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ARTICLES
AND COMMENTARY
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
AND
RANDOM THOUGHTS
The personal thoughts
and observations you will read are just that. . . personal! They are not meant
to reflect any one else's opinion or a consensus of opinion. I will say however
that some of my opinions have changed the past few years. This is due from
learning to keep my mind open as well as my eyes and ears. About people and some
things;. . . . . . I have been dead wrong. . . . . . (for better or for worse).
Such is life! And definitely, such is Isshin-ryu life.
The following is in no
particular order and once again, reflects random thoughts and impressions.
The worst thing that
could happen to a lazy student is to do well at a tournament. They will almost
always quit while they assume themselves to be on top.
Kata is the new
bug-a-boo at tournaments. I have no idea how some people score. At the Hall of
Fame I watched people score in some interesting ways. I believe there are some
reasons for this. There are some who judge you wrong if you don't run your kata
the way they do. There is a differing opinion as to how fast to run the kata. I
watched one guy get a high score at a tai chi speed and another at the speed of
light. Sadly, it is also becoming a way for some to demonstrate prejudice toward
their own. I saw a blatant example of that of an unmistakable tank job. The guy
unashamedly went into the tank for his own student. It is becoming what kumite
scoring used to be. Not that at times it still isn't.
I think it is wrong for
anyone to get a kata trophy just because there are so few people in the
division. I think there should be a point minimum to reach before a trophy is
given. No guarantees.
I wish someone would
have a team division. Not the, guess which four will do well team thing. Some
schools throw four ten year olds in and win a team award. What is that?
I still hate to see a
girl have to fight a guy. I know some of the reasons for it, but it flies in the
face of total fairness. Most tourney directors have minimized it greatly but I
wish it could be totally eliminated. I mean how much could a couple more
trophy’s cost.
Tournaments either
bring people closer together or widen the gap in their relationship. I
personally have never stopped associating with someone due to a tournament, but
I have either made or renewed an old friendship. I have known people to hold a
bad call against someone for years. Funny thing is; none of us would be talking
if that were a good reason. From time to time a lot of us have blown a call. It
is only human nature. I think it is also human nature to "down deep"
pull for your student even if you are judging. Sometimes it causes you to judge
them harder than you should. Others just say, "what the hell" and tank
it for their student. Most absurd thing is, they think they got away with it and
no one noticed. This isn't new of coarse and it is not as bad as it used to be.
I don't like to judge
anymore. After forty years I have paid my dues. Besides, I usually bring a
fairly large group and I want to watch them fight. If I didn't bring but a
couple of people I would be more willing to help out. But, bringing thirty
competitors and fifteen to twenty spectators should be enough help to the guy
giving the tournament. I'll let some of the people who don't bring students,
don't have a dojo, don't train, and still wear a masters rank contribute
something. If all they do is judge at tournaments, at least it is something.
By the way; where is a
guys pride when he is just a plain fraud and phony? How does a guy who to my
knowledge, has never been in a tournament ring, has never seriously trained,
couldn't defend himself against a junior, and has spent all his time promoting
himself, wear a masters belt around
his waist?? How does he do it around "creditable" people, who have
spent their life contributing their mind, body, and spirit, to the martial arts.
I remember at
Ft.
Benning
, a leg (what paratroopers call non airborne troops) got on the bus posing as a
paratrooper. He got his butt kicked and physically thrown off the bus. I wish
the same honor code existed in Isshin-ryu. I know with some it does and it tears
them up to see some of these "political appointees" posing as masters.
But with the legal system the way it is today, you have to be very careful who
you accuse and who you threaten. I promise you; at the first safe opportunity,
there is someone I am calling out and going after. If I can get him anywhere
close to a ring, I'm going to ask him to show me what he's got, or drop his belt
to the ground and leave it there.
Running a tournament
has to be the most thankless job there is. We owe these guys a huge debt of
appreciation. I remember when Master Maurice Msarsa, then Master Butch Hill ran
all the tournaments. They did a great job and enabled a lot of people to benefit
from their hard work. Now it is Master Dennis Thomas. I hope we are as lucky
with the next guy as we have been with the last three.
Man we are getting old
as a group of leaders. It is a little scary to see who has already passed when
the Hall of Fame people are called. I wrote an article called "who will
lead and who will follow." It had to do with the
future leaders of Isshin-ryu. We have some very good, up and comers but
"real" Isshin-ryu leaders are rare and must possess some distinct
traits. In our area, Grand Master Long got us to the top of the mountain.
Granted there are none around like him, but someone cut from a similar cloth
needs to be out there being brought along.
The conduct and
discipline at tournaments is a major concern for me. Not because there is a lot
of misconduct just more than there was. I am stunned to watch Sensei's allow
conduct from their students that was never allowed with them. On more than one
occasion I have witnessed conduct by a competitor after a match, (that ranged
from throwing their headgear, to storming around complaining and mouthing), go
seemingly unnoticed by their Sensei. One high ranking Master shrugged it off as
his guy being high strung. I went over and chewed his butt anyhow. I grew up
under Grandmaster Long's code of conduct. I believe in that code and was
promoted and trained by him according to it. If I have to show up a Master by
chewing his student I will, if that Master allows someone to violate that code.
I know to a lot of people, that makes me come off like a jerk and big mouth.
I'll just have to risk that. They don't understand that a lot of us are proud of
our linage and code. We bought into those values a long time ago and we owe more
to Grandmaster Long than to sit by and ignore the things that he himself would
never have stood for. It is both infuriating and sad how brave some have gotten
in their criticism of him and how different they want to do things now that he
is gone and they don't have to face him. Some change is predictable and good for
growth but never at the expense of our core values and the memory of the man who
made it possible for us.
I think by and large,
we all get along with everyone very well. We are still not a member of an
Association for one reason or another. We don't play that, "it's us against
the world thing". I also don't want into that cult thing where, if you are
friends with someone, you can't have any other friends. The associations that we
are familiar with are all hard working, forward thinking, organizations. So
nothing personal, just mostly geographic and circumstance. I wish our dojo was
more centrally located so we could take better advantage of the knowledge that
is out there. I would like for my student to have the opportunity for more
exposure to the excellent Masters, Sensei's and fighters, in the Tennessee area.
People have been very good about visiting and we plan to have the "DRAGON
JAM" again next year.
If you are still
reading [-;) thanks for letting me indulge you with my thoughts and feelings. As
you know, I referred to Grandmaster Long several times. Maybe because the
anniversary of his passing next month, has caused him to be on my mind so much.
Naturally the Hall of Fame. . . . . . . "His Hall of Fame," brings on
feeling of nostalgia and the predictable protective instinct of his memory. It
never fails to arouse in me the sense of what we are doing, and if he would
approve. I presently plan to write about him next month. If the article goes
well I will print it. If not, I'll not risk a second rate article about him.
Someday we all, well almost all, will have to face him again. . . . think about
it.
Master Denny Shaffer, Ku-Dan
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