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ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY
THE 2007 HALL OF FAME
As a member of the Hall of Fame board let me first apologize for the heat index at the banquet and tournament. There was an air conditioner problem, that was never corrected. There have been sufficient and justifiable complaints for a change of venue. This is not an easy thing as we are under contract for another year. Chairman McGhee is negotiating with the hotel for a release and with the new place for use next year. Since it is still in negotiation that’s all the news for now.
Thanks to all the refs, judges, and time keepers, for making mine and Master J.C. Burris’s job as arbitrators, a lot easier. Also thanks to the competitors. It was hot, some poor calls were made, but you kept your cool. We had a lot of rings. Getting quality officials to fill every ring is impossible. We are aware of the ones who should not be officiating and are working on it. I feel everyone does their best and is honest. However, some are not active, are out of shape and or, are out of touch. We know as the competition improves (and it has) so must the officiating. We have the top people attending the HOF tournament. We’ll get it worked out. One of the chief complaints was the lack of low ab, or groin shot calls. I witnessed that also. I don’t know why this is so, but I suspect it is fatigue and or, over emphasis of head shot calls. I watched two people repeatedly score without one call. I reminded the judges that when fatigue sets in, often the line of vision is placed higher. So you must remember to observe the full body. Also the center ref was so close to the competitors that he could not pick up the low groin shots. The fatigue also caused some to just get stuck in their own tracks and not move around. Positioning is everything in officiating. You have to move and this is why out of shape officials are a liability. I reminded one official that when a competitor has a bad day, he hurts only himself. When an official has a bad day, he hurts half the people in his ring. Every one I talked to wanted to do the right thing and were open to suggestions. If not, I was prepared to embarrass them no more than they were already embarrassing themselves. Respect starts with self respect. Judges; if three to four people call a point for one guy and you alone call one for the other, more than a couple of times, you may be having a bad day. If your kata scores are consistently lower or higher, by more than three points from the rest; you may be having a bad day.
The Banquet was well attended and seemingly a good time was had by all. The new inductees were a credit to the existing ones and made it more prestigious for us all. If I could change one thing it would be wearing that blasted tux. I feel over dressed, and my wife feels over dressed, because we are over dressed. It is just too pretentious.
The fellow board members deserve a lot of credit for the work put in. The most credit is due Chairman Tim McGhee. It takes an incredible amount of organizing and work to put on the whole weekend. Tim has it down to a science. He especially shined this year in view of the personal family loss he suffered, just weeks before the event. Whoo Whaa for Tim!!!
On personal note for my guys; congratulations to Austin McAdams and Rahyel Wiley on being chosen adult and junior competitor of the year. Also, Mr. Paul Hitchcock, along with Mrs. Debbie Honeycutt of Johnson City, was given the “Outstanding Contribution to Isshin-ryu” award. Zack and Alicia MacDougal were runners up in the, “outstanding young karate-ka’s” awards.
The tournament was a typical Isshin-ryu tournament. Fast and Furious. As I alluded to before, the talent is improving every year. This bodes well for the future of Isshin-ryu. There are several things that I feel could be improved upon, but finding a new place would pretty much eliminate most of them.
I am equally as proud of my guy, Leon Scott, as I am Austin McAdams. He was last years grand champion and gave Austin his best fight of the day. Austin barely pulled out a 3 to 2 decision over Leon and was never threatened after that. Watching these guys fight in the dojo is an entertaining experience. It always draws blood. I told Austin, that by winning the best fighter of the year and the grand championship, he had, had my whole career in one week-end. Austin’s fight with Tony showed two things; Austin’s talent and Tony’s class. Tony leaves the ring a champion win or lose, because he knows how to win or lose like a champion. He is a class act and leader NOW! in Isshin-ryu. Tony is hanging it up as a competitor to devote more time to teaching. The tournaments will loses a great champion, but Isshin-ryu will gain so much more. He leaves at the very top. Welcome to the center ref ring Tony. We need you there.
Congratulations to Theresa Barnett. She had to really work to eliminate two excellent opponents in the grand (Julie Gabbard and Jessica Hale). She is the equivalent of Tony on the women’s side. She is a class act also.
Speaking of the center ref ring; Whoo Whaaa to Master Maurice Msarsa for his work in the grand championship fights. He handled it and his judges flawlessly. It was great work for all the judges. We need to keep that group in mind next time (Masters; Scott Shamblin, Carol Burris, Dan Harrison and Chester Holubecki) By the way: did anyone work any harder all day than Masters Carol Burris and Dan Harrison? Probably not….Carol ran a ring as center ref and Dan was my go to guy for every where. I hesitate to single them out because we had several brave the long hot day. These two just caught my eye a little more and always seemed completely on top of their game all day.
The party that night…well,,, what’s done at the party, stays at the party. The pictures will speak for themselves.
The bust of Master Shimabuku were novel trophies and will become collectors items. Next year they will not be given out. Too much of a good thing according to your comments and emails. Five heads of Master Shimabuku looking down at you from your trophy shelf, event to the most devoted Isshin-ryu person, looks a little weird.
I took notice of the group from Andalusia Alabama. I told head sensei, Mark Rudd, that it was obvious as to how hard he had worked to train this group while giving an excellent accounting of himself as well. He’s another Isshin-ryu leader for our future.
Did you know that one guy didn’t attend because he was afraid that if he lost, it would hurt his training video sales?? Seriously!! You can’t make this stuff up. Man,. He ought to do an article on how to be more famous than good. Mr. Long is spinning in his grave.
Speaking of Mr. Long: It was great to see the Long family at all week end events. Must be surreal to see the life’s work of their dad played out, by so many of his students, and their students, and their students and on and on. They, along with Master Joe Laney, have taken steps to perpetuate the memory of Mr. Long in several unique and productive ways. The first is the annual Harold Long Memorial tournament, which was a big success this year. They also have mobile display boards that carry Mr. Longs memorabilia to any and all events. It is a must see. They have just organized a non profit organization called, The Harold Long Foundation. Details are on Master Laney’s site ( http://www.steelhanddojo.com/ ).
Just so you’ll know: while you were sleeping or traveling home Sunday morning, the HOF board was already in session, evaluating the weekend and making plans to improve next year. It’s my first year on the board and I can tell you these guys are committed.
It has become noticeable that there are fewer Hall of Fame inductees at the banquet and tournament. One unfortunate reason is, that so many have passed. It always reminds me that there is much to do and how little we have done compared to our predecessors. In some ways, we are still ridding their coat tail. I also notice that some who accepted the honor of being inducted and the accolades that came with it, no longer bother to attend. No one expects people to be there every year, but hardly ever to never? I am going to ask the board to review this at our April meeting. We should also institute a morals clause that is retro active. We are not one of those “cattle call” halls of fame, that for 300 dollars you are in. No questions asked. You could have murdered someone last week and be inducted.
A good example of buying your awards, is a guy here in Anderson. He doesn’t attend any area events, because he back stabbed his Sensei, as well as using some others of us to try to maneuver around protocol to open up his own school. He only goes to the, “pay as you go” Hall of fame, so he can put himself in for various awards. Then, he comes back and represents himself in the paper as THE BOY WONDER. This hasn’t escaped the attention of my guys.
In closing, congratulations to all who attended and gave it their best shot. Winning a trophy, or your division, is great. It’s what you should shoot for. But at the end of the day, it is how you trained before and how you will train afterwards, that shows your true spirit and Isshin-ryu value. All fame is fleeting. If you did your best, that is what sticks on you and rubs off on others. I saw a lot of winners Saturday that will never need a trophy to prove their self worth. Way to go guys. YOU, are the real future of Isshin-ryu, and the unsung hero’s of the day.
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