When as a green
belt I had to leave Salisbury for Scranton, I quickly discovered there was no
karate of any sort being taught in town.
The largest system there was teaching Tang Soo
Do Moo Duk Kwan under Frank Trajanowicz.
They had a small
satellite School in Clarks Summit North of Scranton, and when I visited it I
met the Chief Instructor and he described
the system. I signed a two year contract and received a payment book for
the monthly charge.
When I showed
for the first class, the school classes were being run by a red belt (brown
belt) and as I was warming up in the back room running some Isshinryu forms, he
came back and informed me that I would not be allowed to do them in the school.
Then in my first class I learned two of their forms.
The training
worked up a hard sweat, I spent a lot of time kicking. And within several
months I had learned 5 forms.
Then one day I
was informed that there would be quarterly testing as the main Scranton school
the following Saturday. (they had quarterly rank testing) and paid my fee for
the test.
When I climbed
up 4 floors to the school, I entered and found out I knew no one. So I changed
and entered the school floor to warm up and began doing the 5 forms I knew.
One blue belt
(their black belt) came over and addressed me, that as a new white belt I
should not do all the forms.
Later when
called up for my testing group, I was asked to perform the techniques I had
studied. Then I had to punch through one board set on cinder caps. Finally I
was told to perform the 5th form.
After I was done
I went back to sit with the rest of the students.
When all the
tests were concluded, they announced the promotions. I was promoted from 1st
white to 5th green.
A little later
the Clarks Summit school closed and I moved to the Scranton main school.
The point is for the two years I trained there, where I
moved from 10th gup white to 1st gup red no one ever
asked to see what my Isshinryu looked like.
[Sparring was not a regular part of their classes. Those
classes were very infrequent. And when they did spar they wore hard chest
protectors. They discovered even with those protectors my strikes to their body
often dropped my opponent to the floor. But what they wanted were more and more
Korean kicking.]
A year after I
started that program Charles Murray moved to Scranton. I gave him no chance and
began training with him I also continued to train in TSDMDK because of my
contract.
Charles trained
me most extensively with continual hard contact kumite between ourselves. He
was very hard, I was the target, Charles literally poured the Isshinryu system
as he knew it into me. A year after I began training with him my contract
ended. I went to Master Trojanowicz and explained why I was leaving.
Charles and I
trained and trained, many times at midnight.We attended tournaments together,
but because of his responsibilities, he never saw me compete, he always came
later to enter black belt kumite.
Then before I
knew it I was tested by Lewis Sensei and the entire IKA and received my black
best. Yet a few months later he returned to become an office in the USAF. I was
on my own.
Having on one to
push me, I started going to 20 tournaments a year to find some push. There I
met many other instructors and as a result I began visiting others taking
advantage of their offers, the real reason I wanted
someone to spar with.
I would find
that would be a standard as schools where I was invited to train and share in
their classes.
I began studying
Tai Chi Chaun from Ernest Rothrock, eventually studying various Chinese forms
from him (wanting to become a more knowledgeable judge of Chinese Stylists. And
that association lasted for decades, But never once did
he ask to see my Isshinryu forms. I never participated in sparring with his student.
As a brown belt
I attended an open TSD tournament up the line from Scaraton. Competing there I
met other students from a local Kempo Goju school. Those guys invited me to
come up and spar with them. That began several years of visiting them. I did
not go there to learn Kempo Goju, but to spar. Dave Brojack the head instructor
allowed me to work on my Isshinryu kata, and then join in their sparring
sessions. Again they really did not comment on my
Isshinryu. We became friends, often going to tournaments were each other
competed.
After a time I
met others at tournaments and took advantage of training offerings extended.
Steve
Newman of Goshin Jutsu offered and often
privately watched my Chinese forms, yet never asked to
see my Isshinryu. Likewise I was never asked to spar when I was there.
I met Tristan
Sutrisno competing against each other is kata and weapons. When invited I
traveled to his school, and learned ever so much of his family Shotokan,
Aikido, Kobudo and Tjimande. Our association lasted 10 years. But never did he ask
see my Isshinryu forms. And while he was incredible at sparring, always
able to go straight through anybody, Never once did I see any sparring in his
school during and of the training I experienced. Yet his students did compete
in sparring.
Then Carl Long, of Shorin Ryu Ezio Shiabuku lineage, invited me to to train at his school on Saturday mornings
(when we were not at tournaments) And we shared many of our practices for
several years. But never once did he ask to see my Isshinryu
forms. Nor did we ever spar.
I trained several days with Ed Savage of Ithica in Goju Ryu. One of my students trained with him
while attending college. He went out of his way to instruct me in 5 Goju forms
even to giving me photo copies of the forms from his instructors book. But the
sharing was one way, never did I get a chance to show
my Isshinryu to him. Yep, no sparring, but our time was so short.
More time passed
I trained with a Washin Ryu school in Wilkes-Barre at times, again never was I
asked to demonstrate my isshinryu. No
sparring.
I trained with a
Goshin Jutsu instructor in Wilkes-Barre a few times, was most welcome there, yet once again I was never asked to demonstrate my Isshinryu.
No sparring.
There were other
local programs where I trained. Goshin Do and Synko Ryu among others, but again on one ever asked to see my Isshinryu. Yep,
no sparring.
Then moving to
Derry I visited and trained with a Tae Kwon Do instcutor and a Goju instructor.
But never was I asked to demonstrate my Isshinryu.
Nor was I ever invited to spar.
Once Tom Chan, one of my black belts, took me to the George Mattson Karate Barn in Mass. George was not there that day. I was
allowed to enter the form practice, and they were mildly amused that I could do
their Seisan. Tom, a former Uechi Brown Belt, had taught me the form. Of course they did not ask to se my Isshinryu and no
sparring that day.
One day I met a
Shotokan instructor, Don Gladfelter, who lived very near my parents. Again I
went to train with him, He wanted to see some of my Sutrisno Shotokan (I later
introdusce him to Tristan and he started training under him. He never expressed an interest to see my Isshinryu.
Again never experienced sparring in his school. But his son, Boomer, was very
experienced at tournaments.
Then I spent
more time focused on my own program. When others came to inquire about joining
the adult program and they had senior rank in their own system. They found out
while I encouraged their own study of their system before or after class. My
program was only my Isshinryu and everyone, with prior experience of not, all
started at the beginning.
Now I worked
hard to retain everything I experienced. Not that I was perfect, but was
learning to take notes after training as to what I experienced. I did that with
everyone above.
Now except with
Ernest Rothrock where I was studying to learn very specific things, for my own
reasons. At all the other schools I was not going to train there to learn those
systems, but with the hope I would gain someone to spar with. That did not occur.
I certainly did
not train with everyone, this record is just what I personally experienced.
When you visit
and train at a school, they really are interested only in their art. They are
never trying to understand what you are about. Part of the reason is that it
looks good to let their students see others are coming to them.
Realistically
they will never want to see your kata or how you train.
And
what I discovered is that they do not want you to spar.
You can still
learn a great deal, whether you learn anything is up to your own efforts.
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CURSE YOU VICTORRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
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