What "Was" New: February, 2002 -January, 2003

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January 16, 2003: Catching up. . .

Ted Suzman is still working on the revised Eastern Arts' website. I've seen some of the new ideas Ted is implementing and the only thing I can say is: Most impressive!

Meanwhile, everyone is anxiously awaiting final plans for WinterFest 2003. The dates are firm: Feb 14-16th. The only thing we are still waiting on are the hotel room rates, which should be available any day. The organizers are planning on keeping the tuition for the weekend very inexpensive. . . I heard Roy talking about $60 for all the seminars. They also have commitments from a number of very senior teachers from Okinawan karate styles and weapon systems. I got my airline tickets yesterday. Lots of very inexpensive tickets available with a little searching on the internet. Actually, after getting a real low rate on a web discount system, Susan called the airline and the person was actually able to beat the discount price! 

WinterFest 2003 is happening. Hope you can join us.

Over the years I've seen lots of broken jaws and busted teeth. Ironically, many of these injuries happened during class while students were practicing. We used to think that wearing a mouthguard during class was a waste of time and unnecessary. Now I won't let students spar unless they are wearing a mouthguard and I strongly urge them to wear the best mouth and jaw protection. . . The WIPSS "Brainpad". If you don't use the "Brainpad", you really should. Those flimsy and cheap excuse for mouthguards that we use to use should carry a warning on the package: "unsafe for any sport"!

This was just sent to me by the manufacturer. Check it out, then order your "Brainpad" today. GEM

Medical Community Identifies Lower Jaw Impacts As major cause for Sport Concussions - 2002 By: Albert W. Gusenbauer, D.D.S., M.R.C.D. ( C ) Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon

Recent media attention to traumatic brain injuries (TBI's) in sports is mostly due to the occurrence of these injuries in high profile professional sports athletes. Paul Kariya missed the last 28 games of the 1998 season after his fourth concussion as a result of a Gary Suter cross check to the lower jaw. Eric Lindros finished the 2000 season as a 6-time all-star, and 6-time concussion victim. Victims of career ending concussions include Roger Staubach and Al Toon in football, auto racing's Bobby Allison and Ernie Ervine, and hockey's Dave Taylor and Jeff Courtnall. The devastating effect of TBI's on our younger athletes has become an issue of increasing concern.

One intraoral appliance design has evolved beyond the role of tooth protection, to take on the expanded duty of risk reduction for brain and TMJ injury in sports. The coaching professional should have a thorough understanding of the nature and consequences of lower jaw impacts.

Blows to the mobile lower jaw drive the jaw up and back, creating a transfer of energy from the lower jaw to the jaw joint (temporomandibular joint or TMJ) and base of the skull. Dr. Robert Cantu, Neurosurgeon and author of numerous articles and textbooks regarding brain injury in sports, states that blows to the chin, which acts as a lever, produce maximal forces. This fact has long been known in boxing, where the prime target for punches has always been the chin. Even athletes wearing face shields and helmets are at risk of TMJ and traumatic brain injury from lower jaw impacts. 

Standard NOCSAE* football helmet drop test studies have shown that impact to the football helmet faceguard can displace the helmet and pull on the chin strap, exceeding the pass/fail criteria set for helmets. Drs. J. Stewart and J. Witzig have estimated that in athletes, over 90% of concussions resulting in unconsciousness are a result of blows to the lower jaw. 

The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine state that following brain injury, there is a general metabolic dysfunction within the brain, a decrease in the ability of the brain to regulate its blood flow , and an overall inability of the brain to re-establish a normal physiologic balance. In short, best way to treat a concussion is to reduce the risk prior to the injury. A proactive approach is by far the best medicine.


The Brain Pad™ mouthpiece is fabricated with the following features to address the specific problem of energy transfer into the basal skull area during lower jaw impact. 1. Dual arch design with upper and lower bite channels to lock and hold the lower jaw into a down and forward position, creating a multi-dimensional safety space in the jaw joint area. 2. A full frontal airway space promotes mouth breathing and speech while clenching the teeth . 3. A protective lower lingual flange guard minimizes posterior displacement of the mandible during impact. 4. Down and forward mandibular positioning increases the airway space to optimize breathing during maximal exertion.

Impact to the lower jaw is transmitted to the appliance and thus, the forces are dissipated through the appliance - Not into the TMJ and base of the Brain. 

The risk reduction capacity of The Brain Pad™ was evaluated by Voigt Hodgson at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. In standard NOSCAE drop tests, The Brain Pad™ design provided significant protection in the TMJ and basal skull area, while standard design, custom or boil and bite mouthguards did not meet the pass/fail criteria. Dentists must increase public awareness that without locking the lower jaw into position, the brain and TMJ are at serious risk during lower jaw impacts.

December 5, 2002: New Video/DVDs 

Just finished Pedro Bennett's new Kenpo Jitsu self defense tape. Available in both VHS and DVD. Excellent self-defense instruction for all ranks and styles. Click here to order! 

Thanks to Alan Azoff, I'm able to offer a 2 1/2 hour video of our first officials training course. Special price of only $15 until the end of December. Great gift for anyone interested in sport karate. Click here to order! 

December 1, 2002: A Great Beginning! 

Congratulations to all the hard working officials, let by Jay Salhanick. Fair and impartial scoring in all rings and during every kata and match. What a treat to competitors, teachers and parents. Looks like we will be having lots of new tournaments to be adding for the 2004 series! 

Everyone was pleased to see all the seniors who gave up their Sunday morning and spent the day shaking hands and congratulating competitors throughout the morning. Thank you Van Canna, Buzz Durkin, Mike Rozumek, Manny Neves, Steve Banchick, Ed Oakley, Steve & Kerry Morgan and the many others who supported the tournament and encouraged their students to participate.

Lets continue the momentum by attending the next official's training session and the next tournament in this series.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay SalhanickI has scheduled the following three Referee training clinic's. Those that wish to complete the Uechi-ryu Referee certification program, attending the training sessions are mandatory. 

Clinic 2 - Sunday December 22nd, 2003 at 10am / Lenny Testa's dojo - Brockton Ma. 

Clinic 3 - Sunday January 19th, 2003 at 10am / Mike Murphy's dojo - Randolph, Ma.

November 1, 2002: Catching up. . . Again!

Computers are great. They save time and energy when working. However, when things go badly. . . well. . . 

Everything was going too well. We actually had the bulletin board functioning pretty well. People were finally reaching the site without too much difficulty. I should have known this was actually a warning and not a time to relax. It all started with groups of people e-mailing me, saying they could not get into the site. Since I could access the site without difficulty, I advised them to check their computer or service provider. Then one morning I checked in to discover Uechi-ryu.com had disappeared. This is when I learned that our old service provider had sold the business and in the process of transferring the site. . . lost it!

When I called the new company, they cheerfully announced that the entire Bulletin Board had been lost in the data transfer process. "Did you make a back-up copy prior to the move?" I asked in a pleading voice. "A back-up. . .  Well, no we didn't!"

Fortunately all they did was "misplace" it in the move. I later found out they moved everything from a Unix machine to a Window's based machine and decided to change the addresses on all the directories located in the bulletin board and video clip server.

Poor Scott worked non-stop for a week tracking down all the links and repairing them. Just when I thought all was back and running, I discovered last week that the other server had been moved and one month of data had been lost. The October mailbag, Whatsnew columns, all the articles I had posted and numerous other updates were gone! Again I asked the new people if they had backed up anything before making the transfer and again they calmly announced they hadn't thought about backups.

Everything is running pretty smoothly now. The volunteer staff, who help keep this site up and running have been meeting and planning for the major design and interface change that has been in the works for the past six months. Meanwhile, I've been trying to locate some of the missing articles and lost links and trying to reconstruct the October site. If anyone made copies of the October mailbag or articles that are now missing, please email them to me. 

My video collection is enormous. But some of the tapes are over fifteen years old and from what I've learned about video tapes, reaching the end of their usable lifetime. Susan and I have been watching the DVD technology emerge as today's "state of the art" and finally made the decision to purchase a machine that will copy video tape onto a DVD disk. We are now offering DVD in addition to VHS video tapes for our entire video collection that is being sold on our store. 

In case you missed the announcement, Alan Lowell has signed on as Eastern Art's first "Roundtable" VoiceCafe's talk show host. His first show will be on Thursday, November 14th from 9:15PM - 10PM (EST). Alan's guest will be Mike Sniski and the subject will be "Adrenal Stress Training". This is a real hot subject within the martial art community and you don't want to miss this opportunity to talk with the experts. Be sure to register and log in to the talk room early, so you can check out your sound system and mic. Its easy to use.

Lots of activities coming up. I'll be updating the site with a complete list soon. 

Sept 1, 2002: Catching up. . .

Summer is over in New England! One week after SummerFest, the weather changed from oppressively hot to comfortably cool. . . Overnight! For the next couple of months, working out will be a pleasure. My Saturday class was packed, even though it was a holiday weekend. Fall classes should pick up for all the dojo, which should be a welcome relief for those dojo without air conditioning or hearty students.

The forums have really picked up these past few weeks. Van Canna sensei continues his relentless push to get dojo to become more responsible regarding their duty to provide more realistic training for their students. For the past year, he has focused on the many fantastic "realistic" training methods available to all, including Bill Kipp's Adrenal Stress Response Conditioning program and Tony Blauer's multidimensional programs designed to bridge the gap between ritualistic training (found in most dojo) and realistic threats found in the real world.

At SummerFest, we presented seminars by Tony Blauer and by representatives of Bill Kipp's program. Both programs are worthwhile additions to the traditional dojo's curriculum. My feeling is that the traditional dojo can benefit from hosting both of these organizations. 

I know that a number of traditional teachers are very uptight about exposing their students to any information, programs or teachers outside of their isolated and exclusive organizations. They believe that outside groups and teachers are out to "steal" their students and in a twisted sort of logic, assume they can control and protect their flock by sheltering them from anything new and different.  Big mistake! Better to make your dojo the learning center for the latest technology along with the time-honored traditional based methods your dojo may be known for.

Rather than trying to defend traditional methods by knocking the ever increasing flow of new information, be the person who your students can look to for common sense understanding, introduction and logical blending of the "old" with the "new"!

Dojo that are run as commercial ventures will discover that no one program will satisfy all customers who walk in or all members who survive the first week, first month or first year. The key to a well structured training facility is to offer a realistic number of programs that can be taught correctly. This means that whatever methods you offer, they should be "state of the art" and taught by fully qualified individuals.

Some dojo try to be everything to all people. I've never found one that does this successfully. You simply can't financially make this work. If you are a martial arts dojo, then you probably won't find it possible to also be a health club offering dance classes, yoga and weight lifting. 

However, as a martial arts facility, you can offer a number of programs based on a single system. If your specialty is Uechi-ryu, you can offer classes that are focused on the needs and immediate desires of the individuals signing-up. A house wife's perceptions of what she needs to build confidence, health and self protection abilities will be much different than what a police office needs and wants. In the "good 'ol days" we had one program, taught one way, for all people! We didn't fit the program to suit the needs of the client. Quite the contrary, we told the student what was required of them to take our program!

As teachers, we must get rid of the notion that the martial arts are some kind of religion, with rituals that must be rigidly followed. We did what we did 50 years ago, because that was all we knew! We can't blame the martial arts for our limited understanding and we can't continue to try and convince ourselves that if we had only spent another 10 years under the tutelage of the "grand master", we wouldn't be in this predicament today! 

The martial arts are a fantastic toolbox, filled with an infinite amount of potential for it's practitioners. Yes, a number of us will be able to defend ourselves in a real fight, just as well as a number of specialty-trained Blauer practitioners or Bill Kipp proponents will be successful in a fight without any martial art's instruction. However. . .  those of us teaching or studying the martial arts and supplement their training with other programs, have a huge advantage (in my opinion) over someone who has never studied the martial arts and who decide to take up a short-term specialty program. 

If this is correct and I doubt if Tony or Bill will dispute my contention, then the traditional martial arts' community should be embracing these programs instead of trying to discredit them. Incorporating them into their dojo programs does not mean corrupting or diminishing their traditional style in any way. 

Over the years I've heard many a dojo owner lament that he/she can't survive teaching Uechi-ryu alone. To supplement their dojo income, they turned to all kinds of incompatible and usually expensive alternative programs. Invariably, most of these unfocused efforts resulted in total failure. 

New Website Look! Our volunteer designing team has been hard at work totally rebuilding the general Eastern Arts site. The forums and video site will remain the same, but the rest of the site will be given a total face-lift! Watch for it this month.

New Products! If you missed SummrFest 2002, you probably haven't seen the expanded line of t-shirts and other health related products. I happen to really like the patriotic Red, White and Blue Uechi-ryu t-shirt pictured on the left.

A hot item, which I found at the Las Vegas super sport's show, is the dynaflex. We sold a dozen at camp and they have been flying out of the store! Check them out.

August 14, 2002: WOW!

If you missed this year's camp, all I can say is "you really did miss one great opportunity"! Quite a few "regulars" were missing for legitimate reasons. . . Duncan MacLeod was suffering from a serious hip problem that prevented his being with us. . . Some, like Gary Khoury, simply had conflicting schedules they couldn't get out of. Regardless of why you weren't there, you were missed. Hopefully you will all mark off the 2nd weekend in August, 2003 and not allow anything to interfere with your participation.

To help people like me, who don't plan on or can afford last minute financial commitments like the camp, Susan has set up a program whereby you can sign up for the camp ahead of time and pay it off in easy monthly installments.  Watch this site for information on how to sign-up for this easy way to insure that next August 8-10th, you will part of the action. Instead of reading about all the great times, you can be part of the excitement. We missed you this year, don't miss next year!

Carlos Ciriza Seminar: Those of us who participated in Carlos's sport sparring seminars at camp this weekend, were part of a truly "cutting edge" demonstration of new and spectacular sparring strategy and technique. I've attended quite a few sparring seminars, but haven't seen anything like the three sessions Carlos put together. I asked him if we might schedule a special seminar that included all elements of his program for anyone who might be interested. He could charge a modest fee and I would be able to have the seminar filmed for one or two videos which could be offered by Peabody Publishing. Carlos agreed and Gary Khoury agreed to host him at his dojo this Saturday (August 17th) at 2:30PM. Click here for details.

Quite a few camp participants were asking me about the "magic" Blue Towel I was wearing all day, keeping me cool in the hot sun. I've been using it on the golf course throughout the Summer. In 100+ degree days, I've been walking the course, cool as can be, while my buddies were suffering. I just soaked the special PVA sponge material towel in water and draped it around my neck. It stayed damp and cool for 9 holes (about 2 hours) before I had to re-wet it. Check it out here!

August 5, 2002: Words of Wisdom! Think about it!!

Some people ask: what’s all this about summer camp? What’s the depth of training? Am I wasting my time? What’s in it for me and my students? Well, it depends. Although the seminars do require hard work, the focus should be on learning something new, either from some other interpretation of Uechi Ryu [remember you don’t have the last word on the Holy grail, and neither does your sensei] or from different disciplines that blend well with your body make up, mindset, and system.

Once you learn this something “new” it remains up to you whether you are going to practice it assiduously enough to make a difference.

And when you are being bombarded with new concepts or technique, either from another sensei in the same style or from another discipline, always think of whether that technique, even if internalized, will survive the test of the chemical cocktail on the street.

Will it work, even if practiced ten hours a day? That is the individual question for you to answer.

But there is more that some people are not enriching themselves with, locked into their belief closets. 

Uechi Ryu or any other system is not made up of you and your sensei and a few others. It is an immense concept out into the world embraced by thousands who comprise the “family.”

You shut yourself out, or you succumb to your controlling sensei’s directives that “you will not attend this camp, that you will not participate in this site’s discussions” and you are isolating yourself missing out on so much a large group of friends has to offer by its willingness to share and question and help each other. 

The friendship of some fine people you shun today will be sorely needed and missed as you age in need and obscurity.

I was discussing with Gary Khoury how blessed I am in my later years to have spent 42 years in Uechi reaching out to people, and making friends. The rewards have been greater than I could have imagined.

I never feel alone or shunned, I have the respect and loyalty of some of the finest people on this earth, a common bond holding the meaning of life together.

And then there are reunions, such as summer camp. So many excuses not to attend.


What makes this reunion so special, special enough for people to travel from all states of the country and even other countries, to attend? Sure it's fun, a terrific party, and a greater learning opportunity, a chance to see how another group practices the same things we practice.

But it's more than that. A reunion brings together old friends that shared a unique and irreplaceable part of our past --sensei, dojo, workouts, good conversations, Dan tests, successes and failures, victory and defeats in open tournaments, happiness and sorrow. 

We may have made other friends along the way, but none that remember what we remember, none that knew us when we shared such an important part of our lives. 

Our camp reunion is a time to come together once again, touch each other's lives, and renew the relationships for tomorrow when you will find needing them the most as you age and begin to fade.

Think of this: The camps will go on for much longer than you will remain alive.

Being dead and then wishing you could go back and make up for all you have lost in touching or being touched by other people's lives, is no fun.

You will remember you? 

------------------ Van Canna 

August 4, 2002: Only days left before the reunion!

And the late-late reservations continue to pour in. Looks like another fantastic camp. Wait until you see the great t-shirts this year. I wore the Al Ford cartoon t-shirt to class this morning and got 'rave' reviews. Al created over a dozen designs for t-shirts that he gave to me way back in the 80s. I had forgotten all about them until Susan forced me to "houseclean" last month and they turned up under a pile of other art work.

Jerry McDonald has agreed to teach a very interesting Hojoundo Bunkai on Saturday and Sunday. We have so many talented instructors that I've added a slot for private or small group special instruction sessions throughout the weekend. Here is a great opportunity to get special attention on problem areas of your training by people with a fresh perspective. 

I've posted the latest schedules, so please check them out. If you are a presenter and I've left your name out, please contact me ASAP. The oversight is not deliberate, just overwork!

Hiro Uechi worked out with me Saturday at the Hut. You want to see "original" time-capsule Uechi-ryu, be sure to check him out at camp. A real nice person who is tough as nails, yet as smooth as silk in his performance. 

Hope to see you all on Friday. GEM

August 1, 2002: Who should be a black belt?

Van Canna sensei brought up a very interesting topic regarding what the master ranks represent and who should be awarded a black belt. This is a controversial subject and one that is discussed by all organizations that issue rank to represent proficiency in a martial art.

The subject of rank is one that IUKF has been addressing in great detail for the past five years. We established much harder standards for the 1-5th dan ranks in New England as a beginning. We discussed and recognize that every candidate will not look like Justin Testa although it would be nice and simple if everyone did perform like him.

The problem with rank is that every candidate is so different. On one end of the spectrum is the professional, who trains 4-6 times a week and possibly teaches 5-10+ classes a week. On the other end of the scale is the professional who earns a living in a more conventional manner and who has a family that expect him/her to live a balanced life. 

The first person's teacher may understandably argue that he/she deserves to be promoted in the minimum time allowed by the organization. But then we have the subject of "maturity" and that "other" side of Karate called the "Dho". He may be the toughest dude in class but a terror at home, school and on the streets. (We've had a few of these characters at my dojo over the years) Do we give our precious belt to a person simply because he is tough or do we have an obligation to hold back individuals who have not mastered the "Dho" side of the art? Yes, this is another part of the equation to consider.

The second person might be the nicest person in the world and his/her sensei would really like to see the person promoted. However, working out twice a week doesn't cut it. 

Naturally, this person shouldn't be tested with only minimum time and the question becomes. . . should the person be tested at all?

This is the individual who causes the organization all the trouble. Basically a nice person, who has the potential but is unable or unwilling to put in the extra effort necessary to get the job done.

My feeling is that under the current rank standards, this person should be happy as green or brown belt!

Now comes the dreaded "exceptions". People who do work out more than twice a week, take private lessons, attend regional workouts, camps, tournaments, but for some reasons just cannot measure up to the minimum rank standard set by the organization.

Currently, IUKF allows such individuals to be tested under a case by case basis. The Pretest review board and test board listens to the candidate's teacher explain why this person deserves to be the rank under consideration. There are many kinds of physical and mental reasons for a person qualifying as an "exception". Generally the candidate has studied for more than the average time required and has some type of permanent physical disability that will forever prevent him/her from improving their karate performance.

The test board must listen to the candidate's instructor, since no one on the board will understand or appreciate the full impact of the handicap on the candidate's potential to perform during the test.

IUKF will be tackling this subject in greater detail later this year. My recommendation is that the test board have the option to issue two and perhaps three different certificates for rank. We can recognize the skills and accomplishments of the very best Uechi practitioner. We all know what these candidates look like. 

The second diploma can recognize the "average" practitioner. . . the person who trains two - three times a week and possibly more a couple months before the test. These individuals make up the bulk of our dojo (when the student body consists of more than 10 students). Within this group will be individuals who may come close to being in the first class and of course, those who pass by a narrow margin. 

Then we should consider a third category. . . Perhaps a kind of "honorary" rank. . . For those who for one reason or another, will never be able to physically perform the test and pass it in a conventional manner. 

Right now we only have one type of rank and the youngsters who still believe they will remain young forever, resent sharing the limelight with a candidate who they believe is "dogging" it. . . Who didn't go the extra mile in preparing for the test. . . not realizing that the candidate was performing 150% and was giving everything he/she had.

The dan test is the glue that hold the traditional martial arts together. There are thousands of "tough guy" programs on every street corner and gym trying to convince your students that they should abandon your dojo and take up toughguy course 101. Your students aren't staying with you just to become a fighter. As a teacher and dojo owner, you had better recognize this fact!

It behooves us all to protect and enhance our traditional ranking system. We should be very careful not to become unduly influenced by trends, to make the dan test into something it was never intended to be. If the traditional martial arts are to survive, it is important that the seniors work together to maintain the prestige of the rank through excellent training and intensive test preparation. But as a fraternal organization, we must also find a way to recognize the different levels of skills and accomplishments within our dojo.

Not an easy task, but I believe our seniors are up for it.

July 30, 2002: Only 10 days left!

Susan informs me that the registrations are picking up as we approach the final deadline for registration. We are working closely with the Maritime Academy, trying to insure that latecomers will have food and lodgings. Normally, anyone registering after the 10 day deadline would have to bring their own lunches and could not stay overnight.

Thanks to the hard-working staff at the Academy, we should be able to take registrations for the next couple of days. So. . . please, if you haven't signed-up yet, please do so today!

July 25, 2002: Clarification!

While writing the July 22nd column, I included information obtained in a recent telephone conversation with Tomoyose sensei, regarding the "Uechi family of organizations" (I've heard a couple of variations of this name). 

According to sensei, this group gave final approval to my idea of having Okinawa issue registration IDs to member groups instead of a single certificate. (Last year Tomoyose proposed that this group issue a new certificate, to be used by all member Uechi groups).  At the time I was very pleased to learn that Okinawa was including IUKF in their plans, and offered an alternative plan that would allow individual groups to retain their own identity while providing a respectful link with Okinawa. 

I assumed that this information was pretty widely known, or I would have written a lot more about it or held off until I (or someone) had the time to publish a more detailed explanation. Tomoyose sensei thought it was a good idea to announce the news and I had no reason to believe the announcement would be questioned by some people.  

Because of SummerFest preparations, I don't have time to go into the program in detail. However, I just wish to state that there certainly will be legitimate organizations that will not participate. They will continue to teach and award rank in any way they wish. This rank will certainly be recognized by the Uechi community. However, as traditional karate becomes more and more diluted with systems and schools on every corner, many believe that the future of Uechi-ryu will rely on the value the public places in the rank awarded by dojo and the training that accompanies this rank.  

I continue to believe that Okinawa can play an important part in preserving the importance and prestige of the Uechi belt. Having a central data base of all black belts, with their ranking history certainly isn't difficult in this modern world of the internet. For a small fee, Okinawa could issue a permanent registration number to every Uechi black belt and record his/her rank information/history in their web based data base. This role will not interfere or infringe on the 25+ independent Uechi groups that now exist. Naturally, not every group will participate. I hope that many will.

July 22, 2002: Best Summer Camp Ever! Where will you be?

I always hoped that with time, camp preparations would become easier. After all, we've done it all so many times before; we know the problem areas, we know the best way to make it all happen.

However, every year is unique and along with the tried and proven are the pitfalls that threaten eminent disaster.  After so many years facing these obstacles, we've learned to take them in stride with the thought that the "impossible might take a bit longer"! 

This year our camp theme is "Unity"! Thanks to Grandmaster Ryuko Tomoyose, nearly all of the feuding Uechi groups have joined together in what Okinawa calls the "Okinawa Family of Uechi-ryu Organizations". They have embraced my idea of issuing test I.D. numbers instead of insisting on issuing a single certificate. This accommodates all the member groups, including the IUKF and allows each group to test their own students and issue their own certificates. In addition to issuing registration numbers, the "Family" will operate a website that publishes all test data, including dates of ranks, teachers and board members. This move will go a long way towards pulling the traditional Uechi dojo together, while identifying the instructors and groups who teach authentic Uechi-ryu.

In a major first step towards this unification, Buzz Durkin and his group will be participating in our camp and his senior students will be tested with the IUKF seniors on Saturday evening. The "Master's" test for 6th, 7th and 8th dans will be conducted in a very formal ceremony, to be held at the Maritime Gymnasium. The master's test is open to all camp attendees with a 2002 nametag.

Following each camp I'll get a couple of letters from people who really enjoyed the camp but complain that we offer too many fantastic seminars at the same time.  Others ask why I schedule non-Uechi seminars at what should be an "exclusive" Uechi camp! Of course I also get a few complaints of late night partying and lack of sleep during the three days. (About an equal amount of these last letters come from the people who are doing the actual partying and the rest from campers who are trying to sleep!) :)

This year we will have security people monitoring the dorms to insure that there will be no partying in the rooms. We understand that some of our regulars have a need to sing and party well after lights out, so have designated the "Tent" as a place where late night reveling may continue without disturbing those of us who need our sleep.

The camp philosophy has always been to offer our students a "taste" of other, compatible martial arts. We practice Uechi-ryu all year and reserve this weekend to learn more about other tactics, philosophy and techniques that might improve or simply supplement what we do the rest of the year. For the diehard Uechi practitioner, we offer basic, intermediate and advance Uechi training every hour. But for those who want to find out what realistic training is like, chances are they will elect to check out the "Bulletmen" seminars this year. For those who haven't had an opportunity to attend a "grappling" class will certainly consider checking off one of Joe Pomfret's B.J.J. for standup martial artist sessions.

Besides the Bulletmen FASTDefense seminars conducted by Harry Grimm, Grappling with Joe Pomfret and team, we are pleased to announce three special Uechi-ryu seminars by Dr. Joan Neide. The first is entitled: Pedagogical aspects of teaching Uechi Ryu. Basic workout with an emphasis on how to "effectively" teach based on physical education methodology research. Session two: Effective Teaching Part 2 - Emphasis will be on the circle block. Dr. Neide's third session will be on "The influence of Taoist thought on Uechi", conducted under the "Tent" This session should satisfy many of you who have asked for more "historical" discussions regarding the martial arts generally and Uechi-ryu specifically.

We are very fortunate this year, to have a five man team from Fuzhou China who will be teaching seminars and performing a spectacular demonstration on Saturday evening. I've seen videos of the team leader's performance and he is really incredible!

Good news for all you Larry Tan fans. . . Larry will be with us all three days! Of course, Bob Campbell will be "doing his thing" all weekend, beginning on Thursday evening, when he will be helping Susan and me greeting all our overseas and out-of town guests who are arriving early. Van Canna and Bob will be stationed at the tent all weekend, fielding questions, sharing stories and offering mini-seminars to all who wander in. They will be joined by Art Rabesa, Jack Summers, Walter Mattson, Buzz Durkin, Jim Maloney, John Spenser, Al Wharton, Bob Bethoney, Bill Bauknecht, Peter blackman, Windsong Blake, Warren & Michael Chaille, David Finkelstein, Ed Huff,  Bruce Witherall, Tracy Rose, Michael Rozumek, Freddy Cicerchia, David Mott and a few "surprise" guests.

I just spoke with Sifu Calvin Chin, who will teaching seminars all three days. He is bringing a large team of students with him, who will be participating in the regular camp program.

Raffi Derderian will continue to amaze his audience with his spectacular instruction in knives and sticks. Additionally he will be conducting a "killshot" tournament during the weekend.

Roy Bedard will be back again, teaching his unique self-defense course, taken from his police tactics program. 

There isn't room to include all the presenters and seminar summaries. Please go to the "Fest" site and read the frequent updates.

Please don't miss this year's camp! Call Susan today and make your reservations. In a couple days we must post our numbers to the Maritime, letting them know how many will be daytrippers and how many will be staying overnight. It's not too late to join us in what I predict will by the best camp yet!

I'll finish off by quoting my very good friend and colleague, Van Canna, who sums up my feeling much better than I am able:

". . .This will be a great camp, many people are coming, the training will be hard but fun and Bob Campbell will do something special for us. There will be a huge tent with chairs and tables and room for seminars out of the sun, for people who cannot bear the hot sun.. 

The fun is unbelievable the training extremely intense. 

Come on down, don't wake up when it is over and kick your ass for missing it. Not many chances like this in life. 

When you say: too busy; too expensive; my wife won't let me; there is nothing I can learn there ..look at yourself in the mirror to see how foolish you look. 

Get there, make some new friends and learn something you did not know existed." 

------------------ Van Canna July, 2002

 

July 4, 2002: Lets take the "Blue Road to Atlantis"!

It isn't often that I get to brag about one of our own making the "big time" in publishing.  I'm only aware of three Uechi black belts who have accomplished this honor before. I've been sort of living (via e-mail) with Jay Nussbaum's trials and tribulations for the past few years. If I'm not mistaken, he was still working on his novel during the weekend Susan and I stayed at his apartment in Manhattan. . . Was that five or six years ago Jay??? 

Author Nussbaum has promised me an autographed copy for being his number one fan during the year long wait between contract signing and book release and for sending him tips for relaxing during this excruciating ordeal.  Can you imagine, after waiting all this time, the publisher decides to bring out the Japanese version first! (Can you picture our new author having to hire a translator to read his book to him)?

Jay will be able to read his book in English now and, like a big movie star or famous author, sign autographs and be mobbed by adoring crowds. If you would like to share his joy and happiness and purchased a signed "Blue Road to Atlantis", please be sure to attend his first personal (not a cardboard likeness) appearance. This will take place on July 11 at 6:00 p.m. at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Rockefeller Center, NYC. (The exact address is 10 West 49th Street.)

Before starting this column, I visited the "Blue Road" website and after watching a very creative Flash movie clip, learned a lot more about what Jay's book is all about. Looks like a winner to me Jay. Susan and I are planning to attend your book signing on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing you before you become so famous that you will forget Sanchin and all your old Uechi friends. :)

"For everyone working a prestigious job but feeling like they don’t belong, or involved in a relationship that looks right on paper but feels vaguely wrong, comes an inspirational parable about leading a more fulfilling, dynamic life. 

Delivering a powerful vision about living courageously, this exquisitely told story is as wise as it is emotionally compelling. In it, a huge marlin called the Old Fish, has long escaped capture by the fishermen of the Caribbean. He is a samurai of the deep, amid deadly sharks and viperfish, a warrior grown wise in the ways of survival. Now, accompanied by the story’s irascible, humorous narrator--a remora--the Old Fish is traveling to Atlantis just ahead of a murderous Red Tide. His desperate hope is to save the sea, yet awaiting him is his ultimate opponent…who is to be his greatest teacher or his doom. Leading the reader on a journey of self-discovery, Blue Road to Atlantis is as funny and entertaining as it is transformational. "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"An engaging and provocative book that will capture your imagination and change the way you look at life. A memorable experience." --Stephan Rechtschaffen, M.D., CEO of The Omega Institute and author of Time Shifting

"Blue Road to Atlantis captures timeless truths and delivers them through a unique and clever perspective. It’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull meets The Old Man and the Sea. Go with the current!" --Alan Cohen, author of A Deep Breath of Life 

"A funny, gentle and poignant observation of human life, as if Ernest Hemingway had read the Seth material and then gone on to write Watership Down." --Susan M. Watkins, author of Conversations with Seth 

June 29, 2002: To Test or Not To Test?

Since introducing the subject of testing certain controversial Kyusho techniques on Bill Glasheen's forum, I've receive a number of e-mail from people questioning my motives and purpose. "Why muddy the waters with modern tests that do not take into consideration ancient methods"? "Why not just do it, instead of trying to analyze why or how it works"? "Why not spend time testing your Uechi-ryu instead of an art you don't understand"?

All interesting questions that deserve answering. I'll begin with the last point. Anyone who has been visiting this website during the past few years will know that all traditional martial arts have been under fire for giving their students the impression that they had powers which were non-existent.  For many years we were promoting the martial arts as the "ultimate in self-defense" to a world that blindly accepted this belief.  Think we are still coasting on our laurels???

"Why muddy the waters"??? Well, because as senior martial artist, we have an obligation to our students to not teach or promoting something that might be dangerous or might be exposed as dangerous or ineffective.  There is a difference saying that if you practice, your punch and kick will eventually have the potential to KO an opponent and telling your students that with practice, you can stop an opponent with a "no touch" KO. 

Sensei George Dillman was kind enough to present me with his Kyusho Jitsu book, subtitled "The Dillman Method of Pressure Point Fighting" two years ago. I found the book to contain excellent pressure point fighting techniques, using what I refer to as "time honored" methods.  I also liked Sensei Dillman's demonstrating pressure point methods taken from traditional kata. I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in basic Kyusho.

Sensei Dillman's book also contains lots of references to multiple hit possibilities in Kyusho and cautions readers not to practice these hits without proper instruction and supervision. His book contains many seminar photographs, showing people being KOed with different type of hits and effects. 

Here is the border where my skepticism and curiosity kicks in. My questions still begin with the point at which Kyusho builds on "time honored" pressure point methods. Basic Kyusho should be part of every traditional martial art system. But should we accept every new KO we are exposed to simply because someone demonstrates it and it seems to work on my students in class or during a seminar/demonstration. 

I would hope that attempting to come up with a fair and impartial testing method for new KO techniques will not become a problem for members of the Kyusho community. I would suggest that such testing would be in the best interest of the art and not something that would be threatening to the system. No one is questioning that Kyusho is a legitimate martial art. However, in this age of information and openness, there is no way to control information or truth. 

No touch techniques are very controversial and will be proven, whenever fairly tested, as totally ineffective as a martial art technique. Any martial art system that links itself to the no-touch coat tails will suffer serious public relation fallout eventually. It is just a question of time.

Martial art systems that purport to build on "time honored" pressure points, with add-on touches, hits or manipulation designed to intensify strikes to "time honored" points, or in some combination, cause serious physical damage or even death to victims, will eventually have to rely on tests and studies to back-up claims. 

I was taught some of these methods by my teacher, Ryuko Tomoyose Sensei, who believed "death touches" and "delayed death touches" exist. I'm not suggesting we test the most extreme of these strikes, but feel that we should test some of the less dangerous techniques, to see what effect, if any, multiple strikes add to the Kyusho basic curriculum. We may or may not come up with the perfect test, but I predict that within the next few years, somebody will. I hope that our results will be positive and will expand the scope of our traditional martial arts. If we discover that some techniques don't work, we should not take it personally. In the end, whatever is discover should help us make intelligent choices about what we study and rely on for our self defense system.

June 20, 2002: Odds and Ends. . .

First deadline approaching for SummerFest 2002! If you wish to take advantage of our early-registration discount, you must mail in your fully paid application by June 25th. Use our secure on-line service or print out an application and fax it to Susan today.

Many new presenters will be conducting seminars and demonstrations this year. A five person team from Fuzhou China will our special guests this year, teaching and performing a 20 minute demonstration on Saturday evening. 

Everyone is looking forward to seeing our own Robert Campbell and eagerly anticipating his performance Saturday evening during the "master's" test and celebration. The Uechi-ryu community is justifiably proud of Bob, who will be testing for his Hanchidan this year.

Jay Salhanick, an experienced NASKA and KRANE referee, has volunteered to conduct certification tests for officials this year at SummerFest. Initial interest for this pilot program has been very encouraging. Candidates must pass a lengthy written exam, based on published rules, to become a certified official. If you would like to become part of this pilot program, please contact me this week.

Joshua Ford and girlfriend found dead:

Josh Ford, (32) son of deceased Uechi-ryu senior Al Ford, was found dumped in a Delaware trash bin, according to Ocean City police spokesman. A Pennsylvania couple was arrested in their deaths. Josh and his girlfriend met the couple while partying in Ocean City Md., a popular beachfront town 100 miles southeast of Baltimore. Police said Ericka and Benjamin Sifrit invited Ford and Crutchley back to their hotel room, where they allegedly were killed. Ericka Sifrit said she and her husband dumped the bodies. Investigators said they don't have a motive. 

According to Duane Lucia, former student of Al Ford, said that Josh was gainfully employed as a mortgage broker and happy in his relationship with Ms. Crutchley. Duane speculated that Josh and Ms. Crutchley were killed for their identification papers and credit cards.

A memorial service is being planned by Doris Ford, Josh's mother. Location, date and time will be posted here.

May 29, 2002: Quality of a winning Kata!

Following the May 18th tournament, members of the forums have read a number of descriptions for a "winning" kata.  In spite of varied opinions describing this kata  with words, at the tournament there was no question about what that special kata should look like. 

When people ask me what qualities a kata should have I now tell them to watch Raffi Dererian do his Sanseiryu! No words are needed. No one who has been studying the martial arts for more than a couple years will disagree. 

Actually, we encounter the same problems when trying to describe what a good kumite match should look like. Better to simply watch the best warriors in action than to enter a verbal sparring match over common qualities shared by those fighters.

But we are a forum of words and it is fun to speculate and verbally spar over the merit of softness over hardness or vice versa. When the action begins, the good fighters simply fight and use what they do best and in the process, try to avoid exposing their weaknesses. Translated: Hit before being hit!

Last night on the Optecs Dojo Roundtable, a number of us discussed those qualities each of us looked for when judging kata. As expected, each listed the usual traits already discussed on the forums. There weren't any surprises. Some, favoring a Chinese interpretation of the kata, wanted form accuracy to weigh more heavily than power alone. Others felt that power should be the primary goal of kata. I suggested we start off, using a model based on the criteria I received in an e-mail off of Cyberdojo. Although the kata qualities describe Taichi, wouldn't it be interesting to look for common ground with Uechi-ryu regarding the basics, then focus on the levels of intensity for each element as it should relate to Uechi-ryu. In any event, I found the whole letter to be of interest, so will reproduce it here:

"Recently my TCC sifu was asked to judge a freestyle forms competition (although most of the forms were Chinese Shaolin or Wing Chun). Several competitors who had got zero marks for performing complex forms were understandably miffed and questioned him. However he made the point that forms are not judged on their complexity but their correctness (otherwise people doing complex forms would start with an unfair bonus advantage simply for having chosen that form) and that correctness is judged as follows

1. Stance 2. Mobility 3. Flow 4. Power (chi) 5. Spirit 6. Knowledge (visualisation) 7. Coordination 

Now let me take each of those areas and tell you how I would interpret them with regards to a good Naihanchi

1. Stance 

This is not simply about whether the correct stance is used (and naihanchi stances vary between styles) but about whether the stance is properly rooted. This in turn has implications for how the spine is held (it should be held in what Erle Montaigue labels a C back meaning that the tail is dropped and the pelvis tilted, the chin is tucked and the shoulders rounded, the chest hollow but not collapsed, the head held as on a piece of string tied to the ceiling). 

2. Mobility

As well as being rooted, the practitioner should be mobile. Floats like a butterfly springs to mind. This means that stances should be properly weighted. The weighting concept is similar (though slightly different) to the concept of single weighting in Tai Chi. Basically the body weight should be distributed in such a way that either foot can be rapidly displaced to another location with economy and speed.

3. Flow

Flow of course has to be balanced with focus but I like to think of flow as being like breathing in and breathing in. Each movement in Karate consists of in and yo (equivalent to yin and yang) and these should be fully expressed (like taking a deep breath and then letting it fully out). There is a slight gap between in and yo and between yo and in but it is minimal, it is a natural gap not a forced one and at very advanced levels, it would be hard to discern any gap at all. Moreover, 'in' flows into 'yo' and 'yo' into 'in' so there is a sense (at advanced levels) where both are present throughout the movement but at different levels of intensity. What is certainly wrong is 'block, stop, move, stop, hit, stop etc' which done however hard and fast is purely a beginning method. Strikes and blocks can be simultaneous or they can flow into one another with split second timing but either way flow is maintained. Kata does not consist of a rapid series of still life photos as some mistakenly contend.

4. Power (chi)

'In' moves should suck (or swallow) the opponent's force while 'yo' movements should spit his force back back at. The whole body is pulled in on 'in' moves, visibly shrinking into a compact ball and expands on 'yo' moves like a supernovae going off. Without this kind of highly coordinated movement in the soft tissues, there is no chi, no power and the movement lacks anything except perhaps localized strength.

5. Spirit

True grit. The eyes alone should drive the enemy back. The mind should disarm the opponent without striking. Perhaps more importantly in the context of competition, the entire room should silence and pay attention to the performance without needing to be told.

6. Knowledge

A good kata practitioner will know exactly what he or she is doing in the kata in combat terms and done properly the movement should speak volumes. eg. I once saw my TCC teacher demonstrate a new movement. Momentarily I thought his hand looked like a snake (seriously!!!) and was unsurprised to find that the movement was termed 'Snake sticks out its tongue'

7. Coordination

The little finger moves, the whole body moves. One of the 'secrets' of martial arts is that every movement is done by the whole body as a coordinated unit.

These are the ideals of kata performance and when I see Naihanchi done like this I will sign up with the master who performs it there and then.

Richard

In another post, someone brought up the subject of kata speed and related how one Okinawan senior justified performing kata at a fast speed.

The training method of going through a kata at high speed was taught to Chris Walton, godan, by his sensei Kishaba Chokei, hachi dan and thought to have been a genius at karate. His successor Shinzato Katsuhiko (sp?) also is a proponent of occasionally performing kata at high speed.
So, if some of the most highly respected people on Okinawa think this is a good thing, why do you think they are wrong?

Now to round out this discussion, I found the following contribution important, since it describes the more modern Shotokan understanding of kata:

Re: "Real" karate, eye blink speed

I trained with a shotokan karateka, a student of Oshima sensei, years ago, that specialized in Tiakyuku kata. He would do it in about six seconds....like really fast, and it was also amazingly quiet!!!! 

On the other hand. . . If you get a chance, just watch Raffi do Sanseiryu!

Memorial Day, 2002: Happy Birthday & a Congratulations!

What a great feeling it is to see your book in print for the first time! I know Al Moulton, Art Rabesa and other authors can appreciate this wonderful sense of accomplishment. I wish I could have been present when Kerry Morgan tore off the wrapper of her publisher's package and lovingly gazed at the result of years of work, frustration and patience.

Her fascinating book, "The Spirit Dragon", is a children's book that will also be enjoyed by parents. Martial artist will recognize a lot of what goes on in the dojo and many will identify with the book's main characters. 

"Ten year old Brandon is overweight, miserably lonely and terrified of the bullies at school. Each ray of sunshine finds him navigating through the treacherous days of his youth, desperately trying to avoid the monster he's convinced he sees in the mirror. Blinded by his own tears, he first misses his only chance at salvation, until three very special creatures, reach out to him through his dreams, guiding Brandon to the only man that could possibly help him. Journey with Brandon as he battles against his own worst fears and doubts, finding peace of heart and mind, within the walls of a dojo."

Congratulations Kerry. I hope your book sells millions of copies. 

If you are interested in purchasing copies of "The Spirit Dragon", contact Kerry by e-mail at krymrgn@hotmail.com

It is hard to believe that Justin Testa turned 50 yesterday! I still remember him as a teenager at the old Cambridge Street Dojo. Justin was always a strong student and in my estimation, one of the most gifted Uechi-ryu practitioner in our system. He recently impressed our New England test board with perfect kata, kumite and bunkai and was awarded his Godan with honors. Justin is a well rounded person, who has excelled in the business world while raising two great children with his beautiful wife, Donna. Donna reminded me yesterday that I'm responsible for her meeting Justin. They are one of many couples who met and married while studying at the now famous Cambridge Street dojo.

Sunday, May 26, 2002: Finally got it Right!

Very successful tournament. The numbers were a little down from last year, but unlike other years, this year we did almost everything right. There are a few areas where we can continue making improvements, but overall I am extremely pleased with the way the tournament was handled and the way the competitors acted.

While everything is fresh in our minds, I am asking everyone to participate in a series of Voice Cafe meetings where:

1. Rules can be reviewed and critiqued.

2. Method for scoring kata performance can be reviewed and modified.

3. Selection of officials for rings can be made.

4. A schedule where officials can be trained and certified.

5. The first session will be held on Tuesday, May 28th beginning at 9pm. To join us, just click on "Chat". (Can be found on the home page) You might log onto the chat page earlier to configure your sound system. Also, for best results, you should use a headphone with microphone.

Vladimir Fookson sent me the following photographs from last week's tournament: (click on the photo to view full sized)

Thursday, May 16, 2002: "Where are we headed" Update.

When I wrote yesterday's editorial, I suspected that I would receive a few e-mail and some action on the Forums. Interestingly, I haven't seen anything on the forums, but quite a few people sent me e-mail with their opinion. 

Like Van, I like to write about subjects that will get people to think and force them to evaluate what they are doing. Yes, 1958 - 1980 were simpler times and many of us believed our karate was the very best method of self-defense possible. Many of us enjoyed the practice for reasons that had nothing to do with self-defense. Oh yes, it was nice to feel safe walking through the Boston Common at midnight, enjoying our "chi", believing we could take care of ourselves if a "Mugger" decided to jump us.

This was a good feeling. . . I guess you could call it confidence. . . that all of us had. The occasional fights validated that confidence. On the other hand, the "Muggers" probably weren't as competent as they are today.

Based on my mail today, I would have to say that quite a few of you also miss the "good old days" or if you are a youngster, perhaps you wish the time cycle involving the martial arts and the super saturation of fighting information might have just started, instead of "peaking", as I believe it is at this time.

If we were able to take a hundred students of the 60s & 70s and compare them with a hundred of today's students, would they possess pretty much the same ability to survive on today's streets? Do today's students have a significant edge?

By exposing today's students to all the potential dangers and pitfalls of life, do we erode their confidence in what they do in the dojo which we call basic karate?  By exposing today's students with all the legal and technical problems they will face by actually using their knowledge, do we create psychological barriers that may cause them to freeze should they actually have to defend themselves?

Here are two of the most interesting e-mail I received today on this subject. What are your thoughts????

I read your new post regarding where is karate headed?... You sounded discouraged and I wanted to put my two sense worth in, hopefully to help you and others... I think karate is headed exactly where we as practitioners take it. When new info comes along, weigh it against the traditional kata Sanchin- and see if it fits somewhere. If it does, consider implementing it- if not- let that other new expert play with his new idea and let him go. Confidence in karate to me would come more from the diligence of practice, devotion to the art, and truth of the spirit inside us to know whether or not some new "expert" is trying to make a fast buck...or if they found a new way to help learn and implement a tried tradition.

Karate is many things to many people, exercise, a "fighting technique", a means for defense, and truth be told a confidence builder. But confidence comes from attacking a hurdle and winning the "match" so to speak. There is always more to learn, and to at least try, will bring confidence and respect back to the heart of the artist. Such as I believe that too many use it purely for business practices because of all the wealth of knowledge out there- people want to know the "newest" thing- and if that's all they are capable of at that time- good for them- and those things will keep working for them- until they get to the "spirit " of karate so to speak....That's when the devoted will stand out above the rest. But still- karate does in fact build confidence on whatever level we are at.... Truth be told- It is up to each Sensei to do his best at teaching his students not just keep them coming back with "new strategies" or trying to create some new money grabber to sell to everyone- the student will know what he's learned is truth or not, by the way it touches his heart and mind, and how many punches actually connect to him in the death match . 

I believe it is the quality of the black belt not the belt itself..... That quality should be based on, (in my opinion) or at least weighed against the oldest tradition. Times were simpler then yes, but I think they had weapons of sorts etc. what does the weapon matter- if you have the eight kata (or where ever you are at...) as long as you can block it. Block it by a mile or close call doesn't matter. Maybe we should try to think about the older Uechi ways and see what we might possibly have missed. Might even have an answer for the "newest and badest" either way- "newest and badest" shouldn't be our game- it should be about helping each individual and their goals and progress. Classes might get smaller- but more devoted students may appear out of the wood work. Which is where we can get the karate headed- if we use our minds and think about the newest techniques.... There's always a little truth in them all... It's where each person will find the most truth for them- that matter's so they can save themselves. Let's take karate there! 

"To gain in knowledge; from a state of mushin"


Blessings to you and yours George- 

And the second one, from a student who studied with me during the "good old days" and now resides in California.

Dear George, 

I read your piece yesterday on "Where are we headed?" and thought about it since. Your feeling is shared by most of us who have been involved in Martial Arts awhile. There is an explosion of fighting arts information that showers us almost daily, just as with the Internet and cable TV news in general. Martial Arts seemed simpler in the 60s and 70s. But arts such a Aikido, Sambo, Jiu Jitsu and Muy Thai existed then, and each had its strengths, just as they do now. Karate being new to most of us, was all we wanted to think about, and it seemed sufficient. But no fighting art is "complete", in terms of cataloguing all useful techniques. 

The Confucian idea would be to know one art very well, rather than to know a little about allot. And in that may lie the strength of our defensive skill, as well as our personal development. The Tao/Do can be learnt through any endeavor, if it's done well and deeply enough. As an Emergency Physician I see the fall-out of combatants on any Saturday night. They all have one thing in common....they all fought, and they all were hurt. Those who didn't fight, skilled or not, did not end up in my ER. So I find a lesson in that. Since the Cold War, we have seen that security is not in having more missiles. Having more guns does not make one safer. As we're seeing in recent talks with the Russians, real security only comes from backing away from conflict. 

Martial Arts, as with life, is not an "all-or-nothing" process. If I teach you Advanced First Aid, does that mean you're going to be able to do open-chest surgery if someone's heart stops? The training was only designed to allow you to help people in most situations, and to be useful to yourself, your family and friends. More useful than you would have been without knowing it. In the process you increase your sense of personal security and service to others. And I think it's similar with Martial Arts training.

Thanks for continuing to be both the leader and gadfly of North American Uechi-Ryu. 

Best regards, 

Wednesday, May 15, 2002: Where are we headed?

Where is the martial arts headed? 

Teaching karate was so much simpler in 1958. People worked out in a strenuous manner, lost weight and built confidence in their ability to defend themselves in the process. 

Have we really evolved so much over the years with all the new found information, techniques and methods? In 1958 we had many of the "methods" we have today. Judo, Jiujutsu, boxing and wrestling were available, although not recognized for their self-defense capabilities as much as karate. People were defending themselves on the street using karate, just as they are today. Were they as effective then as now? 

We lived in simpler times. We were not aware of all the different ways a person could kill us, using a knife, gun, box cutter, pencil or bare hands. We had confidence in believing that we could survive in a fight, using the kata-developed techniques we faithfully practiced every day. We smiled as we read the many stories of karate heroes like Jim Elliott, who single handedly beat up a gang of tough teens who were robbing an old lady. We were proud of the many stories brought back to the dojo, by our students who were able to use their karate when necessary and lived to validate their training to their classmates. 

Today, the martial arts generally and karate specifically, suffers from overexposure and a terminal case of too much information. We now know so much about every aspect of self defense and have so many experts, there is no way for the individual to gain confidence in themselves. No matter how much a student trains, there is always another weak link in their armor to shore-up.  No matter how many courses they take, another expert pops up explaining how inferior their existing program is without their new and improved method. 

I don't know about you, but I'm wondering how many people live in a perpetual state of terror after learning how regressive their training attitude or training program is, compared to what the experts are recommending. 

Will we ever reach a point where the next seminar taken will expose the student to the "ultimate" in confidence building and the absolute best self-protection method? If my theory is correct, I believe the opposite will happen. The more options we have, the less confidence we will have in ourselves, regardless how many classes or courses taken. Yes, we will believe our new expert as he/she tells us "Now you've got the information, knowledge and ability!" But then along comes the next expert, with his patented "sure-fire" three lesson course that will absolutely, positively turn you into a "killing machine"! Well. . . . Maybe I should sign up quick. . .

Will all this new information and technique make us any safer, confident or actually able to survive in a deadly street fight? Are we really any better prepared today than we were forty years ago? 

Where are the martial arts headed? Where is karate headed?

Friday, May 3, 2002: Trying to catch up..

April was a very busy month for me. Too much traveling and too little time for the golf course. I'm on my way to New York City this weekend to participate in the opening of the Fukien Martial Arts Center there. I'll try to take some pictures and post them here next week.

Thanks to Joan Neide and all the wonderful seniors in the area for helping make my visit to Sacramento to enjoyable. Hope to see you all at SummerFest this August so I can return the hospitality. What a pleasure to see Henry Thom and his son at the Saturday morning seminar. Brought back many pleasant memories of days past.

Mailbag: I spent over two hours this morning putting together the May Mailbag. I finally had a chance to get into some of the older letters that were piling up in my "things to do" file. Made a small dent by publishing quite a number of them in this month's issue. 

forums: I think we are finally making headway trying to get some of our many visitors to actually post. Our regular posters continue to grow, but not at the rate that our viewers are growing. I'm hoping that Len Testa, moderator of "Verbal Self Defense", will be able to help educate us all on the art of words and in the process, make our forums a bit more "user friendly". If you have a chance, please drop in and let us know how you feel about the subjects being discussed.

Uechi Championships: Just a few more weeks to the Big Tournament! Have you sent in your applications to Richard Baptista yet? 

SummerFest: Please register early!!!! 

Thanks,

George Mattson

Friday, April 5, 2002: Memories and Opportunities!

I just posted a couple of old pictures that brought back fond memories of days past. Bill Finnerty sent me a beautiful photograph of Anne Sevin, which I included in our permanent "Memorial" site. I was trying to write something about Anne, as a fitting tribute to one of the nicest person and finest martial artist I've ever known, when I decided to print a couple of paragraphs from her article on Women and the dan test, which she wrote for my book "The Black Belt Test Guide." In re-reading her article, I realized how fortunate the Uechi community was in having such a talented instructor in our midst and how much she will be missed.

Bill also sent me a couple of photographs taken at one of the N.E.K.R.A. meetings, way back in 1970. I always seem to get involved with great ideas, but for one reason or another, am unable to follow-through with them.  With this association, we had a fantastic opportunity to develop sport karate in a direction that might have better reflected the choice of traditional systems. Instead, the "old" ways of the fighters persisted and eventually destroyed any chance of creating a safe and exciting sport. We all had great ideas, but we could never get the seniors to train, using the rules, nor the fighters to accept the referee association's rules. 

Our window of opportunity quickly closed, as tournaments exploded throughout the country. Each tournament had it's own rules which fighters and officials ignored. Some of the tournaments, especially in New York, were bloodbaths. There was a lot of racial tension that carried over into the tournament rings. The last tournament I attended in New York, Peter Urban's students were running around in Army fatigues, carrying two way radios, looking like urban gorillas! I believe this was the tournament where the officials were wearing side arms!  

That's the point where I decided to stop conducting tournaments.

The Koreans really can take credit with the renewed interest in sport karate. In 1963, at a meeting of the seniors during lunch, Jhoon Rhee suggested that we develop safety equipment, designed especially for karate matches. We all laughed when he suggested pads for the feet as well as the hands!

Although the Koreans actually feud among themselves more than the rest of the martial art world, they recognize that it is necessary to keep an appearance of unity and solidarity to the outside world. They may hate one another, but they will support and work together for the good of the sport and with the goal of linking TKD and tournament fighting together in the mind of the public. In the process of doing this, their individual schools have prospered.

Do you recognize anyone?

While filing Anne's picture away, I noticed another picture which has never been published before. . . the original group of seniors of the Mattson Academy! This picture was taken at a Newton Park, way back in 1959 (I think). I thought it would be fun to have an outdoor workout and Steve Fagan (Yeah, the infamous Steve Fagan) volunteered to host the group at a park near his home. I decided to get some free publicity and made a call to the Boston Herald saying "Hey, you should check out the crazy people in the park... doing all kinds of weird movements while dressed in white pajamas!" 

We were featured in a front page story the next day and a feature spread in that Sunday's Herald magazine section):

Monday, March 18, 2002: Making Progress!

I sprung a surprise on the test group yesterday and announced we would be running the sparring portion of the test as matches will be held in the May Uechi-ryu Championships. We rotated officials, using test board members. Gary Khoury and Stephen Perry will be guiding the IUKF Uechi community in understanding and incorporating sport sparring into our curriculum. In this capacity, they demonstrated the correct way to conduct matches

Before turning the sparring over to Gary and Stephen, I made the following points relating to any sparring that was organized by IUKF and was open to the general Uechi community or was conducted outside the individual dojo environment:

Over twenty, three minute matches were conducted at this promotional. All were exciting, stressful matches that pushed the participants 150%, which is the purpose of the sparring.

No excessive contact was made! No one was injured! Everyone pushed themselves as hard as can reasonably be expected in a test of this nature. In the process, we successfully established a standard for black belt testing that everyone, including the test board, hailed as a major step forward for IUKF and hopefully will provide as an example for other Uechi groups to explore.

Now that we have taken the first step in what all of yesterday's participants consider a positive direction in incorporating sport karate into the traditional Uechi-ryu practice, each of us must now help by taking this philosophy and attitude back to their dojo. We can't expect this process to survive by practicing it twice a year. We certainly can't expect our students to safely participate in a yearly tournament without regular practice using these principals.

If we hope to officiate our own tournaments, seniors must also get involved as they did yesterday, getting in the middle of the matches, calling points and determining what constitutes a good technique versus just a hard hit. It doesn't take a lot of time, especially if the scoring and officiating becomes a part of dojo sparring. Just like the rest of your karate. . . Practice makes perfect!

Since many of the officials were running a match for the first time or the first time in a long time, there was variations in the way the officiating was being conducted. Yesterday it wasn't a problem, but at a tournament where winners are called and people take their matches very seriously, inconsistencies and poor techniques in calling points will be considered unprofessional and unfair.

The Uechi-ryu community, for the most part, is totally unfamiliar with sport karate. We are getting our feet wet by adopting the simplest rules possible for the May championships. Anything more complicated will just make the process more difficult. If we can get all our officials understanding and using these simple directions and instructions, Gary and Stephen can determine when and if we should move on to more formalized rules and eventually on to the evolving world standard used by WKF. First though, we must as a group be able to master the rudiments of sport competition. These rules are are used in the most popular tournament throughout the world.

There is a reason for this. The majority of schools and styles recognize that tournaments are great motivational tools that keep students practicing in their dojo. There are many more of these popular events available locally than the more elite tournaments. And finally, the requirements for officiating is far less demanding.

Although we will be using these rules in our Uechi-ryu Championships, our expectation of participants will be far more demanding than in "open" events. We will be expecting accurate, well timed techniques.

We will be equally demanding in expecting controlled techniques in these matches. In this way, we hope to use the best of the more popular tournament rules, while demanding more from our students regarding sparring expertise.

Jay Salhanick, who will be the Uechi Championship's rules arbitrator, monitored yesterday's matches and has made a couple of suggestions regarding the way we conducted the matches. Please incorporate these changes into your practice. GEM

Their are a couple of points I would like to bring to your attention. These points are directly related to your up and coming tournament... The points I am being to your attention, have nothing to do with the BB test. I think the test went very smoothly, fast, and very professional.... all in all.... A job well done ......, By you, and the other members... These points are related to the tournament...

Points to Note: 1. Sparring Equipment: We spoke yesterday about a couple of people having the wrong sparring equipment. We must make every effort possible to make sure the "SENSEIs" know and understand that they are reasonable for making sure THEIR STUDENTS, have the correct equipment. I know you made it very clear, ..... Clear as in crystal. That only a certain type of sparring gear will be allowed.

BUT,,, I am also sure you have told people this in the past... And, they still show up with the wrong gear... We need to spell it out, loud and clear,,,, for the tournament,,, wrong gear, means NO FiGHTING,,,, NO EXCEPTIONS..... I will not be understanding or forgiving,, I will enforce that rule... Its for your legal SAFETY..... I do not want any one to get hurt, and try to sue you because of the wrong gear...

Note: Important..... Legally ,,, the waiver of liability the competitor signs is meaningless, if "Negligence" can be proven in court. Not even the corporation (Inc.) shield can protect a promoter, if negligence is proven.

Running of Rings: I saw a potential problem in the way officials were running the rings... If you are following the NASKA rules, the rings should be run in the following manner to cut down on controversial calls.. Any judge can yell stop at any time to call for a point. When a judge yells stop..... The center official stops the action, and lines up the competitors on their spots. Then the center judge calls "CALL".... then all officials point at the same time to the competitor the they feel scored the point....

Yesterday, the officials would POINT to the competitor that they felt scored the point, as soon as the center official stopped the action. This is way to early to score the point.... They must wait , and all officials point at the same time..... This is so, no officials are influenced, by other officials.... Every one is scored at the same time, and this creates a fair and equal playing field, for all competitors.... I also suggest, that all calls are made in "English" ..... Not all dojo's teach the Japanese terminology... Not every official, competitor or spectator will understand it...

The main key is..... you want every competitor to feel they were treated fairly, and had an honest shot at winning. JAY

March 15, 2002: Uechi-ryu Pioneer Passes!

Another Uechi-ryu pioneer takes that final journey and will be sorely missed. Anne Seven, a very active practitioner during the 70s and 80s lost her battle with cancer. A strong and dedicated student and teacher, Anne was a mainstay at the famous Cambridge Street dojo, becoming one of the first woman instructors there. She was respected by all as a gifted martial artist, a wonderful person and trusted friend. Anne was featured in "The Black Belt Test Guide", demonstrating technique throughout the book and contributing a still timely article entitled "Women and Dan Testing". She will be missed by all. 

Her friend, Bill Finnerty sent me the following this morning

Good Morning George-
I hope this finds you and Susan doing well, and i do appreciate your keeping me informed about future activities. I would like to ask you a favor. Anne Sevin has passed on, due to Cancer, and i would appreciate your putting this on your web-site, for any who might have remembered her. Any cards can be sent to her husband --Jim Moore--167 Magazine st. Cambridge Mass. 02139. Again My sincere thanks, and i wish you the best. Bill Finnerty 

March 4, 2002: Cop Cafe . . . Bring your coffee and enjoy.

I wish to welcome Roy Bedard and his new Cop Cafe forum. In case you didn't receive his invitation to drop-in and enjoy a cup of coffee with him, I'll post a copy here:

COP CAFE is a great place to talk about police related issues. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everyone is invited to come on in and take part in the open forums. Feel free to ask questions, speak your mind, share your wisdom...or just sound off. Comments can be insightful, inquisitive or provocative - it doesn't really matter, so long as you are prepared for debate!

The COP CAFE brings together professional police personnel from around the world with an eager and interested audience who has an opinion about police work - and how it ought to be done. Have you ever wondered why COPs behave a certain way? Or what about the equipment that they carry? Is it true that all police are trained killers - bent on hurting someone? Come on...who told you that? And what about all of those doughnut jokes - what is up with that? Here's your chance to get it straight from the horse's mouth. Don't be afraid - no warrants will be issued, regardless of what you say. This is a celebration of your right to free speech. Oh - and by the way - the next time you consider your freedoms - don't forget to thank a cop for preserving them.

Hope to see you there.

COP CAFE is graciously hosted by the Eastern Arts Chat Forum (IUKF) and powered by RRB Systems International - a chat room serving the interests of Police, Police Trainers and Martial Artists alike. COP CAFE is located at the bottom of the page. Please click here to enter the site.

Peter Kimmons and I have been fine tuning the new site design, which should be ready any day. Peter is working hard transferring links and debugging files before introducing the major overhaul. Please be patient if some of your links don't work. Be sure to drop me a line with any suggestions or tips you would like to see implemented. By the way, The forums and Scott's video section will not be changed, so don't worry about any changes affecting these features. 

Whenever I am working out of the office, I log onto Voice Cafe. If you have any questions or simply want to say hello, drop in for a visit. The Voice Cafe is a great feature that allows anyone on the internet to carry on telephone quality conversations in the background, while surfing the web or performing other tasks. If anyone would like to host a regularly scheduled program, please contact me. 

February 14, 2002: New forum. . . 

First off, I would like to welcome Kelly S. Worden and his world renowned martial artist friends to our site. Kelly has established the "World Modern Arnis Coalition" on our Martial Arts History, Culture and Philosophy section.  Moderators will include Kelly , Don Rearic, Bob Riley, Robert Koenig and George Hoover. 

I like the subtitle of their forum: "The art within your art"! According to Kelly, "The beauty of this coalition of styles is that they are connected thru the integration of Philippine Martial Arts into their foundation or base systems". Based on my conversations with Kelly, this forum should be raised to "most active" status within a couple weeks.

My friend and student Lenny Langlois, sent me a note that his boss, Waylon Jennings passed away yesterday. Len had been working as Waylon Jenning's bodyguard for quite a few years. Prior to that, he was a professional ballplayer (pitcher) for the NY Mets.  Although I'm not a Country/Western music fan, I really enjoyed singers like Waylon, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr.. To me, they are simply great entertainers. I've saved the photographs Lenny sent to me which are posted below. However, most of us will choose to remember a much younger and wilder Waylon as he is depicted here:

February 9, 2002: New look - Thoughts on tomorrow!

Thanks to our "makeover" guru, Peter Kimmons, Eastern Arts will soon be sporting a new, sleek and hopefully easier-to-load home page. I've seen pictures of the changes and I'm impressed. Peter is designing the page so I won't be able to easily mess it up with my updates. He is creating a look that will be carried over to the rest of the site with time. . . using the same template and color scheme.

Scott Danziger's Video site and the forums will remain unchanged, as they are already well designed and pleasing to the eye. Scott and  are discussing updating the forums to the latest version, but Scott keeps reminding me of the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

The Optecs Voice Cafe room has been quiet since the last meeting. A group of "hackers" had found their way into my room after I opened it up to the public, and had created software that made it impossible to banish them. Optecs spent over a month completely reprogramming their software and after testing, now feels confident that our room will be hacker-proof. Optecs purchased their software from "HearMe" and it turns out that the "hackers" had the software code along with Optecs. Now the code is all new and as bullet proof as software can be. I'll be setting up a number of sessions this month and hoping that our friends will volunteer to conduct seminars on-line in interesting subjects. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's New England Regional Workout. I've been getting email and calls from all over New England from teachers who will be attending with their students. Turns out, lots of dojo are interested in learning more about sparring training methods they can use to train their students. Many of the teachers I talk with, view sparring as something totally separate from what they view as karate. Many simply set aside a class or two a week and let their students "go at it". This is not only a big mistake, but dangerous from a liability viewpoint. 

In Uechi-ryu, sparring is very much a part of our system, but most of us never really give much thought to teaching it in a way that makes any sense. I know that even on Okinawa, sparring was something that was reserved for "after class" and was left for the senior students to teach the junior students. This school of "doing until it worked" was hard on the newer students, especially when taught by more advanced students who used the the junior ranked students as punching and kicking bags. This sort of "hazing" tradition continues to evolve as the juniors become the seniors and feel compelled to carry on the ritual.

With the formation of groups dedicated to get karate into the Olympics, training methods were created by professional athletes and professional coaches with the goal of taking athletes with no skill and turning them into finely tuned fighting machines, capable of competing in a new and hopefully growing sport that will breath new life into our dojo. 

Tomorrow, Roy Bedard and Stephen Perry will head up a stellar teaching staff, who will demonstrate and teach many of the drills and teaching tools that are currently being used by teams of karate athletes around the globe. This training is as disciplined as the most formal and traditional martial art ever created. If any one doubts the effectiveness of this type of training, talk to anyone who attended the Atlanta Championships last year. . . or even to anyone who competed in last year's Uechi Championships against the Canadian WKF team! 

We must cherish and preserve the traditions of the past. The core of our martial arts lie in the tools handed down to us by our Chinese and Okinawan teachers. However, it is foolish to stick our heads in the sand, trying to convince ourselves that because we study a hundred or thousand year old art, we are the best we can be. This is as foolish as to compare the athletes who competed in the 1920s with the athletes of today for speed, stamina, strength, timing or even mental conditioning. They may have had the same desire and heart, but they didn't have the skills and know-how that we have today.

They say you can't teach an old dog. . . Well, I'll be there tomorrow with my gi. . . and sweating right along with the new students, learning the new ways. Hope to see you there too.