by Tom Callos Ever fantasized about picking up, packing up and heading to the birthplace of your martial art? Me, too! I haven’t done it (yet), but i recently crossed paths with someone whose deep dive into everything budo is, well, a most extraordinary one. Allow me to introduce Jessica Gerrity, a 42-year-old New Zealander and mother of three who resides in Japan and is living a grand martial arts adventure. Photos Courtesy of Jessica Gerrity by Tom Callos The first question is, What on earth are you doing in Japan? Jessica Gerrity: If you mean what am I doing for a living, let me go down the list. I’m a tourism and PR ambassador for Saitama, the prefecture I live in. My job is to find interesting local places, traditions and craftspeople. I then conduct interviews and help promote the people on social media in order to raise awareness and interest. For example, I recently had the pleasure of visiting a master of traditional sword making, Kawasaki Akihira. I spent a day interviewing him and filming his process of forging swords in the traditional manner. It was fascinating to watch — like time travel to a period when this craft flourished out of necessity. At BudoJapan.com, I work as a budo ambassador. This means I get to visit different dojo and find noteworthy martial artists and budo-related activities and write about them in English. Then I write in Japanese for a quarterly magazine called Kyudo Nippon. By the way, for readers unfamiliar with kyudo, it is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyudo came from kyujutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. Then I work on Japanese television and in other media outlets. I do narration and podcast appearances, produce content for radio, and make or help translate videos on YouTube, etc. I often talk about New Zealand but also cover kyudo and sports yabusame, an art which combines traditional Japanese horse-riding techniques, traditional dress and equipment with competitive horseback archery using the Japanese bow. I’ve become very passionate about Japanese traditional archery, and as a result, I help run a weekly dojo session. When I’m not doing all of the above, I’m raising my three children, ages 13, 11 and 7. How did you come to leave New Zealand for Japan — and how did you learn to speak Japanese? Gerrity: I befriended a half-Japanese New Zealander on my first day attending classes at the University of Auckland. We became good friends, which led me to meeting her parents. My friend’s father is shihan Nobuo Takase, seventh dan in Aikikai, a technical director of aikido in New Zealand and head instructor in Aikido Shinryukan. My friend’s mother was, like me, a native New Zealander, fluent in both English and Japanese. About the end of our first year of college, I was invited to visit their family home in Himeji in Hyogo prefecture. For me, visiting Japan was like traveling to another planet. It was an exciting juxtaposition of the old and the new. There were ancient castles next to skyscrapers, people dressed in kimonos standing next to business people in three-piece suits, and bullet trains zipping by people on bicycles. It took me just that one visit to become enthralled with Japanese culture. I returned to Japan every year for the next five years. When I completed my master’s degree, I decided I was going to find a way to live and work in Japan. I interviewed in Auckland for a large Tokyo-based English-language school. They offered me an instructor position in central Tokyo, and I took it. With my visa and housing already organized for me, I set off. At the time, I had no Japanese language ability other than ohayo (good morning) and konnichiwa (good afternoon). How did you become interested in the martial arts? Gerrity: The first time I saw a martial art and felt the pull to participate happened a little over a decade ago. There is a big park in Saitama called Omiya Park. It is about 165 acres and famous for its Japanese red pines, apricot and cherry trees, a zoo, a museum of history and folklore, the 2,400-year-old Hikawa Shrine and several sporting facilities. There is also a kyudo dojo there. On the day I visited, I saw kyudo for the first time. It was love at first sight. I was intrigued that there were a large number of women in the class, as at the time, I thought the martial arts, especially those using weapons, were a male-dominated activity. But here were all these women gracefully practicing kyudo. It was mesmerizing and calming to watch. I decided that I wanted to be involved in Japanese archery. But first I had to go home and Google the subject as I knew nothing of kyudo besides the obvious shooting of arrows. At the time, my Japanese language skills were not what they are today — and coupled with the lack of local dojo information and website availability, I wasn’t able to find much I could understand. I spent several weeks talking to friends, strangers and even the city council, but all I got was a lot of shrugging of shoulders. During that time, I became pregnant with my second child, followed shortly thereafter with my third. So life sort of got in the way, but my interest in kyudo persisted. One day, I had a radio-appearance job, and in a conversation with the host, I found out he had a kyudo connection. I scored an invite to a beginner’s class only about a 30-minute train ride from my house — and here I am today! What art or arts are you involved with? Gerrity: I’m now a third dan in kyudo, and I go to practice five or six days a week for two hours per class. Three times a month for two-hour training sessions, I study and practice a 350-year-old form of archery called shihan mato. This is the art of shooting arrows from a sitting position. Once a week I train for two hours with the naginata, traditionally an anti-cavalry weapon. I have my first grading coming up this year. I’ve earned my shodan in archery on horseback and attend practice once or twice a month, as well as another monthly practice session using the naginata and nagamaki on horseback. The nagamaki is a long-handled staff that features a blade around 3 feet long on a pole that can measure from 4 feet to nearly 7 feet. And recently I started to practice shuriken jutsu on a casual basis at the Ninja Information Center and Dojo in Asakusa. Thanks to BudoJapan.com, I have also tried battojutsu, kenjutsu and “samurai battle” at Castle Tintagel (similar to medieval weapons fighting), have participated in houjutsu (martial art of the matchlock), and tried traditional samurai armor (yoroi) and very rare activities like helping to cut the bamboo to be made into kyudo bows. With all this knowledge you’re acquiring, what are your future plans? And what have you learned from your adventure so far? Gerrity: I’m continuing the practice of kyudo and eventually want to earn the rank of instructor, which one can take an exam for after earning a fifth dan. I want to continue to learn and raise awareness of martial arts, Japanese culture, traditions and craftspeople in any way I can. My take-aways from the training I’ve done to date — my life lessons learned — include keeping a beginner’s mindset and heart. All martial artists, no matter what they practice or where they live, understand that we are always learning, both in martial arts and in our everyday life. To keep an open beginner’s mindset, one has to cultivate an open mind and be open to learning new things, hearing new opinions and [discovering] new ways to look at performing techniques — and, likewise, living from day to day. I’ve learned — and relearned — that in martial arts and in life, it is a fine practice to focus on being positive and striving for forward movement and self-improvement. I’ve learned that improvement, technical and otherwise, may not seem like a lot in each practice, but over time, all the effort can become significant and [lead to] noticeable progress. My studies in kyudo especially have taught me the powers of respect and mindfulness, both for self and others, inside and outside the dojo. Kyudo is about attention to detail, taking things one step at a time and being equally mindful about one’s behavior. The practice has made me a better martial artist, mother and wife. The idea of falling down seven times and getting up eight, that notion of not giving up on your dreams or practice or anything you’re interested in, is all the more powerful when you apply it to the martial arts and daily life. Setbacks and failures happen, butI have learnt to get up again and just keep pushing forward. Lastly but very importantly, budo has given me the chance to build a community, another world away from my busy everyday life, like an oasis where I can just concentrate on my technique, my breathing and myself. This community I’m a part of is empowering and helps build my self-confidence and esteem. I’d like to invite [Black Belt] readers, should any want more information on martial arts lessons in Japan, to reach out to me on Instagram at @jessintokyo or on Facebook at Jessica Gerrity. Tom Callos has a seventh-degree black belt in taekwondo under Ernie Reyes Sr. and a first degree in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. To contact him on Instagram, use @tomcallos. This article first appeared in a 2022 edition of Black Belt Magazine.

This is part two of a written Q&A with Burt Richardson. Part I Q&As feature his thoughts on Jeet Kune Do and more. A master in Jeet Kune Do, Burt Richardson has spent his life in pursuit of the mastery of martial arts. Under the tutelage of such greats as Dan Inasantos, Tony Diego, the Machado Brothers, and Carlson Gracie he is on a constant quest for knowledge. He’s an author and teacher working with people from law enforcement to civilians. We are thrilled to reconnect with Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee Burt Richardson. In this interview, we focused on Burt’s experience in BJJ and Kali. You were an early adopter to BJJ tell us how that relationship began? When I was hired as the fight choreographer for the film Kickboxer 4 (in 1993), I needed to bring in martial arts experts from various fields for the fights. I heard that the Machado Brothers (cousins of the Gracies) were elite level BJJ practitioners and that they were easy to work with. I was able to employ Rigan and John Machado and they did great in the fights. After filming was complete, I started taking lessons from Rigan. That’s how it started and thirty years later I continue training jiu-jitsu several times per week. I also developed and train my BJJ For The Street approach that adds weapons and street tactics to the sport jiu-jitsu base. You trained BJJ in Brazil. How is that different from here in the states? I made my first trip in 1995 along with Egan and Enson Inoue. At that time, the rolling was hard and there was a lot of ego on display from many of the students. One very notable difference was that the classes where we trained had no formal instruction. You showed up, a student would look at you and make a hand gesture, then you rolled. If you were lucky, your partner would explain a few things after the roll. Not everyone was so friendly. I had just gotten my blue belt from Rigan before leaving on the trip. My first day a very experienced Brazilian blue belt motioned to me to roll. He got to an arm bar, extended my arm, and I tapped. He kept extending so I tapped more vigorously. He kept extending until my elbow popped several times. While I tended to my arm, he went back to the wall with a smug look of satisfaction on his face. I was sporting a metal knee brace at the time due to a meniscus tear. I rolled with an older Black Belt and pointed out the injury so he would protect it. What did he do seconds into the roll? He went for a knee bar on that knee! Thankfully, he didn’t crank it. We met other very helpful students that helped us a great deal. I don’t know about other gyms, but they played for keeps in that school. You spent a lot of time in the Philippines, under Grandmaster Antonio Ilustrisimo , Master Tony Diego , and Master Christopher Ricketts. Tell us how you ventured to that part of the world and describe the learning process you went through? I was doing the fight choreography for an American movie that was shot in Manila early in 1994. Before leaving, I asked my instructor Punong Guro Edgar Sulite, who was one of the 5 pillars of Kalis Ilustrisimo, about training with Antonio “Tatang” Ilustrisimo. He gave me general directions to Luneta Park where Tatang spent most of his days. Luckily, I did find him and, after telling him I was a student of Guro Dan Inosanto and Sulite, he was happy to teach me. I spent many hours with him that first day. The second day, Masters Tony Diego and Christopher Ricketts came to meet the visiting Americano. I later found out that they knew of me from my magazine articles. They were all extremely gracious and generous with their teaching, literally spending hours and hours with me each day that first week. I also went to Master Tony’s gym a few times at night. The next week the filming started so I couldn’t train. After filming was completed, I extended my stay for 2 weeks and trained daily with Tatang, Tony, and Topher. Thanks to all my previous training with Guro Dan and Punong Guro Edgar, I was able to assimilate a great deal of information. I had done sparring as part of the training, and I already had my Dog Brother Stick Fighting experience behind me. My last day, Master Topher was not his usual jovial self; he was very intense. He made me drill hard and fast and before I knew it, he had stuffed a helmet on my head and told me to fight a young man who was clearly very strong and athletic. I thought I had inadvertently done something wrong and that they were angry with me. So I began the match tentatively, trying to avoid being disrespectful. After 30 seconds of being defensive, Master Topher stopped the match. He came up and assured me it was okay. He urged me to fight. With Tatang Ilustrisimo as the referee, I went for it and had a good showing. When it was over, everyone clapped and I then learned that the fight was my instructor test. Master Topher explained, “We knew that you were good with the techniques, but I wanted to make sure you could fight!” What a surprise that was. I returned in 1996 and trained with Tatang, Tony, and Topher for a week. Unfortunately, Tatang passed away the following year. What a privilege it was to be able to train with one of the greatest fighters in the Philippines, a man who prevailed in many life and death sword fights. I am so grateful that I was able to learn from him, Master Tony, and Master Topher, and that they all entrusted me to help carry on the amazing fighting art of Kalis Ilustrisimo. Their influence is felt everywhere I teach. In order to become a JKD Unlimited instructor, the candidate must pass a fighting test, just like I did in Manila. Having the grueling 7 round (stick sparring, knife sparring, kickboxing , clinch, ground bottom, ground top, and scenario) test as the goal ensures that students are training primarily with fighting proficiency in mind. That guides their training towards the functional. Is your approach to teaching Kali and Escrima in the USA today different from the training you received? Concerning all the training I received from Guro Dan and Tatang Ilustrisimo in Manila, It affected everything I do. There are so many vital nuances in technique and strategy. So there is a deep presence. What I do differently from many FMA systems is that my Battlefield Kali is sparring-based. It’s easy in FMA to focus on techniques and drills and never really test the techniques against a resisting opponent. But this is what all the warriors of old, like Tatang Ilustrisimo, did. The whole point of Battlefield Kali is to become highly skillful at sparring/fighting. Therefore, the techniques that we train are then pressure tested every class in safe sparring. We do isolated sparring rounds where we limit the targets in order to get a lot of time in attacking and defending those targets. So we will do hand only sparring, hand and head only, hand and leg only, head only, etc. Where did I learn to separate the sparring like that? From Guro Dan. I can’t teach FMA without the influence of Tatang, Tony, and Topher. Building on all that I learned from Guro Dan, Tatang’s fluidity, efficiency, and intent are always with me. Is there a best style of self defense? I ascribe to the concept that the proficiency of the individual in any art is the most crucial factor in the effectiveness of the style. That said, there are arts that train in a manner that are more in line with extreme self-defense than others. If you want to do a kickboxing match, you should train to account for the rules of the event and get in lots of sparring under that rule set. The same when training for a grappling tournament or an MMA fight. If you want to train for extreme self-defense, then you had better be training with resisting partners while including training knives, training pistols, training rifles, and multiple attackers in the rounds. You need to understand that you can end up in the clinch or on the ground (especially from a surprise attack) so you need to be proficient in all ranges with and without weapons. If you don’t train that way, you could find yourself in a position where your skills do not apply. In JKD Unlimited, my guiding statement is that we must train in all the ranges, with or without weapons, against one or multiple, armed or unarmed attackers, in a variety of environments. That’s what we do and it pretty much sums up the scope of our training. Real combat is fluid and unpredictable. To be prepared, we must consistently practice well in all these scenarios.

There are some individuals who can cross space and time in consciousness. Bruce Lee was one of these time-travelers who understood ancient traditions, embodied the best of them, and turned the experience into a philosophy. Namely, the philosophy outlined in his book, Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Many of us are familiar with aspects of Bruce Lee's legendary life. I want to point out moments in Lee's life that led to his philosophy, which can help humanity. Before the injury Before 1969, Bruce Lee was training hard and trying to make a place for himself in Hollywood movies. He was engaged in creative isometric training and had what his daughter, Shannon Lee, describes as "a superhuman drive." Lee was preparing his body for fight scenes and launching his career in what he hoped would be starring roles. He led his life following a personal philosophy that "time is what life is made up of, so don't waste it." (Bruce Lee) Walk On During one of his intense training sessions, as he pushed his physical body to its limits, he heard a sound that no bone should ever make and knew he was in trouble: his back gave out. Our understanding of back injuries in 1969 differed from what we know today. And even though Bruce Lee was a philosophical time traveler, he could not make time move faster to catch up with our modern-day approaches to injuries. To ease his suffering, he was advised to take prescription pain medications, which some think led to his eventual death. During this time, he looked deep inside his soul to find a path forward and developed his philosophy, Walk On, which led him to become one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. His writings, gracefully communicated by Shannon Lee in the book, Be Water, my Friend, became the manifesto that helped him heal. Lee writes: "Whether I like it or not, circumstances are thrust upon me, and being a fighter at heart, I sort of fight in the beginning, but soon realize that what I need is not inner resistance and needless conflict, but rather to join forces and readjust and make the best of it. Walk on and leave behind all things that would dam up the inlet or clog the outlet of experience." During this deep reflective period, Lee developed fundamental concepts like "patience is not passive" and that in any given situation, you must "research your own experience." In addition, he understood the emotional and energetic body within polarities: "energized or flat," "engaged or bored," "relaxed and strong," "peaceful and enthusiastic," and he harnessed Wei no Wei, or "doing and not doing." Lee reminds us that if Water becomes stagnant it evaporates and cannot become itself, but if we let it alone it finds its own path. He reminds us to be like Water and shows us how to align with integrity, stay true to our center, and trust that there is peace and authentic power in knowing oneself and that if we work on being content and happy, the rest will follow. In this day and age, where over-working, under-earning, and isolation are increasingly prevalent, it takes real courage to work on being happy and content. Even when he faced blatant racism, watching white actors getting cast as Chinese men instead of him, for example, he knew his own center and remained true to his warrior path. Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Little Dragon, and we can agree that dragons never settle for mediocrity. Lee certainly never settled. He reminds us that as martial artists, we give our hearts in all we do, and he encourages all humans to embrace their personal warrior path and, above all else, to stay true to their center. An artist of life The Art of Jeet Kune Do expresses Bruce Lee's essence. It was an art form created from the depths of his center. He writes, "The root is the fulcrum on which will rest the expression of your soul and is the central ingredient to your unfolding.” He offers an obvious path to all humans: (From Be Water, My Friend) ● The least (we) humans can do is be honest ● When we are rooted in our purpose, we are free ● Absolute stillness is found within movement ● Waters are in motion all the time, but the moon retains its serenity ● Do your actions match your words? My own personal relationship I began reading The Tao of Jeet Kune Do with my Friend, colleague, and founder of Yogic Arts, Duncan Wong. During this time, in the early 90s, my desire to go deeper into the practice of martial arts and philosophy presented its own fulcrum. The universe and Master Wong guided me to meet Master Sung Jin Su, and my journey began. This, coupled with the Master's program at CIIS in Philosophy, was uncanny in its timing and has taken me 20 years to see the perfect tensegrity of it all. I can thank the Tao of Jeet Kune Do for leading me to one of the world's greatest Masters, Master Su, who to this day is my teacher. As Shannon Lee reminds us, her father held spontaneity as sacred. Jungshin Fitness is also a spontaneous inspiration mixed with instinct: my life experience, philosophy, and desire to be a better human every day. In 1972 the film, The Game of Death, produced and written by Bruce Lee, had not had a chance to come to completion before Lee's passing. The archives were lost for some time but were finally found and released. You can see parts of The Game of Death in this film: Bruce Lee's: A Warrior Journey. In 2011 Game of Thrones came out. Just saying. Bruce Lee wrote that his sole purpose in life was to actualize himself to be an artist of life, and he did just this, even in and especially within his short life span. As the artist Eminem raps in Lose Yourself, Lee knew, "We only have one shot." If we apply one of Bruce Lee’s pillars of philosophy a week, I do believe we will all harness the human in us that was meant to be, humans that care for planet earth and one-another. We hope you can join us in a RE-TREAT yourself in April of 2023!

In “Find Function in Your Forms: Part 1” I shared my training background and mentioned the different style’s forms we are considering as we look for their function. Seeing as how Kenpo is my base art, we looked closely at how the American Kenpo forms work towards enhancing your self-defense preparation. The basic message is that when performed with intention and specificity, Kenpo forms are clearly designed to ready one for a wide array of attacks. The American Kenpo forms start with the intention of establishing solid basic habits and later build to the execution of more elaborate moves for self-defense as the practitioner becomes more learned. Now, let’s consider katas from the other arts mentioned in part one, TKD and Karate. The forms used in Tae Kwon Do and Coszacks Karate vary greatly from the advanced Kenpo forms but share similarities to the lower-level Kenpo forms and sets, respectively. To start, we will focus on the TKD forms. Tae Kwon Do forms, especially the earlier katas in the system, are built upon moving around a basic pattern with a simple block followed by a strike. For example, the first form is essentially a downward block followed by a step-through punch. The second form follows the same pattern, with a ball kick added to each action. (These forms are much like those of Shotokan Karate) As the forms become more advanced, the blocks become more varied, and the following strikes become more advanced in application. The TKD forms are very different from the Kenpo forms. A major difference is the heavy use of their front stance and back stance. These are often done with the feet far apart and the knees deeply bent. (This varies depending upon the TKD federation.) To play devil’s advocate, trying to perform self-defense techniques in this fashion would likely prove ineffective and dangerous. The deep stance and chambered hands would be a major detriment in combat. The practitioner’s mobility and ability to deal with a secondary attack from an adversary is extremely limited in this practice. This was something that troubled me greatly when I first began my study of TKD. Eventually, I was able to justify in my mind the stylistic considerations of the TKD forms as a means of developing leg strength and flexibility. After this change in mindset, I was better able to assimilate the improved kicking strength and advanced targeting from the many repetitions of the forms. The other benefit of the deep stance transitions is the development of hip rotation on punches, thus increasing punching power. For self-defense training purposes, I found the main benefits of TKD kata training to be improved leg strength, flexibility and punching power. Moving on to the Karate forms, my first exposure to the Martial Arts was Coszacks Karate. It should be noted that Coszacks Karate is an American Marital Art influenced by multiple arts, with its strongest and most pronounced roots in Shorin-Ryu Karate. What’s interesting is that the Coszacks system is heavily Kumite focused, and the Katas are unique to their system, sharing little similarities to traditional karate. The best comparison of the Coszacks Karate forms is that of the “sets” of American Kenpo. In American Kenpo, the sets focus on one objective and work through the many options available to that focus. For instance, In American Kenpo there are “blocking sets one and two,” “striking sets one and two,” and “finger sets one and two” to name just a few of the sets. As the names imply, each set focuses solely on either blocks, punches, or open hand strikes respectively. The sets are performed predominantly from a horse stance, though movement out of horse stance does happen in some instances. Coszacks Karate mirrors this style of training in their katas. The majority of the katas are performed from the horse stance, but the forms do have the practitioner chance directionally. As the Coszacks practitioner works his way up through the forms, more actual fight like movement and advanced strikes are added. Blocks and intricate footwork, though occasionally observed, are not heavily present in their forms. In a nutshell, the Coszacks Karate forms are designed mainly to teach the various strikes to be used in the system. The positive impact this can have on real-life self-defense situations is the engrained formation and deployment of weapons when needed. One could deduce from the Coszacks’ forms that perhaps their philosophy is “the best defense is a great offense.” As I look back upon the lessons from my TMA forms training, I’m happy to say that the Coszacks Karate katas are excellent at developing the skill of weapon formation and basic delivery. The TKD forms are amazing at improving one’s leg strength and hip mobility (both very important for TKD’s specialty, kicking). And American Kenpo forms do a great job establishing footwork and basics of movement while simultaneously making the practitioner visualize and prepare for a multitude of altercation possibilities. The lessons learned in forms combined with the other aspects of traditional martial arts training makes way for a more capable martial artist. The most important thing to remember while practicing forms is to hold the goal of your kata training in mind as you execute every move with clear intention and explosive intensity. Salute, Ian Lauer 2nd Degree Black Belt American Kenpo 1st Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do 1st Degree Black Belt Hapkido 1st Degree Black Belt Coszacks Karate

“You have a Jew and an Arab that hate each other because of 2000 years of history, lock them in a room together and put on a Bruce Lee movie,” my martial brother, honorable friend and a champion Bruce Lee historian, David Tadman, once told me, “Then they will have something in common because they are both going to like Bruce Lee. That's what Bruce Lee is, even in death, he's communicating, bringing people together.” The irony about Lee is that his career and stardom in the West came together at the wrong place at the wrong time. America, 1972, the country was in the midst of the Vietnam war, anti-Asian sentiment had not been this high since World War II and each week, racial tension was finding a new way to twist the psyche of a country floundering in gas lines and cold war. Traditionally, whenever the U.S. was at war, Hollywood always created characters and storylines based on the heroic efforts of the American soldier, trying to use films to boost the country’s morale and confidence that the troops were righteously defending the realm against the evils of the world. Yet during the Vietnam War, America was in no mood for war heroes. Furthermore, when you look at the five top grossing films in descending order of 1972, The Godfather , The Poseidon Adventure , What’s Up Doc , Deliverance and Deep Throat , and the brunt of the Academy Awards going to The Godfather and Cabaret , it was evident that the definition of the American cinematic champion of justice was undergoing a huge transition away from the “riding off into the sunset” glory. Additionally, keep in mind that back in those days, to most Americans, someone who used their feet during a fight was considered a sissy. For all intents and purposes, it was not only the wrong time for any Asian actor to make a mark in Hollywood, but it was also the wrong time for the hero to win a fight by kicking. Yet Bruce Lee came along, and with his dynamic facial contortions, rapid-fire punches, greased lightening kicks and high-pitched phoenix screeches, he single-handedly gave Chinese martial arts cinema legitimacy and the Chinese people an identity. Lee has done more for spreading the word of martial arts throughout the world than anyone else in history. He was the first martial artist to mainstream the concept of cross training and linking the best attributes of many martial arts into one. In one final inadvertent swoop, with his second film Fist of Fury (1972), Lee created one of the biggest fibs in cinema history. Many aspects of Lee’s martial arts training, his time in America, and film career have been fairly well documented and redundantly repeated: practicing wing chun during his teens, which led to the development of his own martial art jeet kune do; studying philosophy at the University of Washington and subsequent marriage to Linda; and his role as Kato in the Green Hornet TV series; and the springboard to five of the most spell-binding martial arts films ever made. Since his death in 1973, books, documentaries and magazines have used countless adjectives to describe his on-screen presence and martial abilities. Labels such as icon, legend and myth have been overused, and folks who even remotely knew Lee have created novel ways to cash in on his posthumous fame. Yet not until Mark Pollard’s Bruce Lee: A Life (2018), so little had been written about Lee’s foundation as a boy, teen, and the young man who fled to America to avoid gang trouble, the law and fulfill his obligation as an American citizen to serve his country via Army ROTC in college. To understand where Lee really came from, one must look to the deep past, his family history. The following treatise is based on uncompromising interviews I had with Bruce’s youngest brother Robert, older sister Phoebe and Tadman in 2005, a treatise that never been published before. Since this writing uses many Lee names, I will refer to each Lee by their first name. COLONIALISM AND IMPERIALISM 1917, the eve of World War I, Japan had gained firm footholds in Manchuria and Shantung, but in deep South China, in the small rural village of Shen De, the only thing on teenager Moon Chuen’s mind was the mere pittance he could earn catching fish by hand and carrying them by foot for two hours to various village restaurants to feed his mother and siblings. These were the fishing techniques taught to Moon by Lee Jun, his deaf and unable to speak father who was the last of 13 children born during the Ching dynasty. Moon’s grandfather was a high-level government official during the turbulent times of the Dowager Empress Tzu-hsi, an empress known for her cold-blooded cruelty who secretly condoned the British sale of opium in China knowing it would quell the Chinese spirit. The Manchus were foreigners and did not want to relinquish their control over the Chinese people. Fortunately, many Chinese patriots refused to bow to the puppet-controlling power of opium. Born in 1901, Moon was one of eight children: Two of whom died at an early age; a sister who became one of Hong Kong’s top Madams; a brother who died of a heart attack at 16; another sister that was sold as a child into China’s pi-pa world (similar to the Japanese geisha, pi-pa girls were trained to sing, dance and play musical instruments to be hired by wealthy men to entertain at elaborate Chinese banquets); and a younger sister who during two marriages gave birth to five children, all of which died during infancy. Thin, taut, dressed in tattered clothes, yet full of spirit and a booming voice, Moon was offered a job at one of the restaurants he sold fish to. He was hired to be a "check caller," where he would yell out a customer's tab to the cashier. Moon, who loved opera, would instead flamboyantly sing out the receipts with his powerful voice. During a fateful meal, a famous opera star eating in the restaurant heard Moon’s voice and offered to take Moon on as his protege. Moon reverently accepted and signed a contract with his now mentor, a contract that had Moon living at his teacher's home for three years with the agreement that he would do what he was told in return for learning everything about the trade the maestro could share. When a lead singer stormed off the stage prior to an important performance, Moon was ordered to fill in for the temperamental performer’s warrior role and became an overnight sensation. Moon moved to Hong Kong and became one of the premiere opera singers of his time. Due to his impressive talents, Moon’s mentor renamed him Lee Hoi Chuen (“Hoi” means “sea” and “Chuen” means “stream”) a name that reflected his past and present direction in life. With the help of financing from the Chinese-Dutch Sir Robert Ho Tung (the first knight of Hong Kong), Dr. Sun Yet-sen’s revolution against the Manchus finally succeeded when Dr. Sun established the Republic of China in 1911. That same year, Sir Robert’s brother Ho Kum Ton’s (a Shanghai nightclub entrepreneur) third of thirteen wives, the German Irish Cheung King, gave birth to the youngest of four children, Grace Ho. Although Grace was born into a well-to-do family and lived a lavish lifestyle, there was a price. Grace had to live in seclusion and could not publicly be associated with her wealthy standing or her father’s family because her mother was German Irish. Yet her Eurasian looks made Grace a stunning beauty, a prize for anyone within the high-society bachelors of China. During her teens, Grace moved to Hong Kong and lived under the wary eye of Sir Robert, who was an opera buff. One night, Grace accompanied Sir Robert to an opera where she became enamored with one of the troupe’s young singers, Moon. Back then, being a film actor or an opera performer was one of the lowest occupations around and for a high-class debutante like Grace to be seen with a low-class opera singer like Moon would be social suicide for Grace and bring shame to her family. What followed was a surreptitious romance cloaked in secret rendezvous, family turmoil and a love that sparked the fury of the Hong Kong upper echelon and struck a blow to the unwritten dementia of racism in 1930s China. If this was not socially challenging enough, in 1935, while Mao was in the midst of his long March in China and two years before the Japanese rape of Nanjing, Moon and Grace got married. Grace was stripped of her social status and disowned by her family. Even to the day she died, Grace never regretted her decision. In 1936, Hoi Chuen and Grace’s first of nine children, Lee Hon Chong, was born, a celebration of life, the continuance of the family line until his inexplicable death six months later. To help the distraught Grace overcome the loss, the family arranged for Grace and Hoi Chuen to adopt a baby girl, Phoebe. For years, Phoebe was the brunt of Hoi Chuen's older sister Hop Ngan's hatred as she despised little Phoebe because she was adopted and, in her opinion, not a real Lee. Because Hop Ngan planted tears in Phoebe’s eyes and doubt about her own existence, Phoebe tried extra hard to win the love of Grace and Hoi Chuen, something that is usually not openly shown in Chinese families. Yet it was not necessary for Phoebe to do this because in the eyes of Grace and Hoi Chuen, she was part of the family. To this day, Phoebe remains the most loyal daughter and now stands as the matriarchal figure of the Lee family. When I first met Phoebe in 2005, the first thing she asked me in Mandarin Chinese was, “Do I look like Bruce?” I answered, “Bruce has your eyes.” She simply smiled. As it turned out, Phoebe, who was left to the Lee family by a lady of the night who worked at Hoi Chuen's sister's brothel, was in fact the illegitimate child of an illicit affair Hoi Chuen had with a Shanghainese lady who died during childbirth. Therefore, Phoebe is indeed a true member of the Lee family. These are the real humble historical beginnings of Bruce Lee.

You can’t watch a video or read an article regarding a Martial Arts practitioner performing a kata without the naysayers chiming in on how impractical the actions may be. Comments such as “that would never work in real life” or “I never see anyone using that move in the octogen” litter the comment feed. Unfortunately, I believe that the folks who make those comments fail to consider the many potential lessons from practicing forms with intention and specificity. It is also important to remember that forms are only one facet of traditional martial arts training. If you will indulge me, I would be honored to share some of my thoughts on this subject. I am blessed to study multiple “Traditional Martial Arts” and also train at a “Mixed Martial Arts” gym. In the MMA gym, we focus primarily on Dutch Kickboxing, Wrestling and BJJ, so though I’m not a “fighter” per se, I do have experience in that arena. Where my traditional training is concerned, I have reached the rank of first-degree black belt or higher in American Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, and Karate. I mention my training pedigree not to brag, but to share that I engage in both types of instruction and have found exceptional benefits from both schools of thought. So, how do forms fit in? Can they be functional? I will share personal experiences from the different systems in which I train to answer these questions with a special emphasis on American Kenpo, as it is my base art. First and foremost, it is imperative when you practice forms or katas that they be performed with intention and specificity, as mentioned before. But what exactly does this mean? While working your kata, you must visualize precisely what you are doing and to whom. Anyone can do a sloppy block and kick into the air. It takes a true martial artist to see an imagined attack coming at their face and executing a crisp block followed by a powerful strike directed to a specific target on an adversary. If this most basic understanding and attempted application is not evident in a form, then the kata is indeed a waste of time and energy. If, however, the mind is seeing the attacks and responding in kind, then the repetitions of the actions can help to positively instill the desired response in times of need. To further explain, let’s consider the early forms in the American Kenpo system. In short-form one, a clear attack is imagined, and the Kenpoist moves away from the attack, landing in a neutral bow (the basic fighting stance) while simultaneously executing one of four basic blocks. For conversation’s sake, let’s look past the idea that the block may also be used as a strike. That said, short-form one in American Kenpo begins teaching from day one, the proper foot positioning for the Kenpo fighting stance as well as imparting the skills to perform basic blocks. As the Kenpoist moves on to long-form one, strikes are added following the blocks. As the punches are thrown after the block defending from the imagined attacker, the Kenpoist now learns to transition into the forward bow stance. This trains him to turn the hip to generate power with the punch. Also added in long form one is what’s referred to as the “double factor.” This action required the use of both hands in succession, thus coordinating a potentially more practical response to an attack. When the short two and long two forms are added to the training, the Kenpoist is then taught additional footwork, stances, coordination, and dexterity between the hands as they are frequently doing different actions. For instance, sometimes one hand is open and parrying while the other is in the form of a fist and striking. The moves become more elaborate and build upon the base created by learning both short-form one and long-form one. When the American Kenpo practitioner reaches short-form three in their journey, they should have already mastered the lessons of the previous forms and have a basic understanding of how to deal with simple attacks and respond with strikes. At this point, the American Kenpo system introduces “the techniques” into the forms. For those that are unfamiliar with Kenpo, we have several hypothetical ways to deal with any attacks that we may encounter. This is not to say that a Kenpoist believes they will use a technique in its entirety in real life. It simply is a means to teach potential movement in a given situation. As short-form three training begins, the practitioner imagines the attacks the same as done in technique training and “practices” them alone in a set order to a set direction. All American Kenpo forms from short-three and upward apply this same approach where the techniques are plugged into set pattern and practiced repeatedly. One great advantage of working through the forms starting at short three is that the student is also practicing these very same techniques on a real body in technique lines. In other words, they learn the techniques one at a time with another person acting as the attacker, so the reference for the resulting action is easier to understand and apply when done solo. Interestingly, I have noticed a strong parallel between my Kenpo technique studies and the related short three and higher forms training with that of my BJJ training. In BJJ, we train a few techniques to start class. There is frequently a “what-if” phase in these classes. This is where we look at how the other BJJ player reacts, causing the BJJ techniques to flow from one to another. This is not unlike that of adjusting a Kenpo technique on the fly or taking it a step further and working from one technique to another in a form where we are visualizing fighting against multiple imaginary attackers. One great aspect of the BJJ technique work or flow is that you get to pressure test the technique against a resisting adversary. This is something that we can attempt to emulate in our Kenpo techniques training by working through the “what if” phase or “spontaneous response” practice to random attacks. This will develop the effectiveness of the techniques and lend to improved flow when using them in the forms. That said, as we practice the forms it is thus vital to see the attacker and imagine truly dealing with them the same as a BJJ player practices transitions while rolling through a flow drill. The take-home message is this: for Kenpo forms to be effective as a part of our combat readiness training, we must truly visualize the attacker and practice our response in each moment must be practiced with full intent. Be sure to check back next week as we look at how this compares to the katas from my TKD and Karate training and the function they serve in overall self-defense preparation. Salute, Ian Lauer 2nd Degree Black Belt American Kenpo 1st Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do 1st Degree Black Belt Hapkido 1st Degree Black Belt Coszacks Karate

Most traditional sports have a clear path to its premier organization. NFL, MLB, NBA, all of them will follow a similar pattern of high school, college then the pros. MMA on the other hand is vastly different, there is no set in stone path to the big leagues. You can find a path by becoming a name in another organization, joining a big gym and stacking up some wins, nowadays the Contender series is where lots of guys go. You can even become a WWE star and just casually start your career in the UFC. There is no formula. There is one man that had a stranger journey than most to the octagon, Patrick Cummins. In 2008, he was arrested for felony burglary and facing a couple years in county but by 2014 he would be competing in the worlds elite Mixed Martial Arts organization against a future hall of famer with only four pro fights on his record. How would this have come to pass? Well, it all started like most successful stories in MMA, with wrestling. That future hall of famer he would face was none other than Danial Cormier and it wouldn’t be the first time they competed. They would first meet on the wrestling mat helping train DC for a world championship. Years later after Cummins had dealt with the charges and was working at a coffee shop in Dana Point. He heard about Rashad Evans hurting his knee and would be unable to compete. So, he made sure there was a big enough social outcry for Dana White to take notice, Patrick Cummins was more than willing to take the fight, he was eager too. As the story goes, Pats manager would attempt to talk with him at work before the manager on duty told him he could not so he went through the drive-through window and handed him the cell phone with Dana on the line where he allegedly told him to tell his manager to “Go F*** himself and get to the gym.” This was his big break. Pat would claim he made Daniel cry and quit on multiple occasions. Cormier would retort saying if it ever happened, it was in some obscure room with a few people while he was having guys cycle in on him and he was going to whoop him in front of thousands of people. The stage was set and the story was interesting. A 4-0 fighter nobody had ever heard of was going to compete against the future light heavyweight champion. Frankly, the fight itself was a bit of a dud. Cormier outclassed him rather handedly in the first round but that’s just the beginning of the story. The most interesting part would come after. Following the loss to Cormier, Patrick would immediately stack up three wins in a row. Which is remarkable, starting 2014 as a barista and ending the year 4-1 in the UFC. It was quite a year for Patrick and a massive surprise to fans. Known for his mustache and brief bout of homelessness, fans would root for him as he bounced back and forth between winning and losing. His most notable victory was the Polish powerhouse himself, Jan Blachowicz. After three losses in a row however, Pat decided to hang up his gloves in December of 2019, just before Christmas. He may have never captured gold but he captured our hearts and was a champion to the people. Representing everyone that worked regular 9-5’s but had dreams of becoming a world champion. His story is still the most interesting the UFC has ever seen and possibly ever will. Nowadays, you can find Durkin pursuing his culinary passion or running his own awesome recycle shop at Durkin Supply.

Back with us today is owner and operator of what was originally Grandmaster Ed Parker’s West LA American Kenpo school, Master Bryan Hawkins . In Part 1, Master Hawkins sheds some light on what drew him to American Kenpo. Let’s dig a bit deeper into his personal story and relationship to Grandmaster Parker. IL In Part 1 of “Why American Kenpo,” you mentioned Master Parker asking you to take over operations of the West LA School which you now own. What’s it like to take over a school with such a rich history? BH When Ed Parker asked if I would take over that school, I knew it was a decision that would change the direction of my life. But there was absolutely no hesitation, and I accepted immediately. A few years prior, around 22 years of age, I started a limousine and bodyguard service. I regularly employed friends of mine from the karate school like Big Jim Diggs, Jeff Speakman and Steve Moore. All the while, I continued to train Kenpo as much as I could. But I realized if I wanted to achieve a level of expertise in Kenpo, I needed to sell the limo service to put more time into my training. I sold the company to the Bel-Air hotel with the agreement that I would work for them when they had celebrities that requested bodyguards. So, at the time Ed Parker asked me to take over the West LA dojo, I was living quite an exciting life bodyguarding many famous people and making more money than any other 26-year-old I knew. But, despite working with and rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous entertainers, Ed Parker to me was still the biggest celebrity I could think of. So, I jumped at the opportunity to become his right-hand man. IL You mentioned bodyguarding celebrities. That seems to happen a lot with Marital Artists. Who was one of your most notable clients? BH I would say Don Johnson from Miami Vice. At the time, he was one of my primary clients. What is really interesting is how I got the contract and how it circled back to Ed Parker and Kenpo. I got a call for a meeting, and they butchered his name, telling me I was in consideration to protect a client named “Doctor Johnson.” The whole time before the meeting, I had no idea who the hell Doctor Johnson was and why he needed a bodyguard. I was directed to the most expensive luxury guest house at the Bel-Air hotel, and when I walked in, I came face to face with Don Johnson, the actor, not to be confused with a random doctor at Cedars-Sinai. His manager conducted the first ten minutes of the interview as he had for 20 other guys that interviewed before me. Then Don Johnson excitedly took over the questioning. He already knew of my Kenpo training, so he asked me if I knew Ed Parker personally. I, of course, said, “Yes.” Now, here’s where it gets good. His face lit up. He says, “Ed Parker was Elvis Presley’s instructor as well, right?” I again said, “Yes.” And then he said, “Ed Parker is Elvis Presley’s instructor and he’s your instructor too?” I said yes again. Don stood up, smiled, shook my hand, and walked into the other room. His manager then looked to me with a big grin on his face and said, “You’re hired.” Had I not been in Kenpo or known Ed Parker I never would have had Don Johnson as a very lucrative client. IL Isn’t that ironic? He helped get you into a great paying gig building your business and then gave you the very opportunity that took you out of it. BH Well, actually, about that time I was planning on continuing my bodyguard work but also starting my own dojo. I happened to mention this plan to Frank Trejo and Diane Tanaka casually and said of course I’ll have to get Master Parker’s blessing before leaving. Unbeknownst to me, they mentioned it to Ed Parker, knowing that he was looking for someone to take over the West LA dojo. A couple days later, he called me up to his house, and everything fell into place from there. IL If people want to learn more about you or your schools where can they find you? BH They can go to our site bryanhawkinskenpo.com . IL Great. Before we let you go, is there a story from your time working alongside Ed Parker that gives us a glimpse of the man that may not be common knowledge? BH Over the years, I met and came to know many of Master Parker’s early students from the 50’s and 60’s. Many of them are famous in their own professions, such as movie director Blake Edwards, physical fitness pioneer Terry Robinson, Hollywood columnist and screenwriter Joe Hyams. And all of them spoke of Master Parker and even referred to him as a father or older brother figure. He had a wisdom about him that seemed to be timeless. Some would describe him as an old soul. Master Parker was known for his physical side. His dynamic movement. A brutal adversary. The speed and precision, but what was really the most important part of his contributions to the arts was his mind, not his physicality. He developed a system of self-defense that made sense. Years ago, one of my early instructors Howard Silva, asked Ed Parker if he could sum up Kenpo in one word, what would it be? Without missing a beat, Mr. Parker replied, “logic.” To me, that’s really the beauty of American Kenpo. It is a sophisticated, comprehensive, and effective form of self-defense based on the logic of thought and action. IL Thanks again for taking the time to share your some of your experiences in the arts and for giving us a glimpse into your time with Grandmaster Ed Parker. BH Thank you. Salute, Ian Lauer 2nd Degree Black Belt American Kenpo 1st Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do 1st Degree Black Belt Hapkido 1st Degree Black Belt Coszacks Karate

Business self-help gurus say things like, “It is better to have $1 from 100 customers than it is $100 from one for the long-term health of your business.” Sounds smart enough. What about strikes in combat sports? Is it better to have landed a hundred scoring strikes or one significant strike? Obviously, the answer to this is going to depend on what arena the fight is in. In a sport where points are the thing, quantity is the guiding principle. But how about in MMA – where “damage” - whose definition is elusive - is the criteria? Practitioners of various martial arts have been taught some version of what Bruce Lee exemplified and popularized in Jeet Kun Do about the distinction between speed and power. Speed equating to the ability to strike or deliver attacks and techniques so rapidly that their effect is seen in how fast they can successfully be employed. This of course means they are more likely to be too fast to defend and or too numerous to counter effectively so as to impact a scorecard. With speed and quantity will also come cumulative damage if conventional wisdom holds true. You hear in fight commentary things like, “those shots add up,” or “those strikes will pay dividends later.” On the other hand (is that a pun?) is the idea of power being the preferred tool. The one-punch knockout, or the devastating fight-ending leg-kick. Where rather than trying to accumulate points or do damage on a progressive scale, there is the goal of a major consequence from a major effort. Macro vs. micro. Gross vs. fine. Instead of paying dividends, the idea is a big risk for a big reward. A one-time investment for the big payoff. Any fight fan knows there are shades within these two ends of the spectrum. A rare fighter like champ Alexander Volkanovski seems to have both tools, as was observed by the commentary booth in his recent title defense and third fight with Max Holloway. Also, there are the many times when a perfectly timed or placed strike from a normally volume-heavy striker lands and ends a fight. And there are the times when a known power-puncher has a match where he is more measured and meticulous as well. Then of course there is the non-stop commentary from fans and media making sure we all know how that should or shouldn’t happen. The ubiquitous arm-chair expert is never going to let opinions be unheard. Speaking of volume! The better coaches teach their athletes to figure out their own propensity and strengths. If someone has the natural hability to have high volume and output and the cardio to match, that will be a strength used to great effect. That thinking and style is why Michael Bisping is a champion. It might be argued that it was a knockout punch that won him the belt in his fight with Luke Rockhold, but it was years of high output that got him to that moment. On the other end of said spectrum are guys like Derrick Lewis who holds records for knockouts who thankfully has not given up that tool in favor of meticulous game planning and strategy. That is except for that one time with a current champion, in a fight that is not to be spoken of. Fight psychology is fascinating. It is intriguing to hear fighters to speak of the worst strike received not being the one that hurts the most, but the one you did not see coming. It puts a seed of doubt in your mind. Jimmy Smith, former fighter and commentator used to speak of this when on the call for Bellator fights. There is a moment of hesitation in saying internally, “what just hit me.” It is very likely why the great talk so much about feints. To get that opponent to stutter. Speed is so valuable in that. Equally effective is the fear that a guy or girl standing across from you is known to turn the lights off. No matter how many times one might say, “Anything can happen. I am not afraid,” survival instinct kicks in. Would you rather land a hundred strikes or a single one? Without question, most would say the fight-ending power-shot is preferred. But, go spend some time and watch highlights from fighters like Bisping or Nate Diaz. It is a wonder in some of those fights that the compustrike machine can even keep up. Yes, everyone loves a big homerun knockout shot. But not everyone is born with that power of a Dan Henderson or Francis Ngannou. There is a lot to be said for getting the conditioning good enough to make quantity a weapon. And we have not even talked about the same thesis in grappling! How about endless chaining together of submission attempts versus going hard and risking it all for one guillotine? Speed bags or heavy bags? Cardio or weightlifting? Quality or quantity? Lots to think about. It is not just striking where things can be done in bunches.

As October's Bullying Prevention Month winds down, Black Belt brings you one more story of someone who used the power of martial arts to overcome their issues with childhood bullying... Most boys who suffered bullying as children and went on to watch kung fu movies have had the same dream: the one where you run off to a fantastical martial arts temple to learn how to fight, to make yourself powerful and to, ultimately, turn your life around. But who actually follows through on that dream? Well Matthew Polly did. The author of the recent bestselling biography "Bruce Lee: A Life," Polly's first book was "American Shaolin." It chronicled his own childhood trauma from bullying and how he got past it in, perhaps, over-the-top fashion by going all the way to China and becoming the first foreigner to study full-time at the famed Shaolin Temple. Growing up in Topeka, Kan., Polly, 51, was a self-described skinny, dorky kid desperate to fit in with the cool kids at school. He recalled, "They liked to smack me around. They'd push me into corners, punch me or kick me. I was desperate to be liked so thought if I just hung around them long enough letting them hit me they'd get tired of it and accept me. I didn't realize at the time it wasn't working, that I was the dorky kid they just didn't want around. And because I let them hit me without fighting back, I felt like a coward." Though the physical abuse mostly stopped by high school, Polly said he was still a target of bullying through taunting and humiliation. But he'd already sensed there was a solution to his dilemma. The revelation came when he discovered the patron saint of all skinny dudes looking to stand up for themselves, Bruce Lee. "When I first watched 'Enter the Dragon' I saw that Bruce was a somewhat scrawnily built guy who'd turned himself into this amazing fighter through martial arts," he said. "I was 12 or 13 at the time and knew nothing about what martial arts were but I felt that if he could do that maybe I could, too." Matthew Polly Without a lot of martial arts instruction available in Topeka in the 1980s, Polly waited until he got to college to begin training. He attended Princeton University where he tried taekwondo, then aikido and, finally, southern-style kung fu. But after a couple of years of this, he felt just as helpless as ever and no braver. So he decided to take more drastic measures - he'd run off to study at the Shaolin Temple. This was the early 1990s, before the internet. Pretty much all most people knew - or thought they knew - about the Shaolin Temple came through popular entertainment like the original David Carradine "Kung Fu" television show. The show portrayed Shaolin as a nearly mythical Shangri La where warrior monks combined the world's deadliest fighting arts with profound philosophical enlightenment. And what bullied kid wouldn't want all that? Polly picked up and flew to China making his way to the temple in Henan Province ostensibly for academic reasons - to continue the studies in Chinese culture and Zen Buddhism he'd begun in college - but in reality to learn how to kick ass like Bruce Lee. Becoming a foreign student at the temple, he began training in traditional kung fu as all beginners did. But after a few months, he was able to switch his training to sanda, a modern style of Chinese kickboxing which allows wrestling throws. "Everyone starts with the traditional forms as an introductory class. After that you can continue with traditional kung fu, do wushu or do sanda. A lot of the movements in traditional kung fu are done more for cultural or historical reasons than for fighting, while wushu is mainly a gymnastic style," he said. "But the guys who were fighters, the ones who would sometimes go out and fight in back alleys at night, they did sanda. That's not to say the other styles couldn't be used for fighting but their techniques have to be modified for that, it's not their main purpose. But in sanda the movements are only there for hurting someone." With sanda, Polly was forced to put on boxing gloves and do what he'd always been afraid of, risk getting thoroughly punched out. Though he took his share of beatings from more experienced fighters, he learned getting beaten up wasn't the end of the world. In his book he recounts what was, for him, a turning point when he accepted a challenge match from a visiting kung fu master in order to defend the honor of the Shaolin Temple. The visiting master had wanted to fight one of the monks and Polly had flippantly offered to fight him, assuming his teacher would never allow a beginner, much less a foreigner, to represent the temple in a challenge match. "I said I'd fight, not really meaning it. But then my teacher said, 'Okay,' and I was inadvertently forced to step up and do it. Like all things in life, if you feel fear and step up to overcome that fear, you get past it," he said. Polly won the challenge match, not only proving to himself that he was no coward but even experiencing what he described as a release of warrior spirit wanting to continue fighting even after his opponent surrendered. It was not the first time he'd sparred with someone at the temple and felt a growing rumble from what he called his inner "monster." Even at the Shaolin Temple, where wude , or "martial morality," was taught as part of the training, there were some students more aggressive than others, those who would go out looking for fights. But Polly was able to quickly tame his own dark side recognizing in martial arts practice that same concern Nietzsche expressed when he warned against fighting monsters lest you too become one. "I think everyone who's ever gone into a martial arts studio has known someone who was there training for the wrong reasons. But most people doing martial arts are like myself just training to improve and protect themselves," he said. After returning home, Polly became a writer, eventually penning "American Shaolin" followed by "Tapped Out," his Plimptonesque foray into the world of mixed martial arts, and then his Bruce Lee biography. He said that, for him, martial arts training was the key to changing his life. He called it the most important thing he's ever done. And he knows others have had similar experiences, which is why he's spent so much of his career writing about martial arts. "Yes, I've monetized my childhood trauma which is as American as it gets," he joked. "And sure, I would have preferred a happier childhood but I learned you can turn your pain into something useful. Martial arts helped me do that."

Focus on “Frictionless” Customer Service. What intrigue me the most of professional organizations like MAIA, Satori System, Premier Martial Arts, PerfectMind amongst others, was their focus on front office personnel and processes. Their emphasis on ensuring a seamless process in the solicitation and on-boarding of all new students is what is making or breaking the on-going success of martial arts schools across North America, especially during these COVID uncertain times. I have attended a couple of Program Director/Front Office webinars put on by some of the aforementioned organizations and it was obvious with the level of dedication these groups have shown for this part of the business. In addition, the most successful schools were those where the Instructors and Front Office staff had a very integrated relationship, which benefited the students tremendously. To provide for a broader perspective on this increasingly important staffing requirement, we reached out to the Century Martial Arts School Owners network in order to gather some thoughts and comments from those in the know. We have interspersed their comments throughout this article primarily to reinforce the fact that the martial arts business is maturing and the Program Director position is being recognized as an integral part of these innovative and forward-looking Martial Arts schools. An Evolving Front Office Good Instructors are important and step one in the development of your school, but for the development of your business, step two is the hiring of your Program or Admissions Director. Most will be experienced sales people as well as knowledgeable administrators. It is this sales component that is all important in ensuring the success of a martial arts school, no matter how talented your martial arts instructor is. In other words, without students, a great instructor is a wasted talent. A Program Director must be comfortable in making Cold Calls, Warm Calls, Follow-Up calls as well as simple Courtesy Calls. Program Director/Admission Director is both an administrator and a salesperson all rolled up into one! School Owners: “During the day our PD answers calls, books appointments and answers questions.” “The PD is the point of contact from the time the prospect comes to their first class until they sign up.” “Our PD keeps the studio tidy between weekly professional cleanings and says Hi to anyone new who walks in.” “The PD also makes sure that uniforms are in order and that all the equipment is in its place after class.” When researching the various Program Director job descriptions, I was amazed at the level of responsibilities assigned to the position. It was obvious that the position was not only essential to the success of the business but the student’s overall development as well (See Table 1). In a one-person operation, most of the front office tasks must be handled before or after teaching classes. When your active student count is small these chores are manageable but once you get to where you are teaching more than 75 students, then you’ll find that there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all of your daily tasks by yourself! SOHO is an acronym for a small office or home office operation and a single person martial arts school is a perfect example of a SOHO. Quality Program Directors are able to professionalize all processes whereby they can transition a business from a SOHO to a SME (Small or Medium Enterprises). Unfortunately, it is well known that the demise of most SOHO businesses is the lack of professionalism which includes knowing when to delegate …. or better said, you must know when to start hiring talent! In my non martial arts career, even at the Management level, I was responsible for an immense amount of administration, which makes me a little bias towards these unsung Front Office Black Belts. While in most industries, the administration side of the business is well thought of and even seen as a cornerstone of their success, unfortunately, in the martial arts world, this part of the school’s business was initially thought of as a necessary ‘evil’ that simply needed to be done after teaching classes. It wasn’t thought of as important as it does today, and this is due to the complexity that is modern business. Having operated several schools over the past few decades (70 ’s, 80 ’s & 2000 ’s), I have seen how dramatically the Front Office or School Administrative requirements have evolved over this time. With my first school, which was run out of a church hall, we used a large briefcase with all the school and students’ details maintained within it. We would simply ensure that everyone’s student card was stamped with both attendance and Dues Payment date, usually on the same card … and little else. I have watched how the Front Office has evolved from a table in the corner of the Dojo (which usually was a rented hall or gym) to a full time and separate office/room that is now considered as important as the Dojo/Training Hall itself. The position has evolved from where all the office or administration tasks were an afterthought completed late at night, after class, to a full-time semiprofessional management position. A Management Professional Initially when a school grew to a size that basically demanded a front office person, this usually fell to the instructor’s wife, mother or significant other to manage, but not anymore. Office Management, Sales and Marketing experience matter now more than ever. In today’s Sales and Marketing oriented business models, the careful and selective use of social media is slowly becoming a fulltime position in itself. Together with maintaining accurate and comprehensive details on each student, today’s Program Director must also be a “tech expert” in order to properly manage a modern Martial Arts business. School Owners: “Most important was ability to learn to use the software which is used to keep track of the students. “ “Our PD had previously started and operated an IT consulting business.” While the Martial Arts Instructor is responsible for all motivational speeches, it is the Program Director that conducts in-depth conversations with the student (and Parents) that, over the years, also positively influences their development as a person. The saying “It takes a village to raise a child” appears to be more relevant in today’s hectic paced society. This has resulted in more families wanting to incorporate the Martial Arts school as part of their child’s “village”. This sizable responsibility can only be fully achieved through the combined effort of the school’s instructors, the Program Director, the Parents and especially the student. School Owners: “They are the real anchor of a studio and game changing so instructor can instruct.” “For us, this is our PD's main job!” “Our Program Director checks in with parents each day and keeps an eye on how each student is doing in school.” “The PD lets the instructors know when a student is being bullied at school and gives Mom's a few confidence builders to work on.” “Our PD cheers on students who are struggling and goes up to them after class to tell them how much better they did today as well as pumping out information about tournaments and events and gets everyone excited to attend.” Of course, the sales aspect of the Front Office position cannot be emphasized enough. We all agree that the ultimate salesperson for your school is the Instructor or Instructors as this is the Product you are selling. Nevertheless, as with any business just having a great product (or service) is only half the battle to success. You must market your product and the best way to do so is to get the word out there as to how great your product is. This is the strength of a qualified Program Director. Important Partner of your success Unless you are going to out-source your entire front office, any successful martial arts business almost necessitates the hiring of a Program Director type position. In fact, even if you do automate most of your administrative processes, you still need a strong front office person if you wish to create a true community minded business. In other words, when a new prospect enters your premises, does the atmosphere you have created provide for a welcoming environment? A place where people can feel included and comfortable. With most full time Instructors having to focus on the class being taught, there is little time to spend with parents and/or prospective students. This again is where the Program Director shines. Program Directors should also be knowledgeable about the Martial Art being taught as they may have to provide coverage (back-up) of any class where the normal instructor is suddenly unavailable. The level of knowledge need not be at a Black Belt level (although preferable) but should be at least at a level where they could determine which senior student could teach the class in question to ensure consistency in the student training program. School Owners: “A black belt who had been training several years prior to becoming PD.” “Our Program Director has no training until they worked here allowing them to learn our styles and knowledge unbiasedly.” “Our PD started as a white belt when hired. We asked our PD to train and are paying for that instruction because we felt that a little bit of knowledge of our training was important.” “Our PD was previously an instructor on the floor (3rd Dan).” “Our Program Director is 2nd degree black belt in an integrated style of martial arts, training for going on 11 years.” In addition, modern curriculums must be reviewed and updated regularly. The multi-talented Program Director can provide a substantial amount of useful input based on regular conversations with the students and parents. Program Directors know what is popular within the industry and where the trends are heading. There are occasions where a student or parent can take up a considerable amount of “non-class communications” which could completely disrupt an instructor’s class. These inter-actions are the responsibility of the Program Director, relieving the instructors of these administrative type issues (e.g.: monthly payment clarifications) and the stress related thereto. School Owners: “Our PD makes sure that all students are taken care of and new trials are given the best experience possible.” “Upgrades are made with the PD meeting with parents. The Program Director is the parent liaison for most activities.” “Our Program Directors are the real anchor of our studios and game changing so instructor can instruct.” “Our Program Director checks on students regularly, and engages with parents.” “The PD is very involved with parent and student communications.” “The PD is primarily responsible for the school, staff and parent relations.” One of the most important roles a Program Director has responsibility for (and one of the least appreciated) is that of an Arbitrator. When a student or more likely a parent has an issue with something that happened in class, emotions on both sides of the issue, namely the student/parent on one side and instructor(s) on the other, can sometimes get out of hand. Having a calm, experienced professional arbitrating the situation is a skill set of the Program Director which will ensures that all parties get proper representation and hopefully a satisfactory resolution. The Program Director will make certain that all issues are aired and resolved in an unbiased process. The Program Director can show the proper empathy required, ensuring that both the safety of the student and the health of the business are taken into consideration when resolving the complaint. So how best to start your process of hiring a qualified Program Director? Whether you decide to hire internally from your existing membership or externally after a proper evaluation process, one of the best places to determine what you need in your front office is to attend the MAIA Martial Arts SuperShow in Las Vegas. Even if you have already hired a Program Director, bring them to the Martial Arts SuperShow as well seeing that there are so many opportunities for a Front Office staff member to learn new Sales and Marketing strategies from experienced and knowledgeable school owners and business professionals. The administrative side of any successful business can be glamourless at times, nevertheless it is what makes or breaks a business these days, especially when considering how dramatic the business climate has been these past couple of years. With the advent of online classes and remote learning, the Program Director can be invaluable in trying to maintain a cohesive community atmosphere while satisfying both governmental and societal restrictions. Do not take for granted these modern Front Office Black Belts. Spend some time in your evaluation of the people you put into this responsible position, you’ll be glad you did, both for your personal development as well as for the success of the business.

Antonio Espinós, who has governed international karate as president of the World Karate Federation since 1998, won re-election to the post at the WKF Congress in Turkey on Tuesday. Espinós, also president of the European Karate Federation, ran unopposed earning votes from 94 of the 99 countries eligible to participate in a secret ballot. Under Espinós's leadership karate made it's Olympic debut last year in Tokyo. However, the sport was left off the roster of included events for the upcoming 2024 Paris Games and is uncertain of inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Karate has received criticism that it doesn't appeal to younger demographics and Espinós has attempted to counter this with studies touting the sport's popularity in the two upcoming Olympic host countries, France and the United States. However, he's so far failed to address concerns over the sparring competition being difficult for viewers to follow , which may ultimately keep karate out of future Olympics.