The actual ability to Iight appears to have a

'disconnect with traditional martial arts

training according to the non-traditionalists.
Many oI the street-Iighting styles indicate that
the traditional styles are void oI practical
application. Having started my training in 1958,
I have seen numerous changes in the martial arts
world over these many decades. In the beginning
there was a mysterious Iorbidden Iruit` sort oI
understanding oI these Ioreign ways. The
average person could not or did not have the
patience or desire to learn something that was
somewhat mythical. I remember bullies who
tried to pick on me, saying that I Iight like a
'girl because I kicked instead oI simply using
my Iists. I was very proud to Iight like a girl and
remember thinking a girl Iighter was the
ultimate Iighter based upon these old Iashioned
comments.
When I was in the 5th grade, 3 guys grabbed me
across the street Irom the local bowling alley
which was located about 2 blocks Irom school.
They didn`t like me because my Iamily was very
poor and I wore shabby clothes and hand-me-
down shoes that I got Irom the Boys Club (yes
in those days it was not the boys and girls club).
I didn`t have a Iather and my mother worked at a
small coIIee shop Ior $18 per month plus tips.
The only way we were able to eat was those tips.
The rent Ior our house was about $60 per month
and it was always a struggle. I had a job aIter
school to help pay the bills.
Anyway, back to the situation across Irom the bowling alley; two boys held me and one started punching me in
the Iace. I grabbed his groin and squeezed with the tenacity oI a bull rider trying to get my 8 seconds in beIore
the buzzer. These boys were all a year older than me and the boy screamed so loud that the bowling alley
manager rushed over to stop it and basically pull me oII. I had survived this attack with some Ilare and style.
The Iollowing year I went to another school and didn`t see those boys until we went to junior high school the
Iollowing year. I met with each oI those boys individually and gained their respect by beating each in a Iair Iight.
The last boy, the leader oI the pack, met me at school and I was suspended Ior a Iew months Ior Iighting at
school. As I Iound out, it`s not a good idea to ever Iight at school or at work Ior that matter. It`s always better to
walk away with a smile on your Iace knowing that ugliness was averted.
My mother sent me to live with my Uncle Bill. He was the one who was responsible Ior introducing me to
martial arts 7 years earlier. My uncle lived in Holden, Missouri, a small town where most oI the residents lived
on small ranches or Iarms on 1 plus acre parcels. My uncle was a pretty religious man who had turned to the
Mormon religion and married a girl who was oI that Iaith. I mention this because oI how I Ielt my uncle would
react to things and how wrong I was.
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My uncle was short only about 5`4 tall and very muscular. He held brown belts in both karate and judo that
he learned while in the Army stationed in Germany in the late 1950s. I had and still have a great deal oI
respect and love Ior him. Now back to the story; I went to school in this strange place or at least it was
strange to me. The students were diIIerent than those in Oklahoma or Kansas in that they liked diIIerent
things than I was used to. The boys were in knitting classes and they weren`t Iriendly to new-comers or
maybe it was just how I remember it.
I didn`t Iit in; no one would be my Iriend. I would have to sit out in PE, since I was not chosen to play on any
team and had to eat alone in the caIeteria. One oI the boys kept picking on me in the line while waiting to get
our lunch. He would tell me that iI he couldn`t kick my butt, he`d cry, I replied by saying that he should start
balling like a baby right then and there. He was not amused, but I was!
One day I was in study hall in the library and was squatting down looking Ior a book, when this girl leaned
over and asked what I was looking Ior. As she leaned over she was wearing a pendant on a chain and she was
really cute, so Ior some reason, I can`t explain, I reached up and grabbed the pendant, pulled her down
towards me and gave her a little kiss on the mouth. She smiled and I thought, that was a good move on my
part and I was Ieeling sort oI manly.
The next day while I was sitting out as usual during PE in the gym; the door burst open and in walks this
'Ionzy-type dude complete with the greased back hair, leather jacket and chain hanging Irom his pocket. He
had a bigger Iriend with him and he walked over to me and said 'I heard you were messing with my girl. I
said 'I don`t know what you are talking about he replied by saying that someone saw me kiss her in the
library. I said 'maybe you need to talk to her and not me. I said 'iI she`s your girl, she`s your problem. He
pushed me and said 'we`re going to Iight.
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OI course by now all
the kids in PE were
watching and thought
that this guy Irom high
school was going to
give me a beating and
they were laughing and
happy about it. I told
the guy to go talk to her
and he started to push
me again and I hit him
pretty hard in the side
oI the jaw. He went
down like a stone in a
deep pond. He was out
and I looked at his
stunned Iriend and said
'are you next? He
said, 'She`s not my
girlIriend. He helped
wake up his Iriend and
they leIt. All oI a
sudden the other guys
were asking me to play
on their team. I guess I
was now accepted in
some weird way.
Things were Iinally
palatable Ior me and I
thought I`d be ok until
the end oI the school
year. That was short-
lived, since the one kid
in the lunch line would
not stop with the
taunting. One day on
the bus ride home he
was sitting towards the
Iront oI the bus next to
his sister when he yelled back to me saying 'come up here so I can kick your butt. I said 'why don`t you come
back here. He walked towards me and as he got close, I stood up and hit him in the mouth; he Iell back holding
onto the seat rails to keep Irom Ialling on the Iloor, so I continued to hit him over and over again. Blood was all
over his Iace and his sister was screaming at me. The bus driver stopped the bus and separated us. The bus
driver made me sit in the seat right behind him. I thought I was in big trouble now and my uncle was probably
going to beat me up when he heard about this. To say the least, I was saddened by this turn oI events.
I dreaded telling my uncle about the Iight; however, as it turns out I didn`t have to, since by the time I had
mustered up enough courage to tell him, the phone rang. It was the parents oI the boy that I was Iighting with. I
listened as my uncle calmly told the man on the other end oI the phone how his son kept picking on his nephew
(I had mentioned a Iew times how this boy was picking on me). My uncle said that the boy got what he
deserved. Then my uncle said something so out oI character, I was a bit shocked. He told the man on the phone
in an elevated voice that he`d be happy to come over and teach him manners iI necessary!
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My uncle explained to me that he went through something similar when he Iirst came to Missouri and he
understood what I was dealing with. UnIortunately I was asked to leave the school and my uncle had to send
me back to Oklahoma to live with my mother. OI course in those days we didn`t have cell phones and quick
communications. My mother had no phone and my uncle assumed I`d simply walk Irom the bus station to my
house about 15 blocks away and be at home.
I was 11 years old when I got oII the bus downtown. I had an old suitcase in my hand and I headed to my
house. When I Iinally got there, the house was empty. The Iamily had moved. I asked the neighbors iI they
knew where my Iamily moved to and they said they didn`t know. I was now on my own, with a dollar or so in
my pocket, I searched Ior my Iamily. It took 3 weeks to Iind them. I slept under small over crossing bridges
and in empty train cars. I had to be very careIul to spend the very minimum amount oI money Ior Iood. When
I did run out oI money, I gathered 'pop bottles Ior reIunds at the local store and was able to get enough
money to keep going.
When I Iinally Iound out where my Iamily moved, I was very disappointed that they were living in a shack in
an alley near the restaurant where my mother had recently started working. This little one room shack had tin
walls and a tin rooI with no kitchen sink. We had to wash dishes in the bathroom sink. I got a job at the boys
club working the basket room Ior the gym and also mowing lawns as well as selling hotdogs at the local
Iootball games every weekend. I was able to get $60 together to rent a house around the corner that had 3
bedrooms and 1 bath. I moved the Iamily in and we lived there until we move to CaliIornia in 1967.
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OI course my karate training came in handy every
time I had to Iight one oI my mother`s many
boyIriends over the years. I was a kid, Iighting these
grown up men that were abusing my mother and we
had some pretty knock down drag out Iights. I never
cried and I never lost a Iight, none that I`d admit to
anyway. In my mind I always prevailed. I was
promoted to shodan (1
st
degree black belt) in 1966 by
Sensei Joe Spriggs, 8 years aIter I started training. I
went Irom white belt to black belt and there were no
color belts at all.
In CaliIornia, we had a Iresh start and I continued to
train by myselI. I was aIraid that iI I Iound a karate
school, it would be so diIIerent they`d laugh at me or
would not even let me train. Just beIore I joined the
Marine Corps, I had a very large and very tough Iight
with my mother`s boyIriend, Bob, who was a
blackbelt in judo. He was an ok guy but I Iound some
pills in my mother`s purse when she asked me to get
something out oI it Ior her. I recognized them Irom
pills one oI my school acquaintances showed me
once and they were meth tablets. I conIronted her and
she told me that they were her boyIriend`s pills he
had given to her to hold Ior him. I Iigured she was
telling me the truth, since she didn`t even smoke or
take any kind oI medicine.
One night, I had a date, I was 16 years old and my little brother wanted to go with me on my date. I said no and
told him to stop asking. All oI a sudden Bob came up Irom behind and put me in a choke hold with both hands
around my neck. I Iound out he was upset with me over the pill episode. At this point, I was looking at my
mother`s Iace as I was being choked out then I reached up, released the pressure Irom his arm and threw him
over my shoulders where he landed on his back. He instantly jumped up and hit me as hard as he could and I
Ilew into the wall in the hall about 10 Ieet away. I came right back and started punching him back when he
grabbed me and we Ilew into the lamp smashing it and as I got back up and started to continue, he said 'get
out. I leIt and when I came home later, he met me at the door, telling me that he had been in many Iights; since
he was a member oI the Hells Angles. He went on to say this was the best Iight he ever had. He said I was a real
challenge and he apologized. I accepted his apology and Ielt like I was Iinally starting to get some respect as a
young adult.
I joined the Marine Corps, since I graduated Irom school early by taking and passing some challenge courses.
My grandmother called the recruiter to talk me into joining. I did my time, spent 5 months over seas and was
TAD in Okinawa in 1970 Ior a tournament in Naha at the Kadena Air Force Base. I took Iirst place in kumite
and in kata. I also spent some time in Cambodia on an LP (listening post) where I hurt both my knees and
received an early discharge as an honorably discharged disabled veteran.
During these years, I continued my training and met my Shorin-ryu teacher in Hawaii, Miyagi Sensei. At this
time there were a Iew known styles and as the years passed, I have noticed all oI these other styles, many
claiming to be around Ior a long time. There are those who pretend to teach mystical no-touch stuII, Iancy
mixtures with many pieces oI pure arts and 'street Iighting methods that promise to make you a killing
machine.
35
I Iind it interesting that I keep hearing about street Iighting as compared to a 'martial art. That is one oI the
silliest things I`ve ever heard, since I`ve been in many Iights and it has almost always been on the street or an
ally or hallway or building or sidewalk or somewhere other than a dojo. Should all these styles be called ally
Iighting, hallway Iighting or sidewalk Iighting? So many times the new-Iangled styles are nothing more than
parts oI other proven 'arts without beneIit oI all the tuite` Bunkai, kata as well as mind and body connection
and time-required preparation. Sometimes a new style was designed to give some sort oI power to a selI-
serving power hungry egotist with a narcissistic personality.
In the end and aIter nearly 55 years oI training, I believe that there are some very good combined styles and
reasons Ior creating them, however, there is a huge void oI humble, modest yet noble patriarchs oI the martial
arts that so many oI us love!
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