Shaffers Red Dragons - Anderson, SC

ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY

GUESS WE CAN’T ALL GET ALONG

Life is about change and Saturday in Lebanon, Tennessee brought it about. We attended Tony William’s tournament as we have each year since it began. No one works harder to get it right than Tony. Conscientious, sincere, and fair to the max, we always enjoy anything we do with him. So none of our decisions had anything to do with Tony himself. It could have been made long before, but we wanted to support both Kelly Markham and Tony this year. So we deferred this decision until after their tournaments. I’m glad we did, because we got to support two of our favorite friends and Martial Artists.

But before I get into all this, let me acknowledge my students and the fine job that they did.

Prior to the tournament, a very deserving Eli Rhodes received the “Tony Award” from Tony Williams, Sandra Strong and the Lebanon dojo. It was a surprise and an honor. It was also the most insightful thing I’ve ever seen for an award. Eli has long been appreciated and valued by his fellow Dragons but his tournament success and profile has been average at best. So the award was based on total contribution, not tournament success. It meant more than any trophy received that day. Eli was overwhelmed and modest as usual. He was competing that day on an ankle that had just come out of a cast. I would only let him run his kata but he was counting on fighting also. So on behalf of us all, Congratulations Eli and thank you Lebanon dojo for the honor.

Congratulations to Alicia (Sis) Macdougal for three first places in weapons, Kata, and Kumite. She is a star in her own right and a credit to us all.

What can I say about Austin that you can’t see by watching him. He is a champion in every sense of the word that handles it all with class and machine like efficiency. Congratulations Austin on your second straight kumite grand.

Now for the team competition. As you witnessed if you were there, the team competition was a blur of talent and a showdown between the two best fighting dojo’s of the day; the Hero’s and the Dragons. One thing that is no secret is we like each other but want to kick the crap out of each other. That was evident in and out of the ring this day. My honest feelings are that some of the points and point totals were influenced by heart power and personal feelings. Every student and other impartial people saw it the same way. Now let me quickly say that I and not calling it cheating and the Hero’s don’t need that to win anyhow. We could fight each other every day and it would still be tied at the end of the year. I am talking about human nature that we all succumb to involuntarily. I have an awful time judging my own students, as I want them to win so badly. I’m never satisfied with how I do it as I am either influence to call one for them, or to be unfair to them by being too careful in my calling. This was a pay back fight from the Hero’s due to the earlier point outcome. This is good and how it should be. I believe points were called unfairly but without intent to be dishonest. I feel human nature took over. I also believe that the prevailing attitude of “it is just fun” is a bunch of baloney. These are my student, like sons and daughters to me. They pay their money for travel and entry to compete for trophies, and as in the team award, money. If you want to have fun, just give a shia or Jam. Don’t set it up as competition and entertain yourself as fun with my students. Fun is if you win. That is me, that is how I coach. I ask no one not to have fun, but don’t come over and call me out because you are having fun when my students are getting the business end of a hose job. Not only that, but my Leon, Woody and Curt Markham, struggle with point fighting. They don’t know what stop means and they are brawlers. They and a couple of others foul the hell or every one they fight because of their nature and spirit. I’ve seen Tony do the same thing and that is a fighters nature when he fights with heart power. These guys just line up and come at you. They are the nose tackles in the ring. There are others but I’m not as close to them as the ones I just mentioned. This is no discredit to them. I love their spirit. But point fighting is difficult for guys like this, as in points fighting rules, you have to protect your opponent and yourself at the same time. If not, penalty point!!! . To clear up the fracas, I was yelling when Woody and Curt went into over-drive. As Curt had both his instructors in the ring, I was relegated to the side line. I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just taking up for my guy and team. Unfortunately, Tony chose to restrain or grab me in front of everyone and lecture me on fun. Did he mean anything by it. Certainly not! Our relationship is rock solid. Tony was under the gun all day and was letting off a little steam himself. I get that. Then Woody thought the fight was over and left the ring. We all started walking to the side lines. It was not over and we were called back. It made me and my people look like a bunch of sore losers. We are hard losers but not poor losers. Were we happy with what had been happening …No! Were they happy that I had been called down under the circumstances …again?.....No! I say all this as it reflects poorly on us and it was undeserved. Are we upset over it, or down on anyone over it? That is definitely NO! A few relationships have been lost forever but it has nothing to do with what happened IN THE RING. Every one gets a call for or against they don’t deserve. That is just tournaments. When things are directed at you deliberately that is personal. It is also very noticeable as those kinds of feelings and actions are hard to cover up.

In a meeting Saturday night here are the decisions we have come to as a dojo.

1) We will limit our point tournaments to, two or three a year…. max.

Reason: It is not how we train and it has ceased to be fun. In the meeting, Austin reflected the feelings of the group when he said that he didn’t want to do point tournaments any longer except the Hall of Fame and maybe one other. Just no more IIKA tournaments (explanation below).

2) We will in fact concentrate on having more fun by doing exactly what we want, where we want, and with who wants us.

Reason: We have gotten spoiled by the Jams, the fellowship, non political atmosphere, and the fun before, during, and after.

3) We will attend no IIKA sanctioned tournaments.

Reason: There is a lot of tension from both sides. It is no secret that there are factions of the IIKA board that doesn’t like me, ignores me, my students, my friends, family, and feels hard toward those that are friendly and supportive of me. There are likewise good friends on the IIKA board and membership, that we are very close to. All this causes everyone to feel the tension. Since I returned to Isshin-ryu it has been different. I have never been able to reconnect with some, to include some former students. So the tension has grown. I initially befriended Phil Little. Big mistake on my part, but more tension. I backed and still back Willie Wilson; More tension. I became an advisor to the IIKA board only to resign due to our vast difference in training philosophy and non support of the Harold Long foundation. In the middle of all this, I developed a system of my own, started the ICA and accepted a long time IIKA stalwart, Dennis Thomas, as a student. Not exactly the kind of activities that made me popular with them. Let me make this perfectly clear: They were there hacking it out, when I was absent those seven years. It was not up to them to accommodate all my ideas and wishes. They developed into a very tight group, to include former students and my presence and ideas were a distraction. I can also be a very big distraction the way I present things. We were never cut out to do business with each other. I have continued to be a distraction to the way they see Isshin-ryu being run. They have the rank and time in, to have those opinions and make any rules they see fit to make. I said that we have friends in the IIKA and on the board. It has caused them great stress at times to support me in anything. It has polarized them somewhat from the mainstream. The ICA has really put a kink in the relationship, flimsy as it was to begin with. It has developed into an “us or them mentality”. I knew it would. I tried to prevent it, but I knew it would. It is because of the feeling toward me by a few in control. It is not the formation of the ICA. It is about me. All this has finally come to a total parting of the ways. It is about time and will be a relief to all. No longer will a friend have to stress out at his tournament because he feels polarized. This has already cost me some friendships and it isn’t going to cost me any more. One of the high point of my day was spending time with Phil McElroy. We got to visit and it felt good. Now here we are on the different sides which virtually represent everything each other are opposed to. Our common denominator is friendship. I feel a friend can have a totally different position than mine, as long as I know he believes in it and it isn’t personal. I think Phil and other friends that I have, illustrate that. I can make this statement looking anyone in the eye. My decision is business, not personal. I like every one in the IIKA as a person and have never spent time with anyone that I didn’t enjoy. Socially we get along great. It is like night and day. I just don’t like their politics or agree with their philosophies. Bet they can say the same about me and have. So tie game there.

3) We will do our best to keep and further develop the relationships we have, if others so desire.

Reason: Friendship endures, where physical skills, politics, and awards, do not. I need good friends. I can be a real pain in the ass. My temper is equal only to my passion for excellence. My loyalty is 100% and I expect that in return. That is control, but I am a control freak. Some that inspires, some it drives nuts. I am not a surprise. So if you sign on with me, you know it is going to be a ride. With this article/letter, I am giving friends and foes alike some breathing room. You don’t have to be in the ICA to be my friend. Sadly in Isshin-ryu, we have all allowed our drive, ego’s and self importance, to draw a larger barrier between some of us. We don’t have to like each other, but I hope we can respect each other for our differences, as well as our similarities. Maybe in the next life, differences can be more appealing than similarities. That is probably more true right now than we realize, but we have allowed letters and labels ( ICA, IIKA,USIKA, AOKA, ECT) and yes RANK, to define us as to how we perceive each other. One good man looked me in the eye and told me he wouldn’t support the Harold Long foundation because Joe Laney was 9^th dan. Does that make it ok? I was shocked. It would be like me saying that I can’t support the IIKA because he is his rank. He is a Christian, yet this kind of Christian judgment flies in the face of my understanding of, judge not. Less ye be judged. Maybe I’ll compose my own Isshin-ryu Bible. Judge not, unless who you are judging doesn’t meet your personal qualifications of rank. Perhaps I’ll take it a step further and rethink my commitment to Christ because I don’t think I like one of the twelve disciples. In these ways we are all to blame. We have set, across the board, broad brush standards, that paint everyone the same color.

So for now we’re not changing friends just our play grounds. If this affects our relationship, the ICA or the HLF, I surmise it will be more of a good excuse than a reason. Either way; What is real will endure.