____ by Sherman Harrill
- Agena Dojo 1959-1960
"I reached a point
where I could no longer read the things being said about Sensei Shimabuku, his
teachings, or how he promoted his students. The idea that these people felt
they knew the way it was to be done, yet never trained under him whizzed me
off. I felt it was time the record be set straight."
All I can do is speak of
my own experiences as how things happened to me when I trained in the Agena
Dojo in 1959-1960
Rank:
Sensei Shimabuku promoted me to green belt after about 6 months with no
testing. He just came up to me and said Harryu you catchy green belt. No big
deal I then went and bought one. After another six months the same thing was
done when he told me to catchy Black Belt.
Upon leaving Okinawa Sensei sat John DeSantis and I down and asked if we were
going to teach Isshin Ryu when we went back to the states. At that time I had
great hopes of doing just that. Sensei at that time did not promote me to the
rank (there is a big difference between a promotion and entrusting) of
Roku-Dan, he entrusted it to me. He said after 15 years plus training that it
could be used. There was no contract just a handshake and my work. That was
good enough at that time.
Things do not always turn out the way we plan, for I didn't open a dojo for a
long time. After I did and 22 years later I assumed the rank as I felt that I
had done as Sensei had asked of me. Now the big question most people want to
know, what was my rank when I left Okinawa. I hope that I might have been a
half way decent Sho-Dan but that would depend on what standards were used. One
thing you will find out is that I will be able to hit someone just as hard with
a white obi on as with a black one.
Secrets:
If there were any
secrets I sure in the hell didn't know any of them. I was neither one of Sensei's
favorite or better students. I was just one of many young Marines that passed
through the Agena Dojo. Almost everything I was shown was very basic, block,
punch and kick. This along with a lot of guts or sometimes no common sense made
for some very strong fighters out of the Dojo. There was two things that made a
big difference in my personal training after leaving; One was having the code
broken down by an Okinawan. The second was working on the Kumite that Sensei
taught. Kumite was not sparring but what people now know as bunkai.
42
Years Later:
I have seen a lot of comments made by people about Shimabuku, Sensei. Some have
been very good, others question his reasons for the way he developed Isshin Ryu
and promoted his students. Sensei was just another person and that means that
he made some mistakes but NO ONE knows what his plan was except Tatsuo
Shimabuku.
I have no problem with anyone who brings new ideas and knowledge into the
system as long as you don't break one rule: Don't try to fix something that is
not broken. There is nothing wrong with the way our basics or katas as taught
by Shimabuku, Sensei. I suggest that if you do not like the way he did things
or how he set up the system then look for another style and leave Isshin Ryu
alone. Tatsuo Shimabuku trained and proud of it. ___ Sherman Harrill,
Sensei
Sensei Sherman Harrill Passed Away 10:00 A.M.
Monday November 4, 2002
A first generation student of Tatsuo Shimabuku and a personal friend to many of
us.
Found on an old site no longer in existence
Isshin ryu Northwest
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