I
can remember my first karate road trip like it was yesterday.
I
believe I was a yellow belt in Salisbury Maryland. Back then classes were about
kata half the time and kumite the other half. I knew I was not very good at
kumite, in fact I was very bad. Sensei had a great crew of green belts who were
spectacular at it. Working with them in kumite I felt like a practice dummy, In
the old non safety gear hard knocks days.
Sparring
felt like full body contact and I always felt it the next day after sparring
with them.The brown belts were totally beyond me.
I
had first seen Charles Murray then. He was home on a break from college and he
came in the dojo with one of his training mates. When they took the floor,
which had a ring set in the floor tiles, everyone cleared off. They engaged in
awesome kumite, black belts who knew each other. Everyone just stood back and
observed.
So
it got to me, I wanted to do better that where
I was. Now we understand everyone gets better in time, but that did not
mean much to me then. I finally hit on an idea, we used to have black belts
regularly drop in from associated schools by Lewis Sensei’s students. I hit on
the idea perhaps if I traveled to one of them I might obtain additional
training that would help me improve.
The
school I decided to visit was the Isshinryu Club run by Reese Rigby in Dover,
Delaware.
I
knew of him from his visits to the Salisbury Dojo. But I had not met him on a
personal basis.
Eventually
class led to kumite. Rigby Sensei told me that only by fighting could I get
better. Then he pained me up with a green belt, Bill Dearing. Bill was a big guy
like I was, so the pairing made sense I guess.
“Hajime.”
We began. He was much more than I was. But we sort of went back and forth. He
had a constant grin on his face. He was much stronger at it than I was.
Suddenly he just leaped at me with a flying side kick, something I had never
faced.
Without
thinking my lead hand swept down, and I had both of his legs in my arm. It
caused him to drop to the floor with a bang. He lay there on the floor. I was
not sure what I had done, and remember thinking I had broken him.
While
Bill was a green belt in Isshinryu, I did not know he was a black belt in
Ju-jitsu. What he did was a break fall. He was ok.
I
do not remember much after that, and later drove home to Salisbury. It would be
the first of many visits to dojo of seniors under Lewis Sensei. More class time,
always trying.
Bill
was at my black belt test, I will always remember that.
We
did have many good times training together. Reese Rigby always shared with me
too.
Those
were the days.
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