EST 1996 Traditional Shotokan Karate Association Newsletter Summer 2007 TSKA

2007 Traditional Karate Tournament By Vince Lewis, 6th Kyu My experience at the recent Traditional Karate Championships (TKC) in Livonia, MI can be described in several words: inspiring, successful, humbling and motivating. The TKC was hosted by Sensei Jerry Marrone of Metro Michigan Shotokan Karate. I had the pleasure of car pooling and rooming with Sensei, which provided another unique opportunity to talk about all things under the sky from karate to culture to politics (this was our second time traveling together to a tournament). The Chinese School of Martial Arts After checking into our hotel, Sensei and I visited Sifu Robert Brown at his dojo, the Chinese School of Martial Arts, located in Berkley, MI. Sensei and Sifu Brown met several years ago and have since developed a great relationship based upon mutual respect, love of martial arts and their desire to see traditional, fundamental martial arts flourish. Sifu Brown teaches Kung Fu, T’ai Chi and meditation for adults and Wushu for children. He is a humble master and scholar of the arts who has been an inspiration to many. In this regard, “through strength of will, martial arts, and meditation, a young man who could barely walk or read was transformed into a wise and perceptive teacher whose philosophy and principles have changed the lives of so many.” You see, Sifu Brown was born with Cerebral Palsy and is also dyslexic. But neither of these has stopped him from achieving heights few have dared to attempt. Among his many accomplishments, he has written and published numerous articles (his written work is done via dictation), produced a fifteen-part audio CD series on various philosophical/martial arts subjects, produces a weekly CD from his meditation class, and is a sought-after international lecturer. Many of us have experienced Sifu Brown’s literary skills firsthand: he is the author of the “Lesson’s in Mindfulness” program that is being used in martial arts schools worldwide to “inspire greater understanding of the philosophical and personal growth aspects of practice.” I learned from Sensei that Sifu Brown also has a voracious appetite for knowledge, who overcomes his challenge reading by absorbing between 100 and 150 audio books annually. During our visit, we had the opportunity to watch May’s promotion test for his youth Wushu class as well as the evening adult class. The Wushu test took my breath away by the level of energy, spirit and athleticism demonstrated by the youth. The adult Kung Fu class, which consisted of nearly 50 adults (on a Friday no less!), was a fast paced, super-high-energy workout focusing on a number of kihon drills and some really nasty bunkai on joint attacks and manipulation. Seeing my enthusiasm at this latter bunkai, Sensei said he’d do some of that at a future “open week” class. At the end of the adult class, Sifu Brown humbly asked Sensei Kim to impart words of wisdom to the class, which Sensei did. The respect shown to Sensei was equally, and rightfully, inspiring. During dinner, Sensei and Sifu Brown shared best practices and lessons learned on their respective testing and promotion process. This discussion helped solidify some changes Sensei had been formulating that will be phased in during the summer. Upon reflection on our visit, I was moved by several things: (1) Sifu Brown’s passion for espousing and growing traditional martial arts, (2) the spirit demonstrated by Sifu Brown’s students, (3) the reverence with which the students and parents held for the dojo (at the end of class, Sifu Brown dismissed the class and, without, any direction, ten or so student proceeded the diligently wash the dojo floor), and (4) Sifu Brown and his student’s respect for Sensei Kim. Tournament Day Saturday’s tournament was rife numerous high’s for Japanese Karate’do and one mildly and personally frightening incident. On the high note, JKD established itself as one of the premier kata, kihon and kumite dojo’s in the region. From our contingent of 25 or so entrants,

virtually everyone came home with a medal; and many were multi-medal recipients. Being the humble guy that I am, I was slightly embarrassed (but mostly prideful) by the number of times they kept announcing “first place – Japanese Karate-do, second place – Japanese Karate-do, third place – Japanese Karate-do.” I don’t know the final tally, but my gut reaction is that we placed in at least 60% of the events, with the next best dojo and very distant second. These results are a testament to Sensei’s repeated emphasis on “the basics.” Folks: the fundamentals Sensei drills into us over and over and over work! Sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated and/or tired doing the same kata hundreds of time and getting admonished by Sensei about our stance, hand position, spirit. But many of us saw firsthand the disparity between those who focus on the basics and those who don’t. I really wish more of us would participate in tournaments and/or support those who do. I was really pleased with my performance where I took first place in team kata (with my awesome partners Dennis Ossipov and Mike Moore), and second place in kata (Mike Moore took first place). My performance in kata had me really pumped up for kumite, where I really felt good about my chances to medal. Unfortunately, while ahead in my first match by at least one full point (according to Sensei Jerry Marrone), I was caught in an awkward, off balance position by my opponent, fell backward, and slammed my head on the floor; talk about a surreal (and painful) experience!. Lest any parent fear for their child, this was a rare, freak occurrence. Anyway, after a few scary moments, I was able to sit up and was administered first aid by one of Sensei Jerry Marrone’s sports therapists. I had a nice knot on my head (Dennis said I looked like a unicorn ?). Naturally, I was disappointed that I couldn’t continue competing in individual competition. Moreover, this knocked Dennis, Mike and me out of the team kumite competition. Believe me, I did think about returning to the competition, at least until the therapist recommended against it. In spite of my disappointment, I was inspired by several events: (1) Eric White beat the guy who put me out of the competition, (2) Mike Moore took the gold medal in our division, and (3) the encouragement and well-wishes of all my dojo family, especially the teenagers (this is a true example of the values espoused at JKD). On the other hand, the guy how knocked me out of the tournament showed a total lack of class… he never exhibited any concern over what had happened. In fact, it was me who approached him to let him know I was ok. However, as many of us came to witness, this was par for the course for his dojo. In this regard, after another member of his dojo was ejected for inappropriate contact after stoppage, all of their competitors displayed an utter lack of respect by walking out of the gym. That night after the tournament, about fifteen of us got together at Olive Garden for dinner. It was a great time of fellowship and rejoicing over our success that day. We capped off the weekend with breakfast Sunday morning with Tasha and Kit James, and Mike Moore. Final Thoughts As I reflect on the weekend, I feel truly blessed to train at Japanese Karate-do. We practice traditional, fundamental karate that focuses on “the basics,” we’re developing lifelong friendships built on the blood, sweat and tears associated with hard training, and, lastly, we are trained by a Sensei and Sempai’s who are committed to making us not just proficient karateka, but to making us responsible and valued members of society. I continue to grow and learn from every tournament. I have two “lessons learned” from my two tournaments that I’m looking forward to applying in my next tournament. Although used in a much more serious context, I want to close by encouraging you with some words the great former slave and abolitionist Fredrick Douglas regarding overcoming challenges: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress”. Ouss! Back to contents