Sunday, March 19, 2023

Some early memories of Sherman Harrill

 



 Remembering 3 early discussions from Pleasant Isshinryu

on Sherman Harrill

 

And a portion of a letter in 1996 I sent to Ernie Rothrock

Describing my first 2 clinics with Sherman

And what they meant to me.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


To Punch or Not To Punch, 

which punch is the question.

 

 

I am just an Isshinryu guy at heart. I was trained by Tom Lewis and Charles Murray, Kept my focus on how I was trained, Never sought others in Isshinryu to learn their way. 20 years later serendipity allowed me to meet and train for a decade with Sherman Harrill at clinics for the next decade. Sherman trained originally alongside Tom in Agena. Charles, a student of Tom, trained in Agena with Shimabuku Tatsuo and Shinso in 1972 when stationed there with the USAF.

 

We did not talk much about Isshinryu history, instead we trained. I never set out to be an official Isshinryu historian, what follows next is just what I experienced or heard from those I trusted.

 

The question goes back to the Isshinryu punch, When TS formulated Isshinryu he taught the vertical strike as the standard punch for his Isshinryu. That is how it was taught to the Marine students. Though for Sanchin kata I was taught it with the older twisting strike.

 

I heard some of his Okinawan students who trained earlier with Shimabuku Tatsuo, resisted the change to the striking method and retained their twisting strike. Supposedly Tatsuo allowed them to do so.

 

Whether it was because the American students were awarded rank faster than the Okinawan students (times to their tour of duty on Okinawa) or some other reason, I heard they had a meeting with Tatsuo in the early 1970’s and convinced him to go back to the twisting punch.

 

In the mid 1990s (before I met Sherman) I had a father  who enrolled his son in my youth program. He also decided to join my adult program, informing me as a teen in the late 1960s he studied with James Murabito.  After his first class, I asked him to demonstrate what he knew of Seisan kata.

 

 

 He performed Seisan kata, and that was the first time I had ever seen Seisan done in Isshinryu with the older twisting strikes.

 

He explained that all the kata he was taught were performed with that strike.  He also explained his instructor had been the host of Shimabuku Tatsuo for his 1964 visit and had filmed extensive movies of Tatsuo’s instruction.

 

That was news to me. Even Charles never claimed to have seen that in 1972 when he trained in Agena.

 

That gentleman trained with us about 6 or so years, before work responsibilities caused him to leave training. He had no problem to adapting to our way of Isshinryu.

 

Then a little a later I met Sherman Harrill in 1995.

 

Some time later at a clinic he and I were talking and eventually I mentioned what I had seen, and that I had never experienced that before.

 

What Sherman Harrill told me was that he had taught his brother Isshinryu in the early 60' after he returned home and then his brother entered the USMC and was stationed on Okinawa. In 1963 his brother went to visit TS and asked to train, He was asked to demonstrate and did so showing what Sherman showed him. Tatsuo told him that was correct, but that he should not do his kata that way in Agena for then they were using the original fist. Of course I only heard ia Sherman told me. I am aware that the full story likely has many twists to the actual story. I believe my friends, and it really does not matter much today in actuality for I never gave my students a history test.

 

About 1990 I formed a Yahoo Discussion Group Pleasant Isshinryu, where for the next decade the group discussed many things Isshinryu.

 

Among the discussions the 1964 visit of Shimabuku Tatsuo was discussed repeatedly.

 

But the only clear thing that came out of it was that everyone was disappointed and did not part on the best of terms.

 

As a result James Murabito would never share his firms and kept them to himself.

His films were a very complete record of that stay in the dojo.

 

Later my student tried to get a copy from James, I believe he was then living in Florida. But he would not part with them,  Apparently never to be seen again.

 

Later another friend I met on the internet in 1990, James Keenan, informed me his earliest training was in Isshinryu in the Pittsburgh area, in the last  ½ f the 1960. He, from time to time trained at many of the Isshinryu dojo in the Pittsburgh area. Some dojo would use the vertical strike, other dojo would use the twisting strike. He learned to use whatever the dojo he was in was using.

 

Apparently a result of his 2nd 1966  visit Tatsuo was happy that so many American Isshinryu karate-ka he met were using the vertical strike in America.

 

The result of that was why he reverted his instruction back to the vertical strike. Which Tatsuo felt was a stronger strike.

 

Then again for me the vertical Isshinryu strike was how I was taught.

 

 

·        I would like to add, I have been struck with both sorgs of fists and attest that all of them hurt.

          ·        When Shimabuku Tatsuo was filmed performing the Isshinryu kata in 1966 he                 was using the vertical punch


 

Appendix 1                   Primary

 

Isshinryu Twist Punch:




 John Bartusevics, Master Shimabuku Tatsuo walked in to the Dojo one day and told me that he was going to punch with the twist from now on.He never talked much about why but I figured that he was being pressured from the other Masters on Okinawa. He wanted to be recognized by the Okinawan Karate and Kobudo Rengokai.  I did advise him not to change the side block and he did agree to keep our Isshin-Ryu side block.

 

The reason he changed back was when he made his second trip to the States in 1966, most of the Isshin-Ryu community had not made the change since the Original Pioneers did not like it and advised the Master to keep the Isshin-Ryu Verticle Punch.  So now he had some Dojo's that made the change and others that did not.So finally for the sake of uniformity in Isshin-Ryu Karate,he went back to our trade-mark Vertical Punch in the late 60's.

 

Appendix 2                    Secondary

 

Rare Tatsuo Shimabuku Complete 1964 Film

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBxVXcVJIaQ

 

Near the beginning of the movie some students perform Seisan kata and they are using the twisting punch.

 


 

Right at the end of the movie TS doing part of the opening of Kusanku kata seems to be using a twisting punch however that is just my impression, the movie is most unclear.




 

 

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