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ICA JAM
21/FEB/09 BIGGER, BETTER, STRONGER!!!
PART 2
As promised, this portion is dealing with the training aspect of the day. It was as advertised, a hard working day. Hard work usually produces results and this day was no exception. What I noticed, is that everyone did as much as they were able. It was age and injury friendly and no one seemed to be board or out of place. Even when the older dans and the ones with some injuries called it a day, they kept observing and making mental notes. One master told me,” I’m not really into doing this but, I sure am not going to keep my students from learning it. I’d be stupid to think that they don’t know it can help them. I’d rather face the facts than loose them. Later in the day I noticed that he was doing a lot of participating, then he would go over by himself and commit to memory. It is to enhance our present system not replace it.
Master Clyde Stanley was the lead off man. It was a good choice. With his take downs, finishes and joint locks he had everyone participating. Clyde is on our board, but lives a good distance away in Louisiana. It is too bad that he is not closer because he is an encyclopedia of joint locks and transition moves. His uke, Daryn Clarke, could hold his own in any seminar teaching or training. If we got together, as many people do in Louisiana, just to train with him for a day, it would be worth it. Thank you Master Stanley for spending your time and money to support the ICA and Harold Long Foundation. Clyde has a school that has successfully spawned some good Isshin-ryu people as well as his Half Circle Jujitsu group. One compliments the other. Clyde understands how to make the two compatible without loosing the Isshin-ryu tradition in the mix. I proudly hold a black belt in half Circle Jujitsu given me by Clyde. I wear his patch proudly. He has some fantastic videos that he sells but was too modest to mention them. You can reach him by going to the ICA page and his email address is under his picture.
Next up was Master Bob Maxwell a man who can still teach it and train with the best of them. Actually he is, one of the best of them. He is a first generation student and top student with Dr. Maung Gyi, in the art of Bando. Dr. Gyi is a world acclaimed martial artist and lists Bob as his second. Bando is a very, very, aggressive style. Many years ago when no pads were allowed and tournaments were open, I fought two Bando people. It was an experience. One of them and I, got so carried away, that the referee got exasperated and asked if we wanted to fight it out until someone quit. We both said yes. It was a battle. I out lasted him not because I was better, it was because I was in better shape and he got tired. It wound up with me on top grounding and pounding. Mr. Long didn’t seem to mind the grappling. He loved it. He would love it now. At Master Wayland’s tournament last year, the Dragon’s fought Bando students who had a full contact ring of their own going. They are just like Isshin-ryu people in their aggressive attacks and attitude. Master Bob demonstrated what he called his “aggressive defense”. Defense??? Where? His blocks were forearm pop blocks and elbow blocks to an on coming fist. Hard, good stuff. His approach is a good offence is a good defense and he can demonstrate it very well. He also demonstrated some quick hitting techniques that were nasty in the street. I guess you could do them in kumite if you just wanted to get disqualified. They are for some deserving jerk. He also illustrated and stresses combinations and opposite body attacks. Bob himself was a great fighter and on two replaced hips still moves like a 30 year old. One of his secrets, he has started to sell. It is called kink-ease (see it on this site). I have mentioned it before. I don’t sell it, he does and you can contact him by going to the link on it. It works like nothing I have ever tried before. It has been a real find for me. Thank you Bob for traveling so far to share with us. You were a huge hit with the group.
Master Wayne Wayland in his low profile way, gave up his time to Bob Maxwell. Wayne collects friends instead of awards. He is a man perfectly capable of putting on a demo on just about anything. He is also an accomplished Bando fighter as well. But as he does on his web site, he pushes everyone else to the fore front. He is a credit to his departed sensei, Don Bohan, and to the martial arts.
Now comes Mr. Energy and passion for what he does, and newest ICA member, Chuck Reynolds. His talk was almost as good as his demo. He was inspiring and encouraging to we who have chosen the cross train method of teaching. He is as we all know an exceptional Isshin-ryu stylist, as are his students. He mentioned the “white belt mentality” to keep learning. He also shared the challenges he experienced when taking up jujitsu/grappling while maintaining his Isshin-ryu. As sensei’s, it might be hard for many of us to go from a high Dan instructor to beginner in another discipline. His message was clear. He said, “stay true to your core style what ever it is, but reach out for more”. He made a humorous reference to traditionalist. He said if every one had followed tradition there would have been no Isshin-ryu. I have always said, that there would have been only one style of martial arts; Shaolin Temple Boxing or Kung Fu. Chuck also encouraged all sensei’s to get in shape so they can train with their students. He didn’t seem to care much for the arm chair sensei’s or masters. Basically he is an excellent, precise, and perceptive teacher, with a flair for showmanship, coupled with obviously knowing his craft. He demonstrated fighting in the clutch. I’ll bet 80% of dojo’s never even mention that, much less teach it. He laughed off the statements he hears from people saying that they won’t be taken to the ground. If you were there, you learned a lot to start off with and enough to at least use it in the street. His demo like him, was lively and hard nosed. I had some real respiratory problems and a case of laryngitis. I had done some things at the start with Clyde’s demo but I was laying back a bit afterwards. I was jacked over his drills so I put on the gloves and got with it. Who came out of the pack twice to take a shot at me? Master Wayland. We are well over a hundred years between us. From one or both of us blood appeared on Wayne’s shirt. Then came Young Daryn all full of himself. We just decided to trade to the face with the little mma gloves on. More blood. Man you gotta love it. Chuck tried to keep things calm but he had juiced us up too much. There were a lot of white belt mentality, young and old, going on this day.
Last on the all star roster, Masters Kelly Markham and Tony Williams, demoed and worked on point fighting. Since tournament season is here, we need to get our point fighting swerve on. That is not easy for our school any longer and others, who go the street route only in training. However, it is fun and can have a place in your training if you use a little creativity. I picked these two pro’s (Kelly and Tony) to lead us back. They have been marquee fighters since they stepped into a ring. Because they are so well known locally, I urged everyone to try and pretend that they don’t know them, so they wouldn’t be taken for granted. I said, just listen. What they tell you is right and you should do it. I would never say that about just anyone, but it is gospel about these two. They have completed the tri-vector of martial arts. They have been champions, created champions and have a championship school. I pointed out strongly that many sensei’s that were good fighters, find it impossible to re-create themselves, either as good student or good competitor. The same guys seem to provide all the talent and the others seem to reproduce tournament visitors.
Kelly and Tony demoed some basic to advanced kumite techniques. They then divided the room it to two groups. They each took a group, let them go after it and critiqued them as they were fighting. They then swapped groups and did the same thing for the others. Later Master Ogle organized another ring so we could have a lot of matches. The matching started under tournament rules and went on and on. It was great to watch and I can’t even describe the fun everyone was having. I even saw some perennial tournament winners swapping information with each other. Tony and Kelly did exactly what I hoped they would and more.
I finally called it a day as the room was so full of steam and sweat that it got unhealthy. Some had run from ring to ring to get in more fights with different people. They were gassed and their new information cup runeth over.
Most still hung a round for awhile, chatting and enjoying the atmosphere that had existed all day. A lot of us old coots headed for the door, secure in the fact that we were still white belts at heart, but were continuing to earn the right to wear the black one. We also were in dire need of food and rest. No dead belts walking here; or non working masters. No pretense of knowing it all, or arrogance of rank. Veterans of the Isshin-ryu wars, still opening holes of information, that the young ones will later revolutionize the arts. Progress never rests. We senior masters are yesterday and today. Younger dans and below, are today and more importantly tomorrow. The ICA has dedicated itself, to make all this hope for the future a reality….as in “Cross-Training for Reality.”
Train hard. If you ain’t burnin’ you ain’t churnin’!!!!!!!!
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