying over the area to find the holes when the weather was nice five days earlier.
It was still dark and we could not see very well, but St.Joe had a instinct like no other Bass fisherman I know, so we moved forward slowly, very slow my Ranger was tough , but a log from this storm or anything blown in would ruin a practice trip.
We finally made it to the river ,still pouring rain and windy, but now it was day light and we could see , so we hit the throttle and made that 200 Mercury work for us .
I know we missed a few stumps and floating logs but St Joe was a season boat man and I trusted him completely!
After a five mile run up river we found the little lake we had saw on the plane trip but there was a problem, the rain had flooded the small creek that led us in and now was a raging river ,we had to find another way in. We back out and started looking for other ways .I saw a tiny creek but there was a large gap that was waterless to get back into the water that led to the secret lake.St.Joe said ‘Let’s Jump it “, I said your crazy!!. He jumped out of the boat and gathered some logs and made a sort of a ramp ,he came back to me and said “we will back up and hit the ramp, jump ten feet and land in the water that leads to the lake , we can do it , I betcha dinner ” I looked at him shook my head and put my helmet on and said’ “Lets git it”
We backed up fifty or so yards and gunned it hitting that ramp hard ,it worked ,we went flying and landed in the water , lost a tackle box and the cooler !!, only problem now , how are we going to get back , it did not matter .we were in Hog Heaven !! The rain had cleared up a little and we saw clear water and Lilly pads and there was a added attraction , we saw four five old duck blinds that we did not know was there and there was a dropped off about fifteen feet near the blinds, too cool! .
As I look back I realize that Karate portrayed a major factor in my wins in Bass Events, I knew what a winner feels like and I knew what a loser feels like too.
I did not like that feeling, I had my hero’s like like in Sport Karate, Mike Stone , Ed Parker ,John Natividad, now it was bass fishing icon’s Rick Clunn and Roland Martin and of course I had my sponsors in fishing now like in sport karate .
There was this one thing that really stood out in my mind and heart, coming from a home with no family of blood relatives , these people I would meet in Karate events and Bass fishing events were special and they did become my family ,friends forever. no other experience has given me that feeling.
Karate and Bass fishing , God Bless America and opportunities of life
“Memories of a American Samurai” and this is one of the many memories I have coming to the mainland at a early age.
I was nineteen years old, hitchhiking for the third time across the United States chasing waves with my little five – seven Gordon twin fin surfboard right outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I stopped in a little convenient store for a soda pop and was in back of the store when I heard in a loud voice ” Give up the money or I will shoot you, I mean it, I will shoot you and your Dog!
For some reason I thought of my little dog I had in Hawaii and I didn’t care about the gun, foolish but instinct set in. I grabbed a couple of can goods and a shovel I saw ,threw the cans to the right and hit him on the left in the head with the shovel, the robber fell dropping his gun.
The store owner kicked the gun away and soon the police arrived. The store owner made me out to be a hero but in my heart I was saving the dog and I just acted out of instinct to survive, it was my first encounter with a gun since I had come to the mainland and my Sword training had given me ability’s, even with a shovel.
The store owner offered me money for what I did but I could not take money for something I would have done anyway, naturally.
Now that I am much older I realize how I reacted back then wasn’t the smartest thing to do and in my mind I have analyze what I did and still believe it was thinking of him shooting that little dog, not the owner and it did not even occur to me at the moment I could have been shot or been killed all I cared about was him saying he was going to shoot a animal.
Martial arts teaches you not to think but react at the moment the occasion arrives , the thinking should be done in the Dojo or Kwoon where you have your teacher to help you and teach you to make the right decisions, however reality is a different animal.
I can remember distinctly, I did not think about the future or the fact of danger, just I did not want a little dog to be shot and that is when courage took over.
The training of martial arts teaches you to be smart, that is why I threw the cans to make assailant look the other way, the shovel was the weapon at hand and I thought of all those times I saw Kyoshi hit his students with his Shinai and whacked them across the head just for not paying attention or just his personal punishment he would give us because that is the way they did the training back in the day or at least in Hawaii.
Why did I pick up the shovel instead of using my Karate?, well I was taught in my weapons training that the weapon that you train with, any weapon was a extension of my hands, there fore, I did think of Karate even though I hit him in the head with the shovel, mind you, all this happen in a few seconds, a flash before your mind and I know now that I have talked about it. If it wasn’t for Karate and for the intense training I did in Hawaii, it might have turned out different .
Thank goodness I didn’t have to hit him with my surfboard , it’s funny though that afternoon right out of Oklahoma City, it is a super flat desert land and it was the first time I saw the Black clouds of a major storm, it got real quiet and from the sky huge pieces of ice started falling hard, it was the first time I encountered a Hail storm.
I put my Gordon and Smith Twin-fin surfboard, my pride and joy, next to my Tonfas I carried.
I put the surfboard over my head to protect me . My hands were beat to bleeding and after the hail storm my board was battered up with huge holes in it .
I remember digging a hole in the desert and burying the surfboard and crying not wanting to leave it in the desert.
What a day !, almost got shot, hit a guy with a shovel, saved a little dog , experience my first hail storm ,buried my best friend ,the surfboard and was heading toward another karate event.
I love Karate !
Yu
{Heroic Courage} Rise up above the masses of people that are afraid to act.
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all.
A samurai must have heroic courage.
It is absolutely risky, it is dangerous.
It is living life
completely, fully, wonderfully.
Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
Replace fear with respect and Caution.
Dr Maung Gyi and his Wisdom, a American Living Legend in martial arts
The world has been blessed with great, great men in and around our society and in the the martial arts world.
We have seen men and ladies rise to almost perfection and become legendary figures in movies, television and other ventures, it is a journey of ego, but controlled ego if under the right teachers, these lessons are taught by someone before the legends made their names in the martial arts, they had teachers who were very special, great men like Dr. Maung Gyi.
I know he has touch a lot of lives and most of all this is a love letter to a man that changed my life and journey in the martial arts, this is the wisdom of Dr. Maung Gyi.
Teacher of Teachers
My first remembrance of Dr.Maung Gyi was fighting the Bando guys in Ohio, they were animals, they wore all black, won everything in Kata and weapons and most of all I remember they hit very, very hard!
I actually got knocked out by one of those animals at the Official Karate Magazine Regional event in Ohio, then got beat by Tokey Hill, Tokey was from Sensei Don Madden Dojo in Ohio and was a pure animal, but such a gentleman outside the ring, because of his efforts and hard work we will have USA Karate Do in the World Olympics, his dream ,our dream!
The second encounter was in 1982, Houston Texas and Sensei Larry Lunn, ous, comes in my life as a instructor and friend. He was under Grand Master George Anderson out of Akron Ohio, but had spent some time with the Bando guys.
He taught me the Eagle Kata from Bando and to this day it is part of my Black Belt test for mandatory Kata and Bunkai , lots of seconds, a few firsts , Grand Championship wins, State titles, a National Black Belt League World Championship, not a bad journey for a Kata from Bando.
Then it is 1992 and Zulfi Ahmed comes in my journey and we are traveling all over the world, rivals in Sport Karate, but outside the arena we were very close friends, his style was called Bushiban. He had Matshibushi Ward from Okinawa was the Budo or Bushido part , then the Ban was for Bando, enter Dr Maung Gyi again in my life .
My son is born and of course I give him to Master Ahmed , Grand Master Ward and Dr.Gyi and they are part of the reason he does immaculate Japanese Kata and were the Head Judges at his first and second Dan test.
Though the years Dr. Gyi would come in and do seminars and share with us his knowledge and divine wisdom, one seminar I don’t remember what year it was.
Garett was performing with me doing my sword routine in front of Dr. Gyi , afterward Dr. Gyi came up and said “Garett I predict great things for you, here is something for you to help you on your journey, I have carried this everywhere with me, but now it is for you, it’s heavier than normal, I filled it with sand so I can do more damage”.
I stood back in awe and saw my son received a gift that was obviously very special.
A black , bamboo walking Jo, filled with sand , Dr. Gyi had just finished his seminars using it beating up opponents and showing his way of beautiful martial arts motion and technique.
In those many years I would absorb as much as I could in the short times we were together.
I looked forward to our yearly encounters at Bushiban Headquarters and at the Black belt test were I have became part of the Bushiban martial arts family.
Then the moment Dr. Gyi changed my direction in my attitude and help me make decisions that help create the Museum and the Living Legends Celebrity Roast.
I had just received the the 1997 Golden Greek Award from Texas Sport Karate and I was at the event of the year, Bushiban’s celebration with Dr.Gyi, he called me into the main office and sat me down , I thought I had done something wrong , but again it was a just another lesson in the journey.
He put his hand on my knee and looked me in the eyes, it was a special moment.
he said “Gary, you have spent your life knocking down things and being a warrior, now it is a time of healing ,now you reverse you momentum and put it to good, build the Museum, always tell the truth, put your energy to raising your son, I believe in you”.
It did changed me, that moment, knowing a great man , not just a great Black Belt,
a founder, mentor to hundreds, he cared enough to share with me , it was motivating and now you understand why I am so passionate about the project of the Museum of Sport Karate overall.
So now you will understand the heart of this letter, Dr Gyi is a great teacher and he has taught me to share and to believe in miracles, for life is precious.
We have a few Great Sport Karate Legends who need healing and I believe in the thought process of thinking of someone special and that thought process will touch these great men of Sport Karate .
Satch Williams a sport Karate Legend, Part of that early group of pioneers that dominated sport karate, he is need of a heart transplant and please remember him .
Dean Evans ,better known as Flem Evans, History General, U.S.K.A. Legend is in the hospital having surgery ,please think of him.
Tino Tuiolosega, History General, a legend among legends, founder of Lima Lama , Duke Tirschel told of stories of how Tino would teach the legends we know today , he is in the Hospital and not in real good condition, please think of him .
Rudy Smedley , History General, A Texas Sport Karate hero , in the eighties ,he traveled all over the world representing the USA, he is in the hospital having surgery for the second time , please think of him.
Kenn Firestone from Hawaii, great fighter ,History General, braddah and dear friend, he was in a terrible car wreck a few weeks ago , still in ICU under watch , we know you will back soon little braddah , please think of him .
Yes,
Dr. Maung Gyi taught me , not so much in the art of combat but art of healing and thinking of others , a special gift to pass on in the world today!
So you see Dr. Gyi is a great man of wisdom and thought and because of him he has helped create a healing for all of us, look around there is someone you know that is special and was put there to help you and guide you on your martial arts journey, seek them out , share with them , Liston to them , share with them , hug them!
The History of Traditional Karate Pioneers, Legends and Champions in the 20th Century.™
Dr Maung Gyi and his Wisdom, a American Living Legend in martial arts
The world has been blessed with great, great men in and around our society and in the the martial arts world.
We have seen men and ladies rise to almost perfection and become legendary figures in movies, television and other ventures, it is a journey of ego, but controlled ego if under the right teachers, these lessons are taught by someone before the legends made their names in the martial arts, they had teachers who were very special, great men like Dr. Maung Gyi.
I know he has touch a lot of lives and most of all this is a love letter to a man that changed my life and journey in the martial arts, this is the wisdom of Dr. Maung Gyi.
Teacher of Teachers
My first remembrance of Dr.Maung Gyi was fighting the Bando guys in Ohio, they were animals, they wore all black, won everything in Kata and weapons and most of all I remember they hit very, very hard!
I actually got knocked out by one of those animals at the Official Karate Magazine Regional event in Ohio, then got beat by Tokey Hill, Tokey was from Sensei Don Madden Dojo in Ohio and was a pure animal, but such a gentleman outside the ring, because of his efforts and hard work we will have USA Karate Do in the World Olympics, his dream ,our dream!
The second encounter was in 1982, Houston Texas and Sensei Larry Lunn, ous, comes in my life as a instructor and friend. He was under Grand Master George Anderson out of Akron Ohio, but had spent some time with the Bando guys.
He taught me the Eagle Kata from Bando and to this day it is part of my Black Belt test for mandatory Kata and Bunkai , lots of seconds, a few firsts , Grand Championship wins, State titles, a National Black Belt League World Championship, not a bad journey for a Kata from Bando.
Then it is 1992 and Zulfi Amed comes in my journey and we are traveling all over the world, rivals in Sport Karate, but outside the arena we were very close friends, his style was called Bushiban. He had Matshibushi Ward from Okinawa was the Budo or Bushido part , then the Ban was for Bando, enter Dr Maung Gyi again in my life .
My son is born and of course I give him to Master Amed , Grand Master Ward and Dr.Gyi and they are part of the reason he does immaculate Japanese Kata and were the Head Judges at his first and second Dan test.
Though the years Dr. Gyi would come in and do seminars and share with us his knowledge and divine wisdom, one seminar I don’t remember what year it was.
Garett was performing with me doing my sword routine in front of Dr. Gyi , afterward Dr. Gyi came up and said “Garett I predict great things for you, here is something for you to help you on your journey, I have carried this everywhere with me, but now it is for you, it’s heavier than normal, I filled it with sand so I can do more damage”.
I stood back in awe and saw my son received a gift that was obviously very special.
A black , bamboo walking Jo, filled with sand , Dr. Gyi had just finished his seminars using it beating up opponents and showing his way of beautiful martial arts motion and technique.
In those many years I would absorb as much as I could in the short times we were together.
I looked forward to our yearly encounters at Bushiban Headquarters and at the Black belt test were I have became part of the Bushiban martial arts family.
Then the moment Dr. Gyi changed my direction in my attitude and help me make decisions that help create the Museum and the Living Legends Celebrity Roast.
I had just received the the 1997 Golden Greek Award from Texas Sport Karate and I was at the event of the year, Bushiban’s celebration with Dr.Gyi, he called me into the main office and sat me down , I thought I had done something wrong , but again it was a just another lesson in the journey.
He put his hand on my knee and looked me in the eyes, it was a special moment.
he said “Gary, you have spent your life knocking down things and being a warrior, now it is a time of healing ,now you reverse you momentum and put it to good, build the Museum, always tell the truth, put your energy to raising your son, I believe in you”.
It did changed me, that moment, knowing a great man , not just a great Black Belt,
a founder, mentor to hundreds, he cared enough to share with me , it was motivating and now you understand why I am so passionate about the project of the Museum of Sport Karate overall.
So now you will understand the heart of this letter, Dr Gyi is a great teacher and he has taught me to share and to believe in miracles, for life is precious
Yes,
Dr. Maung Gyi taught me , not so much in the art of combat but art of healing and thinking of others , a special gift to pass on in the world today!
So you see Dr. Gyi is a great man of wisdom and thought and because of him he has helped create a healing for all of us, look around there is someone you know that is special and was put there to help you and guide you on your martial arts journey, seek them out , share with them , Liston to them , share with them , hug them!
The History of Traditional Karate Pioneers, Legends and Champions in the 20th Century.™
The Michael Depasquale Senior experience
As I was going though the hundreds of pictures of the Museum of Sport Karate has collected one touched my heart for he was a great man and friend, he was one of the founding fathers of martial arts in the United States and his style of martial Arts has brought together all Ju-Jutsans ,now it is studied all over the world. His son has stepped into his shoes and has carried the legacy his father laid in the martial arts community, of course I’m talking about Soke Michael DePasquale Sr.
He was legendary in the Martial Art community and respected in the law enforcement circles for he was one of the first to teach the FBI, CIA and the local police groups around the country.
His International Federation of Ju- Jutsuans has grown to thousands around the world and his memory will be forever though the Museum of Sport Karate.
It is 1994 and Pop’s was flying me everywhere for the Sherman Oak Raiders National Karate Team, It was Grand Master Jhoon Rhee National Karate Championships in Washington D.C.
To start things off, the airline lose my luggage and everything is gone except for my karate bag.
I enter five divisions that day, placed in four ,however the division I remember the most was the traditional Black Belt Kata group. Michael and his father were there and watching the division and later I found out he had stopped to watch me for he enjoyed the way I presented Kata and had watched me perform many times before.
I was humbled.
That day, I did have a goal, not only to win but beat my rival in Kata Sifu Dann Baker .
We were neck in neck in the ratings and I had a couple dozen of second places already from him, to be honest, I had never won a first place to him.
I believe that first place win that day came from knowing great men beside the judges were watching!
It is 2004, a amazing Korean stylist by the name of Yong Song Lee had a event and invited me to be the guest speaker, it was spectacular giving my address to a five hundred plus crowd, in the group were two great martial artist, Grand Master George Alexander and Michael DePasquale Jr.
I would meet these two great men and talk with them about the vision other great pioneers had and then I asked them to be History Generals for the Museum of Sport Karate .
I remember Grand Master Alexander, one of the great performers, veteran and historian of our time staying with me at the restaurant until two o’clock in the morning talking about Okinawan and American sport karate history
It was so cool!
Later in the year I was performing at Bill Violia’s Kumite Nationals in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and I would share a taxi with Master Depasquale Jr. to the airport and we talked of his father, cross ranking and possible Living Legend Roast for him later.
Now it is 2005 and my son and I are invited to fight at Tokey Hill’s event, Tokey really liked Garett, paid his entry fee, made pop’s pay my entry, lol
That night at the Living Legends Awards Banquet we were handing out Legends awards from Mike Dillard and David Wahl from Century Martial Arts , the Ed Parker “Mahalo” Award, the “Shin kicker” Award and the Jim Harrrison “Natural fighter” Award, the Awards went to Alan Goldberg, Ken Knudson and Bill “Superfoot”Wallace .
Then Michael DePasquale Jr. was asked to come to the podium and says ” My father and I feel that Gary has worked hard and has earned this cross ranking of Black Belts to recognized his commitment to Karate, Sport Karate and the Museum of Sport Karate .
I was awarded a honorary certificate 9th Dan ,Okinawan Karate signed by Michael DePasqaule Sr., Michael DePasquale Jr., Jim Harrison , Ken Knudson , Bill Wallace, Don Wilson , Steve Sanders , Dennis Brown , Tokey Hill, Chuck Zito, Bob Wall, William J D’Hrso, Weslely Snipes, John Bluman,Twain Marx Kennedy, Master Choi and Masayuki Shimabukuro. I know with out his love for Kata and our brief but short encounters none of this story would have happen , he will forever be in my memory of my journey here in the mainland.
I was humbled.
Now it is 2007, we have lost Soke Di Michael DePasquale Sr. but with the Roast of his son we honored his memory with a tribute video .Garett Lee performed a Japanese Kata tribute to Chris Canning, a young man we lost to soon to a terrible tragedy , Garett for his performance received the Chris Canning award from Chris’s father , very heart warming!
Donna Jackson sang the Living Legends song to a legendary group of American heroes that were there to honor both senior and junior DePasquale legends, Jeff Smith , Bernard Kerik, Gary Alexander, Keith Strandsberg, Keith Vitali, Joe Hess , Alan Goldberg , Shawn Flanagan, Young Song Lee, Bob Wall and Adam James were few of the Roasters.
When Michael got up after the Roast and spoke of his father ,we were all in tears not for sadness but of joy and honor to have known ,spoke with and shared with such a great American , martial artist and kind , caring person that was Michael DePasquale Sr.
A American Legend to be remembered forever in our hearts and mind .
http://www.sportkaratemuseum.org
The Gathering is honoring and recognizing great Sport Karate Fighters from the 50’S 60’S, 70’S, 80’S and 90’s DRAGON IMAGE FIGHTING AWARDS, beautiful hand drawn Certificates from Sport Karate History General and Mentor Hanshi Philip Bradley from England, The nominee’s in not any particular order Michael Felkoff, Jim Mack, Irving Soto, Ron Lindsey, Parker Shelton,Jerry Piddington, Danny McCall, Bruce Brutschy, Ms.Linda Denley, Tony Lopez, Moses Williams, Zulfi Ahmed, J. Pat Burleson, Daryl K. Stewart, James Stevens, Mike McNamara , Darrell Lassiter, Troy Dorsey, Raymond McCallum, Sal Narvaez, Ron Pierce, Ishmael Robles, Tim Kirby, Rick Stanford, Duke Tirschel, Joshua St. Ives, Guy James, Daniel Perez, Michael Palamo, Richard Lagenstein, Al Francis, Manny Reyes, Clif Thomas, Sam Hogar and the list is growing day by Day, oss
What a exciting Day of working with the Pioneers, everyday for the past five years I talk and share with three to ten pioneers and legends of martial arts a day, one of my dear mentors Grand Master Harrison said I have the biggest senior citizen movement in Karate he has seen and it is working , not since the Karate Illustrated Magazine Ratings has Sport Karate come together like this , just a reminder ,we have Roasted nineteen Living Legends with the Sport Karate Museum ‘s Celebrity Roast and The Gathering in Houston in October will be a celebration of all those great moments of the Celebrity Roast that we have done ,a celebration of Fighters from the 50’s though the 90’s and we have invited some of the best of the best to received the Sport Karate Museum’s DRAGON IMAGE FIGHTING AWARD ,over fifty of your Favorite Sport Karate Fighters will be at the Dinner and Super Show of Grand Masters Classical performances Saturday Night at the South west Hilton in Houston , Texas.
Confirmed Fighters to be awarded
The nominee’s in not any particular order Michael Felkoff, Jim Mack, Irving Soto, Ron Lindsey, Parker Shelton, Jerry Piddington, Danny McCall, Bruce Brutschy, Ms.Linda Denley, Tony Lopez David David Allan Archer, Moses Williams, Zulfi Ahmed, J. Pat Burleson, Daryl K. Stewart, James Stevens, Mike McNamara , John Wong, Darrell Lassiter, Phylis Everetts, Troy Dorsey, Raymond McCallum, Sal Narvarez, Ron Pierce, Ishmael Robles, Tim Kiirby, Rick Stanford, Duke Tirschel Joshua St. Ives, Charlie Dean, Guy James, Daniel Perez, Michael Palamo, Richard Lagenstein, Al Francis, Manny Reyes Jr., Clif Thomas, Sam Hogar, Chris Gallio, Norman Roberts, Chance Turner, Peter Chartouni, Jason Chartouni, Jason Holmes ,Ryan P. George, Ashley Wood-Tyler, Willie Galvan, Tony Torres and the list is growing day by Day, oss
I am so inspired by my dear friend Shihan Deddy Mansyur, Head Instructor of Shotokan Karate at the University of Houston, Texas. We have been hardcore friends for forty years in Karate and were the the first Black Belts in Houston, Texas to win consistently in Japanese -Okinawan Kata back in the late seventies ,a long ,long time ago , with him winning the GOLD MEDAL, makes me happy like a father ,brother and friend knowing his world class karate is still appreciated and respected in this year of 2012 and all the martial arts that are around us now and all the BS the public is exposed to,it is good in the heart that TRUE ,TRADITIONAL KARATE -DO is still respected in Open Competition around the World!
Oss, Shihan Mansyur See you at The Gathering in October !
Much Love and respect
Gary and Garett
It is getting tougher every year to compete. Today, Saturday, 17 March 2012, I am receiving my Gold Medal of the 48th Annual All South JKA AF Karate Championship presented by Tulane University Professor Dr. Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Ph.D. This is my 9th Gold Medal, 9 years in a row 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004. One side of me telling me to quit competing and the other side is to keep competing until the day I die. I also did receive silver and bronze medals in the past and including zero medal, no win. I’ve been competing without any break since 1972. “The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.”~ Master Gichin Funakoshi. I hope I can do that. This year, I will turn 56. Oss!
Ron Lindsey
Let me answer as best I can to who ever wrote these comments….I learned my fighting techniques from my Matsumura Seito teacher…my students…my contemporaries and just about everyone else whom I had any martial arts dealings over the last nearly 50 years….yes, I consider Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito to be a “white crane style”. I also believed that Hohan Soken taught few if any Americans Hakutsuru Kata (with the exception of Roy Suinaka and Ed Gingras); however, Soken Sensei taught almost everone who he taught Hakutsuru fighting techniques. The is because his Shorin Ryu style is all about Hakutsuru. Soken Sensei did however teach Hakutsuru kata to many of his Okinawan Students. My learning of the Matsumura Art began with my studies in Okinawa and continued for many years afterwards to include training one on one for 6 hours per day for one week per year when I was part of an organized group the brought either Sensei Kise or Sensei Kuda to the USA once a year for ten years…it was during these training opportunities that I polished my kata and learned some White Crane technique and kata. I am sure there are others who also have continued to learn after they returned from Okinawa. Some went back to Okinawa to continue learning; I on there other hand helped bring Okinawan masters here to the USA and I was given the opportunity to train with two of my Okinawan teachers Sensei Kise and Kuda during these visits my training sessions during these visits were at my house or dojo and for the most part were one on one with the exception of Charles Tatum also traning with me in some of these sessions. I do not understand why there is a is a mystery when it comes to the source of my knowledge of White Crane….I started learning the basic of white crane in Okinawa and continue to earn even to this day. What I did is no mystery and any competent karateka could do the same thing.
Ron Lindsey
My interest in Hakutsuru started in the late 1960’s Sensei Kinjo taught fighting techniques based on Hohan Soken’s white crane he also taught brief kata moves of the white crane. In 1975 I obtained a super 8mm film of Hohan Soken performing Hakutsuru kata, from the film I learned this Kata…Sensei Kuda corrected me performing this kata in 1985 and he also taught me two other hakutsuru kata over the next 2 years when he visited…In the late 1970’s I carried on a written discussion with Anthony Sandoval (who was stationed in Okinawa with the Marines) about karate in general to include the Hakutsuru….We continued this activity for many years….this activity triggered my research into the white crane. My original purpose wa find the source of Matsumura’s White Crane…I fail to find this source ; but what I did find was other crane material. I was assisted in this research by several gifted Chinese Martial Artist …John Wang, Shifu Hwang and George Hue. Later I learned several Matsumura Hakutsuru Kata from Anthony Sandoval and one from Chuck Chandler…Yes I did create my own style called Matsumura Hakutsuru Karatejutsu….this is based on over 20 years of research…as I said from the begining any competent karateka could have done the same Hakutsuru research that I did. However, you can’t accomplish very much if you just sit around and find fault in others. I’m sorry but I have little time to waste on such activity. There are those who think that being loyal to their teachers is to not accept teachings from any other source….this limits your progress. Sensei Kise once told me that he learned from many styles and many people and kept what was good and threw away what was bad….that is exactly what I have done. I am sorry if there are those who are angry with me for my activity as it relates to Matsumura Seito and Hakutsuru…I am sorry that these individuals have chosen to be “angry little men stuck in a mud hole that they created for themselves” That is their problem not mine…So to who every wrote the above comments to Gary Lee; I state that my activity as it relates to my Karate, Hakutsuru and other related martial arts activities has been honorable and has benefited me and those I have taught….I am sorry for the typographical errors. I do not have time to correct them …Ronald L. Lindsey
Excitement is in the air !!
Donald Miskel and Michael Felkoff will head the Black Dragon Fighting Society Discussion Table at The Gathering!
Ask the questions that you always wanted to ask about the History.
Small table discussions ,answers, and questions with the Masters and experts!
Ashida Kim and Ron Collins will head the Ninja Authority Discussion Table at The Gathering
Ron Pierce and Special Guest will head the Kenpo Discussion Table at The Gathering
Ron Lindsey and Richard Langenstien will head the Okinawan Karate Discussion Table at The Gathering
Southwest Hilton 713-977- 7911 Reserved your Room today
Say the word DRAGON and received V.I.P status
Hotline for TICKETS 713-234-0335
http://www.sportkaratemuseum.org on – Line Museum
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http://www.professorgarylee.net
http://www.professorgarylee.biz
http://www.samuraisupply.com Swords, Kantana, Wakisashi, Tanto Musashi, Musa
http://www.kubuki.multiply.com Tribute to the pioneers of sport karate in America
http://kubuki.multiply.com/journal
The Sport Karate Museum proudly presents the most anticipated event for 2012 in the martial art community, Black Belts are saying around America that there has not been a buzz about Sport Karate since the seventies when it kinda went crazy with Bruce Lee and the Billy Jack movies, Ratings of the Karate Fighters were popular though Magazines such as Black Belt’s Karate Illustrated Magazine ,Top Ten, Professional Karate Magazine,The S.T.A.R Ratings,KRANE, National Black Belt League, NASKA, AOK and Top Texas Ten Black Belt Ratings.
Fifty years of Sport Karate fighters will be celebrated at the Sport Karate Museum ‘s The Gathering.
The event is anchored with the vision of Professor Gary Lee ,a pioneer who has spearheaded the project from the beginning back in 1999 at the first Living Legends at the same Hilton where the idea was born will be celebrated thirteen years later with a array of activities.
Thursday – setup
V.I.P Welcome Party **Atrium Area, Hosted by Sport Karate Museum
Friday – Sixteen Super Seminars Start 8;00 AM with the top ,most talked about Masters in the business from world class sparring seminars with World Champions, Troy Dorsey,Raymond McCallum, Tim Kirby and Ishmael Robles together ,two days, Owner of Samurai Supply Swords will teach you how to clean and take apart your sword with saftey and technique or how about learning to execute your sword with a Black Belt Hall of Fame Member Dana Abbott with his amazing seminar “LAND SHARK” or learn the art of White Crane Okinawan Karate with the Grand Masters Ron Lindsey and Philip Bradley ,love the UFC, we have Sam Hogar ,Veteran of many wars in the Octagon, sharing his knowledge, then the EKU Kata, seminar with Rodney McPherson ,but if that is not enough Raven Tactical International will share there view on street crime and how to protect yourself ,the Masters Kajukenbo Class with 9th Dan Ron Pierce will be exciting, two days and don’t forget the Ninja’s,Ashida Kim and Ron Collins they have a seminar too ,if you can find them ,lol
BLACK BELT VENDORS SHOW ,and SILENT AUCTION ,SWORDS, KNIFES, COLLECTIBLES,RARE ITEMS, JAPANESE PRINTS, MOVIE POSTERS, MOVIE SCRIPTS
Friday 7:00 pm -9:00 pm BLACK BELT TEST
Regency Ballroom
Open to Public!!!!
Arrow in the throat,walk on glass demonstration halftime performance
Saturday 8:00 am Seminars Start and SHOW OPENS
5:00 pm Master Guy James Singer and LIVE AUCTION
Special Guest J.Pat Burleson, Michael Felkoff, Ms.Linda Denley, Jim Harrison,Tom Shakey Levak, Dan Hect,Jerry Piddington, Jim Butin, Keith Vitali, Bruce Brutschy, Danny McCall, Tony Lopez, Joshua St.Ives, Jim Willouby, Jim Mack, Donald Miskel,Mike McNamara, Raymond McCallum, Troy Dorsey, Buddy Hudson, Rick Stanford, Robert Parham.
6:00 p m Dinner and Super show of Grand Masters and tribute to 50 years of Sport Karate.
Personal Hand drawn DRAGON IMAGE FIGHTER AWARD by History General Hanshi Philip Bradley from England will at the Gathering personally signing each Award and stamping. The Sport Karate Museum will sign each one along with two American Living Legends of American Sport Karate.
Fifty fighters are chosen along with V.I.P’s to honor fifty years of American Sport Karate and a Masters performance of martial arts ,Grand Masters and the kids of the future will honor these amazing Performers of sport karate in America , most of the invited guest help create the sport in America as producers, players, editors, writers,Judges, time keepers, score keepers and fans.
This will be a celebration to honor fighters from 1950 though the 1990’s ,some special awards will be given also.
In 2004 Century Fitness with the Sport Karate Museum established and introduced The Jim Harrison Natural Fighter Award .
This year we have added the Raymond McCallum Natural Fighter Award, The James Cook Natural Fighter Award and the Kieth Vitali Natural Fighter Award along with The Ed Parker Mahalo Humanitarian Award.
Century Fitness makes the Awards and has been at front at all the Sport Karate Museum’s effort’s to honor the pioneers of American Sport Karate. Some of the incredible performers at the Dinner Show , Ron Lindsey, Philip Bradley, George Bishop, Dana Abbott, Willie Galvan, Irving Soto, Derrick Pendergrass, Gary Carico, Bear Loebe, Bryce Marchington, Deddy Mansyur, Johnny Murphy,Dr. Patrick Price, Little Ro Paul, Charlie Dean,
We will also honor a memory of a pioneer who paved the way of being the Center Judge,Jay T.Will , Ten nominee’s, the best Center Referee’s Award will be honored.
Special Guest Speakers on the history of American pioneers and 50 years of Sport Karate
Jamie Cashion***** Motivational Speaker, world traveler, missionary, Fireman ,Master 6th Dan Black Belt, Ambassador for Sport Karate,Museum. Incredible human being
George Minshew***** Texas Legend, creator of the Karate Olympiks, 47 year running tournament,9th Master Karate Instructor, Black Belt Academy Legend,History General,
Duane Ethington***** Texas Legend, Master Writer he has written over 500 articles on martial arts.Library for the Museum is name in his honor , 10th Dan
Roger Bornstein***** Marketing director for Six Flags {retired}, now the marketing director for Space Center Houston ,5th Dan Master Black Belt, Ambassador for Museum
OutLaw Dave from 950 Radio***** Radio personality and spokesman for the Sport Karate Museum, Honorary Black Belt under Professor Gary Lee, Bruddah
Roy D.Kurban*****,World rated fighter, Top Ten rated fighter, Producer, Inventor of the Two -point kick rule, State Judge, S.W.A.T, Black Belt Magazine Black Belt Hall of Fame
Andrew Linick
Sage knowledge from the Warrior within, the illustrious, the accomplished, the one and only Texas, Blood and Guts Samurai–Professor Gary Lee! Oss!
Hi Professor,
Hope you are well!
I decided that all vendors will be charged a vendor fee regardless, including the museum. No freebees, sorry. If you can’t afford $1,000 fee, I understand & respect, but in order to have tables, etc, I would need a cashiers check mailed to me ASAP (this week) to reserve your spot. Please understand, EVERY vendor is being charged, if you can’t pay the fee, unfortunately, I can’t have the Museum inside the gym, sorry.
I will be in meetings all day, you can contact me via email.
Regards,
Master Fanelli
Sad but true ,three weeks away and this comes in the mail ,this young generation of teachers doesn’t seem to understand sometimes it is not about $$$ all the Time.
It’s Ok , I understand this generation.
I grew up where $$$ did not govern Karate ,let alone charge to share memories , I was the invited guest speaker at this Black Belt Testing and now I have declined for a man has only his Handshake , his signature and his word ,in a time of Hard core business Karate and contracts , I know I am a nomad when it comes to decisions like this , Airfares,Hotels ,Dinners,Appearance fees , Limosines ,IT’S ALL BS.
I will miss seeing my old ,old friends, however by sending this letter out to the special guest , it lacks the three most important words in Martial Arts that we lived by everyday Respect, Respect ,Respect.