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ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY
THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHANGE
PART 1:
After the last article, I had several emails and calls asking me how I organized my classes and how I worked in two systems at the same time. Also, what made me decide to do it. It is easy once I develop a philosophy of what I wanted to teach and what our dojo’s specific culture should be.
I just went with what best developed my students ability to defend themselves in the street and still offers an art, that is not all about knee capping someone only. I just feel the more I have to offer, the more people will benefit. Variety keeps students coming back and interested. I have a commercial dojo and I want to teach what the most people want to lean without having to depend on kids for my revenues.
When I taught Isshin-ryu only, there were always those people I felt I didn’t provide enough answers to, for all situations. I looked around and found other very credible and high profile Isshin-ryu people offering the “cross training” approach at their dojo’s. At first I was cautious because I felt that teaching anything other than Isshin-ryu, was being disrespectful to my Isshin-ryu betters. I had preached the virtues of Isshin-ryu to my students for so long, that I felt like a phony suggesting there was another way. So I just started myself and my students with some casual training in jujitsu, via seminars and dojo visits to and from other dojo masters. I found as we continued the training, how much more combat prepared we were when we could cover situations on the ground. I felt my students were equal to anyone standing up. If you have seen them fight, I think you will agree. On the ground, they were like anyone else, struggling to survive. In all honesty, I felt only the best Isshin-ryu fighters I have seen and trained, were the only ones that stood a chance always standing up, and then, not always!! This left me feeling that the physically average, to poor students, had little to no chance at all. This meant that the majority of the people I trained were not a great deal better off than the day they enrolled, unless they fought another karate stand up person… or just got lucky. Maybe that doesn’t say much about my teaching, but I felt it was an accurate observation and decision maker. You can’t be kinda pregnant and you can’t be kinda prepared. I had some cross training Dragon Jams and the guys that did most of the demonstrations were expertly blending Isshin-ryu and other disciplines together and keeping each clean. I decided to do the same. After a few years (9) and some diligent effort, it began to take shape. I also realized that my philosophy of finding your authentic fighting self was the right philosophy. I have guys who can get it done standing or on the ground. Some can do both. So I developed a type of jujitsu that encourages getting separation for striking and disengagement for stand up fighting. I found that I could still teach good Isshin-ryu and embellish it with some fall back clinching and ground techniques. I have a black belt in Kung-fu and found that that also blended in spots. I had always missed boxing and when I put that in a close order street punching approach, Dragon Sen-I Jutsu was born. Then I wanted to demonstrate it before people who were honest and gifted enough to advise me. I demonstrated it at a number of jams and at Wayne Wayland’s tournament during the seminars. I’m sure not all were impressed, but enough people who impressed me were. I wrote it up, sent the syllabus to Butch Hill, and talked it over with other Masters. Butch Hill, Clyde Stanley, Joe Laney, James Ogle and Willie Wilson encouraged me to do it. I took that for the gospel. All these guys are people I would have no hesitancy of turning my students over to and studying under myself. I have never been sorry. I have never been a better teacher or had more realistic and legitimate things to teach than I do now. It has created some physical and political problems. The physical ones are due to my age and an already beaten up body. But Sen-I is designed to fit the person, not force the person in to a mold. So I can train and fight around an injury or physical deficit. I am my own Ginny pig. Most people my age (over 60) are doing kata only. I spar and grapple every class, every week. I also do kata, as do my students. Isshin-ryu kata is a staple of coarse, as I train and belt test for both Isshin-ryu and Sen-I. The kata are invaluable for my new people and kids. Nothing else teaches motor skills, foot work and combinations better than the kata. It prepares them to accept the multidimensional moves needed for stand up striking, clinching and jujitsu/grappling. There is also jujitsu in the bunkai if you accept it as such, and the chin-na is unmatched. What I found here is, that even though all this information is available, few really know how to effectively do it as it takes some jujitsu skills and the knowledge of how to finish, to make it useable. There are also some who I have seen demonstrate, that are very good at this kind of bunkai and I wish they lived closer, so I could have them work with me. The real danger lies in demonstrating techniques you don’t practice with training partners and putting people in some pain compliance without the knowledge of how to finish them out. Uke training and demo’s are not real and need load testing before recommending to lesser trained people. I lean toward the striking combinations of the kata, although a lot of them are against other karate people and not close punch out street combat. Also the facts are, that once you get close enough to grab a hold of someone, unless you have skills here, you are going to the ground. At his point, you have eliminated two thirds of your defenses; Striking, and Chin-na, (seize and control). Now you are left with fighting on the ground. There is some bunkai for this also, as a lot of what works standing up works lying down. Again, be careful teaching a useless technique because it looks good with an uke. Ground fighting is a specific of defense, not a generality of demonstration. So I reasoned that if a guy had two thirds of it covered, any two thirds, your chances of survival would be vastly improved. Who other than the individual, (with advise from his sensei), can say which two thirds is best for him. You discover this for yourself. Enter Dragon Sen-I Jutsu. Let me clarify: The very gifted will have all three areas of combat defense covered. But the greatest majority are average to below. It is this group that you owe the best possible answer to any situation. Dragon Sen-I Jutsu means; “Dragon spirit fighting” or, “situational combat.” I rely heavily on situational training and reactions. Standing or on the ground.
Any devoted member of a system of martial arts will argue that theirs is best. And that there is no need for others. That is their business, their martial arts life and the lives of their students. A man totally dedicated to even an inferior style, is a better sensei than the dead a-- sensei with superior knowledge and skill. I had to ask myself this question some years back; how many of my students are taught to defend themselves against a jujitsu person, a wrestler, a boxer or a mma guy? I asked myself that question prior to my decision. I was training empty hand kata, weapons, the charts and kumite, which made up my school curriculum.
We were winning big at point tournaments. It was not an easy decision but an obvious one. I felt compelled to open my doors to another option of training. I knew by doing this, that I would continue being a student along with my students. My education was along side there’s. With my previous experience in judo and a lot of free time to travel and train that they didn’t have, I managed to become a good enough teacher to do them justice. I now consider my standup/ground skills to be at master level. I’m a bad ass old man!!!
Loyalty and core belief is an admirable thing. However, if all the old Masters had felt that way, there would be only about four or five systems. And no one would have improved upon the others. Master Shimabuku did not develop Isshin-ryu to insult Kyan, Motobu and Miyagi, any more than they developed Shorin-ryu and Goju ryu to insult Sakugawa, Motsumora and Higgannoa. Nor did Otsuka develop Wado-Ryu from Shotokan to insult Funakoshi. I could go on and on, but the point is obvious. All felt that what they knew could be embellished and even improved upon. Most took their major disciplines and bits and pieces of others. I’m certain each of these men had their detractors and had to depend on their core beliefs to sustain them at times. New is not always popular; especially with the old. But popularity does not win street fights or make better students. Board seats and high rank neither guarantees the success of your system, or the success of your students. I know! I have just been honored with new rank. I am not one bit better an instructor than I was at the old one. What I know is I have earned my rank. . . My students are the exclamation mark to that statement. I have made comparable contributions to the other judans, but I didn’t accept my rank based on past contributions. I accepted it based on what I intend to do with it now and in the future.
Rank has become a reason not to like someone or to kiss ass. We are victims of our own system. I still believe that there should be only one Judan in Isshin-ryu, but that has become impossible and always was after Master Shimabuku died. I didn’t make the rules, now I just have to live with them. Due to the proliferation of associations and their raking systems, it has become necessary for each association to have a Judan at the head. Some groups believe that they should get to tell everyone else what rank they should be. So here comes rank and “my dad can beat up your dad”. It also gives us more people to resent, and be suspicious of. And it makes for great gossip and character assassinations. We seem to need that in Isshin-ryu. It is the way Old men compete. Meanwhile, the young develop our ways of dividing and conquering and so it goes into another generation. I blame myself also as much as any. So I am trying to just work harder, concentrate on my dojo, the HLF/ICA, and not go many places outside of these. It always ends up the same way. We are going to stick closer to our friends and just avoid the people that we don’t seem to get along with. Or, become a distraction to any ones event. We have done this in the past as we are not a group to screw with and at times have forgotten our manners. Neither is a basis for a continuing relationship with others.
I love Isshin-ryu as it has been the vehicle for everything I have achieved in the martial arts. I will never dishonor it. I also love Dragon Sen-I Jutsu. It is the sum total of my combat and martial art experience and knowledge. It is also a product of the Dragons themselves. They are my family and my proudest contribution to the martial arts.
Which system is the best? You can answer that age old question by saying, ”that it depends on the best prepared man woman or child using it.”
Next article will be how I organize the two systems into the class time allotted, avoiding confusion and developing students who know a whole lot about nothing.
This article was written with no one else in mind other than my self and the people who asked the questions. If I want to insult someone it is because I have no respect for them and will do it without the “guess who I am talking about routine.” It will also be done face to face. So don’t make a copy or forward this to any one on the premise that I am talking about them. It is also not to imply that I am right and someone else is wrong. It is my opinion only. It is also my site, so feel free not to read it if it offends you. That is what I do with others. We also have an open guest book. You can give your opinion if you give your name. If you say something about someone, they are free to respond in kind.
We are like a newspaper letter to the editor in that respect. We are not responsible as to what someone may think about you. Otherwise, thank you for your time and interest. I appreciate the readership. We have set new records this year so we are trying hard to be factual, honest and straight forward.
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE ICA JAM OCTOBER 24TH. IT WILL AT LANEY’S STEEL HAND DOJO IN KNOXVILLE. KIDS (6 TO 12) ARE FROM 10:00 TO 12:00 ADULTS (AND KIDS, THAT WANT TO STAY), FROM 12:00 TO 5:00. I PROMISE YOU THE BEST DAY OF TRAINING AND LEARNING YOU HAVE EVER HAD.
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