Starting in 1972 as a mere lad of 13 a traditional Asian martial art (mostly Japanese) has occupied most of my time. My initial training was in Karate at what I would call a "belt mill". You paid your money you got your belt. It was a short time, but it peaked my interest. After the death of my mother a move was made to Escondido California. It was here my passion for traditional martial arts started. First with a school security guard that ran an impromptu Aikido class. It is an indication of how even the smallest classes if the right instructor is present can be of real value. It prompted me to look harder for a full time training opportunity and really started me on a path that continues today.

I found a local Tae Kwon Do school in Escondido and began training in earnest. This was long before the sport Tae Kwon Do so popular today and was an excellent start to my traditional training. This was an American Tae Kwon Do association dojo allowing me to train several nights a week, something that occurred all through high school. As I completed High school a move to a small town in Northern California for a job landed me in some personal training with an American Tae Kwon Do Association instructor that also happened to be a Green Beret. It was an excellent time and not only hard work but practical, resulting in my first black belt. As is often the case this rank left me the impression I had some clue as to what I was doing. That misconception was to get cleared up rather painfully.

After a visit to my sisters in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1978 a move was in order. Mostly for the job market, but the skiing was a bonus. The YMCA had an affordable program and the Karate school came with the membership so it was time to check out the instructor. It was here my path to excellence and true martial arts training began under Sensei Dean Harris; along with a rather rude awakening as to the differences that exist between "black belts". Our first meeting was cordial followed by an arrogance displayed by this young blackbelt. An arrogance quickly humbled by a short but effective Kumite session. The difference between those wearing a black belt became quickly evident after having to repeatedly pick myself up from the floor. It was accomplished with a smile on his face that remains seared into my mind to this day. With a battered and bruised ego as well as a few body parts a return to the next class was in order, this time with some humility. That belt was removed and replaced the next day with a white belt as well as a a new beginning.

Harris Sensei embodied the essense of traditional ways yet did so in a manner that meshed with modern society. He also opened the door to a couple of new worlds for me. As an experienced Judoka I was not only able to train to the Black Belt level in Karate with Harris Sensei, but Judo as well. An accomplished Aikijitsu blackbelt, much of that training was introduced also. It made the point that traditional does not mean closed minded. It is not that what you do is any better, it is just what you do. Closing your mind to other arts only limits your progression. A closed mind is just that, closed. Since historically many of the more traditional arts incorporated other arts at the advanced levels it can be puzzling when they denegrate schools that do. It is just something that has been lost over the years , mostly due to commercialism, and a pure lack of dedication in many cases. It is no easy task for sure and many systems have abandoned the process. It is sad as it embodied what many traditional systems believed, that no single skill set is the "best". It is a mind set that has served me well for many years. It spurred me on to train extensively in other arts such as Aikido and Akijutsu and put me on the path I follow to this day. It served me not only as a martial artist, but as a police officer, SWAT sergeant and tactical commander.

Sensei Harris still teaches in Maryville Illinois at the Golden Tiger Dojo. Although we have lost touch over the years he is still the single most significant influence on what I have done with the martial arts. His dedication to excellence was unsurpassed. He is not only an excellent instructor but an excellent person, and skilled martial artist. He set me on what I know now to be the correct path for training.

Harris Sensei ended up moving to St. Louis for his job leaving me with a dojo to run. In order to better support the dojo a move was made to a larger system and affiliation. This brought me to the Statewide Karate League based in Honolulu Hawaii. This move started with substantial training with Carlton Tanaka in Pocatello Idaho. Tanaka Sensei was actually one of Dean's early instructors. After a year or more of travel back and forth to Idaho training many times for ten hours a day a trip to Hawaii for testing was made. After the test and some excellent training my dojo and I were accepted into the system. The SKL later became the International Karate League and many trips for training to Hawaii were made providing some of the best memories of my life. Walter Nishioka, Shihan and founder of the school is truly a martial arts treasure as well as a wonderful man. The atmosphere is amongst the most conducive to hard work and fellowship I have ever encountered. It embodies some of what I refer to as the traditions of hard work and dedication critical to tradional training but without the mysticism, racism, and other "isms" that populate much of the Japanese martial arts world.

After running the IKL Utah dojo for 15 years and attaining the rank of Yondan (4th Degree) the dojo was turned over to one of my students so my professional carreer as a police officer could be completed. Sensei Martin Hing runs that dojo to this day and has made it one of the most successful dojo's in the system. I still get to teach the Black Belt classes and mess with his students on an occasional class night. I also study at my office where a personal dojo is set up. The Internationl Karate League has been a part of my life for 25 plus years and will be for many more. But, as things often come full circle it was during this time Sensei Hing introduced me to traditional Kendo, an art I study to this day, and will do so until I no longer can. It is a prime example of how as an instructor we can learn from our students.

While running the Karate dojo some time was spent with Corella Sensei in Phoenix Arizona training in Araki Ryu Iaido. Bob Corella is an excellent instructor and a truly good man. He really is what a martial arts instructor should be. Over the course of about three years a true love for the art of Iaido was kindled. As is often the case, dojo politics precluded my continued travel from Salt Lake City to train as well as politics and some serious costs at the system level. Driving once a month to Phoenix to train for three days was costly, but worth it. But as dues were added for classes I would never attend, and fees for the "system" it just became too costly to continue. But, the seed had been planted, all that was needed was a means to train without the politics or the costs.Thanks to Hing Sensei that opportunity was made possible.

This brings me to today, really another beginning for me. Currently my training in Kendo occupies a large part of my training time. David Diguangco Sensei is passing on the remnants of a truly raditional school or "Ha" of pre-war Kendo. Sakurai Ha Kendo consists of Iaido, Boken Kata, and Shinai Kendo. We train at the Columbus Community Center in the city of South Salt Lake on Wednesday nights. Diguangco Sensei's instructor, Dr. Kotaka trained as a young boy in Japan under mostly a family style. He brought that with him to Ohio where he was a professor. Diguangco Sensei trained under Kotaka for many years. I have never met Kotaka in person, but have watched video of his Kendo and it is amazing. It is neither modern Kendo nor is it sport oriented. It also has no affiliation, something for which I am eternally grateful. The Kendo world can be the epitome of titles, arrogance, and stratification. Somehow if you are not affiliated with some national organization you are not training in "real Kendo"? It is a sort of "mental illness" that populates many of the traditional arts. Interesting when you consider the true history of most of these arts is populated by family systems that never were, nor ever will be "recognized". History also makes clear that many of these "systems" were started by people that left another "system" due to the same politics. Unfortunately that just seems to be the nature of the beast. All you can do is ignore it and train. There is no better remedy to the politcs and turmoil that surrounds these things than a long and hard training session.

Systems and affiliation can often be about recognition, but it is not about recognition and never should be. In my almost 40 years of training often the least valuable training can be the most organized. It is not that strong organizations cannot provide excellent training, it is simply that many non-recognized schools provide the same or better training without the politics, ego, jockying for position, and arrogance that goes with it. Some of the best teachers eschew that garbage and choose to simply teach their art. In fact, many of the most popular Karate systems were started by those who broke off to avoid just such issues. Those can easily be some of the best places to train and the hardest to find. You may not get a peice of paper with the training, or at least one that is recognized outside the dojo, but if that is what you want you are there for the wrong reasons to begin with. Affiliation does not legitimize training just as wishing to stay unaffiliated does not ilegtimize it. It often becomes about the system and neither the art or the people in it. That it seems, is simply the normal course of events as organiztions grow.

For many, that piece of paper is what provides the satisfaction that what you have been doing is "real", and that is fine. But that is not for everyone, myself included. I have a bunch of those, most of them are in a box somewhere. They have never really done anything but take up space. The training on the other hand has shaped my life, and has on more than one occasion saved it and that is how it should be.

This will be a large part of my continued training. As a professional writer I am privelaged to have people read what I write. I hope to use this site to pass on my experiance, and some of the best things traditional training can provide. Hopefully it will send someone else on a life long journey that is shaped by people like Dean Harris, Walter Nishioka and David Diguangco.

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