It all became so much about the stance.

I was a new black belt in Isshinryu which of course meant really I knew very little. No longer with an instructor available near where I lived I began to attend karate tournaments across Pennslyvania to grow stronger from the competition, and perhaps learn something , too.

 

But on my own and a shodan I was really at the bottom of the barrel. I was competing in forms and weapons with some of the most gifted in the country. They were literally light years beyond where I was.  But time after time I contested against them, in fact they were the focus of my attempt to improve.

 

One day I was doing my empty hand form. Most of my scores were the average for the division. But one of them was significantly lower. It was a judge named Ron Martin who had awarded me a score of 3.

 

I really did not know any of the senior judges in Pennsylvania at that time personally.

 

But I felt this could be a chance to find out what he found so weak in my performance.

 

I knew scores rarely reflected commentary on individual form performance. Most of the time they were focused more on determining the strongest performers, and the other scores fell in on the middle just to place the rest there.

 

So receiving a 3 must have meant something.

 

I approached Martin Sensei, and queried him what my performance was lacking. He responded politely about his admiration for many in Isshinryu however  realizing I had made a serious inquiry he made a serious response.

 

He flat out told me my stances sucked.

 

It was not easy to hear, harder to understand but that provided the spark to begin to understand.

 

Beginning at the next tournament I competed at, I began to note how the stances of the best competitors ( regardless of system) did not suck in fact they were very strong. And as so many were incredible technicians that became a constant to consider. Then I went the next mile. I began closely watching the students of Ron Martin and they all had incredibly strong stances. On that I was not surprised.

 

I began to understand the point Ron had made to me.

 

Then on a trip back to my original dojo of Tom Lewis, I paid particular attention to Tom when he would perform. He had incredibly strong stances. I was sold on the idea.

 

So I got to work, focusing on my stances in kata and kobudo, in fact in every aspect of my karate, And as I was self training myself, it was a great amount of work.

 

As time passed I did not become a great champion, my tournament scores remained in the middle of the pack, but I did make progress with my stances.

 

A year later Charlie Murray had returned to Scranton for a visit with his wife’s family. Of course that meant he had about ½ to spend with me. When he watched me perform kata his comment was “Vic, how strong your stance work has become.”

 

I realized then I was on my way.

 

As the years passed and I was spending more and more time with my students. Stance work was a critical part of my students studies. I was constantly exhorting them for stronger stances. In fact that was something I would always insist.

 

Now on a separate track, in my t’ai chi studies and my Chinese forms studies with Ernest Rothrock, strong stances were always a part of those studies. Likewise the many I was training alongside in their dojo had similar focus for their students.  None of them were focused on Isshinryu, but all of them made me realize the value to training.

 

Along the way Ron and I became close friends.

 

Then the day came in 2012 when I would last compete and again Ron would be one of the judges. I was soon to undergo cancer surgery (which would be successful) only later to develop other disabilities. To fight forward, I decided to work on a form outside of Isshinryu in order to force myself to try something new.  This was not something I taught just a personal challenge.

 

The form, Tomari Rohai, was one a friend had long ago shared detailed Japanese documentation on. It would be a challenge to learn and try to compete with. That is what I wanted. I did make some slight modifications to take into account age and capability.

 

Now I hadn’t  competed in decades, competition was no longer my interest. But this day I was on a different mission. No friends in attendance for I was just competing against myself, just to do it.

 

I remember waiting that long day, attempting to remain ready.

 

Then the division was called and I was to compete in the middle of the division so more waiting.

 

I was called and then I stepped on the floor and I did my form that day. I completed it successfully.

 

Done, the only thing I really knew that day before Ron, who had judged me 40 years before, was I was sure my stance did not suck.