When it comes to putting martial theories to the test, Loren is a model example for how to do intelligently and effectively.

 For anyone who likes to augment their training with practical books or videos, Loren is likely already in your library. He has worked on projects such as "On Combat", "Warrior Mindset", and "Solo Training" (among many others). He is a frequently utilized resource for police training programs and has become a respected voice in the realm of conflict resolution.

Having started in traditional arts and expanding his experience across multiple systems, Loren provides a mature and proven voice for people of all backgrounds to learn from. Please enjoy the following Q&A session as I ask Loren about his background, his theories on combat, and his most recent writing projects.

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Q&A

MA: Thanks for agreeing to participate Loren. Your bio states that you started your martial training in 1965. Could you tell us what inspired you to get involved at that time, and what your first art was?

LC: I was 19 when I began training. When I was 18, I broke my back in a weight lifting accident and had to wear a brace. The doctor told me to stop lifting but I had to do something with my teenage energy. So my buddy and I went to check out this new thing called karate and I was hooked from the first day. I couldn’t kick for a while because of my damaged spine, but I kept working at it until I could lift one leg, then the other, then kick shin high, and then knee high. In a few months, I was kicking as well as the other new students.

My first fighting art was called kong-su, a Korean system that was heavily influenced by the Japanese fighting arts. I stayed with this style until I went into the Army in 1967.

MA: Could you provide us with a brief timeline of when you enlisted in the military, when you began your career as a police officer, and when you attained your Bachelor of Science degree?

LC: I entered the Army in 1967, serving with the Military Police. I spent a year in the Florida Everglades as an MP dog handler, and then went to Washington DC to take a crash course in the Vietnamese language, and finally to Vietnam where I was an MP in Saigon.

I got out of the service in 1970 and joined the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau in 1972. I worked many jobs on the PD, to include patrol, gang enforcement, dignitary bodyguard, defensive tactics instructor, and Intelligence. I retired in 1997.

I took night courses early on and graduated from Portland State University in 1980. Earlier, I graduated from Clark College in Washington with a major in theater.

MA: Your experience includes 11 black belts in three different fighting arts. Could you talk a bit about these three arts and who you trained under?

LC: My emphasis of study has been primarily in the kick/punch arts, secondly the grappling arts, and thirdly the stick/knife arts. My goal is to develop skill in all four ranges: arnis stick range, kicking range, hand range, and close-quarter range, which includes grappling. Many fighting styles don’t cover all these ranges. For example, some jujitsu fighters have poor to nonexistent kicking and punching skills, and some kicking arts contain very little if any grappling. That’s a weakness. In my view, martial arts study is about striving to eliminate or at least minimize weaknesses.

In the kick/punch arts, I’ve studied karate, taekwondo, Muay Thai, boxing, and kung fu. In the grappling arts, I’ve studied aiki jujitsu, chin-na, police defensive tactics, and a little aikido. In the stick/knife arts, I’ve studied arnis. My objective over the last many years of training has been to incorporate, based on my 29 years of street experience in law enforcement, only what I know is useful for street self-defense.

I’ve been awarded belts from Master Bruce Terrill, Professor Duke Moore, Soke Tim Delgman, and Professor Remy Presas.

In 2011, I was inducted into the martial arts Masters Hall of Fame in Anaheim California and given the Golden Life Achievement award.

MA: How has your martial training intermingled with your military and police career? Were you forced to train after hours (off-duty), or did most of your combat training come from those establishments?

LC: I had already been training in the martial arts before I went into the military. I trained a lot in the Army, mostly on my own or with a few guys I taught, though I did take a little Shotokan when I was stationed in Florida. In Vietnam, I didn’t train at all, but as an MP I got into countless brawls, sometimes several a shift. That was probably one of the most intense learning experiences in all my years in the martial arts.

After I got out of the service, I picked up my martial arts training where I left off. In 1972, I joined the police bureau and trained and taught before or after I went to work. A year into the job, I was assigned to teach cops defensive tactics and went on to develop a program that they still use in part today.

Except for police defensive tactics, my martial arts training was always separate from police work, though I used it on the job a few hundred times.

MA: What inspired you to begin your lifelong search for practicality in training? Was it a specific moment, or more a general need due to your hazardous occupations?

LC: I was not satisfied with my fighting ability as an MP in Saigon. The city during the war years was one of the most dangerous in the world and the MPs were smack in the middle of it. For several months, I worked a walking beat with seven others, four Vietnamese police and three American MPs. At 6-feet tall and 195 pounds, I was the smallest, chosen by the brass because of my martial arts skills.

Walking into bars, massage parlors, alleys, night clubs, and along sidewalks crowded with drunken military guys and Vietnamese criminals exposed us to a lot of fighting. I found that my robot-like karate movements—deep stances, punching from the hip, inside and outside blocks, and so on—that I had been taught in my Korean/Japanese traditional style did not work well for me. Now others might have done fine with it, but I had trouble adapting it to ugly street reality. So I promised myself that if I survived Vietnam, I would spend the rest of my martial arts career studying reality-based fighting techniques. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

My early karate style emphasized competition sparring with all the associated drills. I discovered in Vietnam and confirmed later in police work that few fights go down like a sparring match. Most of the scuffles, fights, and all-out brawls that I was involved in exploded in an instant, so quickly that there was no time to assume an on-guard stance, let alone move about and stalk one another.

I did develop from all those countless reps in my early karate training, tremendous power, especially in my reverse punch. On one occasion in Saigon, a Marine jumped me during a raid on a brothel and in the course of our struggle I punched him in the chest with a hard reverse punch. He fell instantly but then went into cardiac arrest. It was a long night waiting to see if he would live. He did.

The incident bothered me for a long while after and was one of my motivations to later develop safer control techniques for law enforcement, safer for cops and safer for the bad guys. When I was in the MPs, we didn’t have such a thing.

MA: Who were your biggest influences as you attempted to improve your abilities and grow into a more complete warrior?

LC: Early on, my influences were tournament champions, guys like Louis Delgado, Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, and many others. I got to see these guys fight several times and I always went away hyped. In 1968 or 1969, I saw Bruce Lee at a tournament on the East Coast. He was a guest star attraction and was coaching Louis Delgado. I watched Lee train him for a while and was floored at Lee’s incredible speed. He told a bunch of us that he had just made a movie called Marlowe and was on his way to Hong Kong to make a few more. I remember thinking, he ought to do well. He did, didn’t he?

In street-reality martial arts, the slant I’ve taken for the last 40 years, I admire the writings of Marc MacYoung, Kelly McCann, and Melissa Soalt.

MA: When did writing become a part of your life? Was there a particular impetus that got you started, or have you always been a journal writer of sorts?

LC: I started writing when I was about 12. I loved hearing my stuff read in front of the class and the positive reinforcement I got at home. In the Army I wrote a filler for Reader’s Digest, took the $75 payment, and bought a typewriter upon which I wrote my first book.

In the 1980s, I began writing regularly for the martial arts magazines. I wrote another book in 1987 and have been working with five different book publishers since. After 45 nonfictions on a variety of subjects, I recently signed a deal to write a police/martial arts fiction series. The first one came out last month, Dukkha: The Suffering.

MA: You’ve authored many influential books, and “On Killing”, “On Combat”, and “Warrior Mindset” are an exceptional trio. I understand they weren’t originally created as a trilogy, but they certainly do build on one another. What was it like working with other top professionals like Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Michael J Asken?

LC: While I didn’t write "On Killing" I did coauthor "On Combat"and "Warrior Mindset". I had just seen Lt. Col. Dave Grossman on CNN or one of those news programs when his assistant called me and said that the Col was on hold to talk to me. It was like surreal. I’m looking at the TV and looking at the phone and looking back at the TV again. Anyway, the Col told me he liked my book "Deadly Force Encounter" that I cowrote with a police psychologist and that he had an idea for one called "On Combat". He wanted me to write the first draft based on his talks, a monstrous box of notes, transcripts, and anything I wanted to include. Then he would add his touch and I would edit it. I agreed and 31 months later we had a completed book, which has been a best seller since 2003.

About three years ago, police psychologist Dr Mike Askens met with Col. Grossman to talk about doing a book that would be called "Warrior Mindset", its target audience cops, military, and martial artists. The Col didn’t have time so he hooked up Dr Askens with me. We humped it for a year and it was published a while after.

Both of these fine men possess great minds, far greater than mine. What I brought to the jobs was experience in a war, police work, the martial arts, and an ability to write and make the manuscript readable to the target audience.

MA: Sometimes traditional artists realize they need to refocus on practicality and not get too lost in the “trappings” of traditionalism. For individuals such as that, what could you recommend to get them on the right track?

LC: First they would have to know that they are lost in the trappings. Others might be perfectly happy functioning this way because they enjoy learning the culture and the art. And that’s fine. For others who want to go beyond this and examine, say, reality-based training, they either have to leave the traditional school, if it’s not satisfying that need, and seek out a street-oriented system. If that isn’t an option then they need to seek learning on their own.

For the latter, I would suggest going to youtube and watching the kuhzillion videos there that show real fights. Then ask, how does this relate to what I’m learning? Will my stuff work in the barbaric chaos that I’m seeing over and over in these videos? What do I know that would work well in these situations? What do I know that wouldn’t?

Tough to do? Oh yes. No one wants to admit that all the time they’ve spent training just might not save their bacon when the caca hits the fan.

Another approach for the person who feels lost in traditional trappings is to take a new look at what they do know. Consider a block and reverse punch. It works great when the opponent steps in and throws a stylized karate punch. But how will that block and punch work in the following places (all of which I’ve fought people):

•    on stairs
•    in a car
•    on your back
•    in a corner
•    in a closet
•    on your knees
•    on a cluttered floor
•    on the side of an embankment
•    in a toilet stall
•    between a bed and a wall
•    in a crowd

If your material right now doesn’t work in these places, you better seek out something that does or work real hard to make what you do know, work.

MA: Could you discuss how the warrior mindset is similar/dissimilar for soldiers, police, and civilians?

LC: This is the subject of about 700 combined pages in "On Combat" and "Warrior Mindset". So let me just give you my definition of a warrior mindset.

Mine is broader than limiting warrior or warrior mindset to cops, soldiers and martial artists. For example, I think a single mother who holds down three jobs to feed her kids and fights to keep neighborhood drug pushers and drug members away from her children is in possession of a powerful warrior mindset. I think a soft-bellied computer geek who steps in front of a bully to protect a weaker person is a warrior.

In short, anyone who goes toward the sound of gunfire (“gunfire” can be a bully, a drug pusher, a corporation, and the government when it’s wrong) while everyone else flees is, in my opinion, a warrior. Another definition that is similar is: One who does what needs to be done.

MA: One of the biggest obstacles in real conflict is getting passed the “amygdala hijack” and handling flight/fight/freeze. What do you recommend to students in order to better manage that aspect of the body’s natural response?

LC: First, you must do stress training, such as bulletman and model mugging. Don’t just beat the padded people but create realistic scenarios. Of course, there is always that thought that this isn’t real, but it’s still possible to get an adrenaline surge and jack the heart rate up so that can see how you function under such conditions. I know of cops who practice simunition training—sort of like paintball but the “bullet” impact hurts more—who have recorded heart rates close to 300 beats a minute. Remember, you start losing your fine-motor skills around 140 beats a minute. By the way, this is accelerated heart rate caused by stress and red-hot adrenaline; it’s not the same accelerated heart rate as when you run around the block.

Second, practice mental imagery where you imagine in your mind and in your body a high-stress situation. Mental imagery is different than visualization because the former uses all your senses to see, hear, smell, feel and touch all the elements of an assault, car jack, whatever. This is a powerful tool that is being used by everyone from Olympic athletes, to SWAT guys, to troops in Afghanistan. Not to plug a book, but we talk about this at length in Warrior Mindset.

MA: With the increase of communication through the internet, television, books, etc., “trolling” has become a huge part of modern martial arts culture. Trolling entails all of the typical my-art-vs-your-art, you-don’t-know-squat, angry forum thread behavior. Have you encountered this kind of behavior since you’ve begun publishing, and how have you handled it?

LC: Not much. I do what I call an ego check ever so often to see what people are saying. I haven’t encountered anything too terrible. Anytime you put yourself out there you have to be ready for negative comments and all-out ugliness from unpleasant people. It’s simply the way some people are and it will never change. So you have to develop a tough skin and don’t make them important to you.

MA: Speaking of publishing, you recently expanded your resume to include martial arts fiction writing. Could you tell us a bit about your newest (first) novel, Dukkha: The Suffering?

LC: Here is the teaser.

Police Detective Sam Reeves, a 34-year-old martial arts instructor, has a solid fifteen-year record as a good police officer with the Portland Police Department. For the first time, Sam is forced to take a life in the line of duty and despite the findings of “good shoot” he struggles to recuperate psychologically from the killing.

Facing up to his fears Sam returns to work and then within days is forced to fire his weapon again— killing two more people. With his spirit almost broken, Sam meets a stranger… a man who claims to be his father, who Sam has always believed to have died in a North Vietnamese prison camp a long time ago. This odd man, named Samuel, is as convincing as he is quirky and is revealed to be a phenomenal martial artist, the likes of which Detective Sam Reeves has never encountered. This ‘Samuel’ comes out of nowhere, equipped with a family in Vietnam and a daughter named Mai who is about to graduate from Portland State University.

With a series of interlocked events of violence: a revenge-seeking uncle, the destruction of his martial arts school, his new father’s connection to some lethal Vietnamese outlaws, Sam’s life spirals into a dreadful new direction.

MA: Was it difficult to let go of the hard research of non-fiction and embrace the open landscape of fiction?

LC: I actually did as much if not more research for Dukkha than I have for other books. For example, for the first two fiction books, I’ve been helped by a medical physician, two Vietnamese, an Apache, several soldiers, three psychologists, two experts on weaponry, a SWAT officer, a teenager, and two patrol officers. Oh, and Google. The stories would not be as real and accurate as reviewers are saying without these good friends.

MA: Should we be expecting more books in this series?

LC: Yes. The second one is completed and being edited and I’m a few pages into the third.

MA: Thanks again for your time! Where can people reach you if they have any questions or want access to some of your work?

LC: Thank you. I can be contacted through my website at www.lwcbooks.com

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I hope you enjoyed this session with Loren Christensen. He has a great way of providing reality checks for anybody's training, and does so in a manner that promotes learning over ego.

If you'd like to hear even more from Loren, friend of the site Patrick Parker also has an interview with Loren at Mokurendojo.com. Patrick asks a different set of intriguing questions and focuses on some of Loren's other written works.

As you might recall, I decided to work with a private company called Ooshirts for this giveaway. Ooshirts.com specializes in T-shirt printing, and here is the result from the ikigaiway project:

Since receiving the shirts, I have reached out to all three randomly selected winners of the contest. If you didn't hear from me, unfortunately it means you didn't have a lucky draw - but don't worry, there will be more giveaways in the future!

I'd like to take a moment and express my appreciation for the quality of easy process provided by Ooshirts. Their website is very intuitive, and made the design process a snap. I didn't have any issues with file type or size or formatting. Many of the hair pulling elements of working with online design were carefully avoided by Ooshirts.

The company also utilizes a friendly, hands-on customer service method. They provide free review of design by their internal graphic designers, who guide you and alert you to any complications that might arise BEFORE they go about printing.

Check em out, and thanks again to everyone involved.

Low Tech Combat is a great site focused on applicable, scientific means of self defense proven through study and case scenarios. I've always enjoyed Adam's work there and was pleased to represent some of the traditional side. Although I hardly speak for everyone, I felt like it was a good chance to discuss the differences between classical and traditional training, and how valuable each can be to real self defense.

Less discussed is the role parents play in the development of young martial artists. The decision making of parents can drastically alter the length, quality, and value of a student's training.

Over the years I've gotten to interact with parents of all variety; their priorities in the dojo have been just as varied. Some parents consider martial art training a convenient alternative to day care. After all, in martial arts the child gets physical activity and regimented social interaction. These parents will generally use the dojo as a drop off point while they attend to matters elsewhere.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are parents who watch attentively every class. In fact, some find it difficult not to interact with their child if they see any misbehavior or waning focus. These parents essentially have one foot on the training floor.

Mixed in between those two stereotypes is every gradation you can think of.

For this article, let's focus on parents who play an active role in the martial development of their children and explore some of the heftiest hurdles they'll encounter while participating in their youngster's unique journey.

The Motivation Rollercoaster

It's astounding watching students as they fluctuate between utter infatuation with martial arts and abject horror at the prospect of training.

This is true of artists of all ages and experience levels, but never is it more palpable than with children.

A parent's job is easy when the child is enthusiastic. It doesn't take much work to get them packed into the car and off to the dojo. However, when that enthusiasm drifts, training day can turn into an epic slew of whining, pouting, and negotiations.

The trouble doesn't end at the dojo door either. Once the child is out on the floor their techniques and stances tend to have the precision of a wet noodle. Every drill becomes a chore and making faces in the mirror becomes a much more attractive alternative to paying attention.

The parent, seeing this, is left to wonder if the Sensei is noticing the behavior or losing patience. They then have to decide if it's right to chime in and try to whip their child back into place.

The parent also has to wonder if they are driving their child too hard. What if school, activities, and training are just too much?

Managing the motivation rollercoaster can be daunting. As a Sensei the mission is clear - continue teaching the student for as long as the parent brings him/her, or until they are old enough to decide for themselves. For the parent, knowing when to push through resistance and when to give in is a psychological puzzle, the solution of which requires further discussion.

The Setback Conundrum

What is one of the biggest complaints about traditional training in the modern world?

The proliferation of rank.

Nowadays a black belt is something easily attained by any neighborhood 12 year old. If you pay enough and show up enough, you're good to go.

The modern day psychology of reward-at-all-costs has created an interesting paradigm in the world of martial arts. Many schools have integrated inflated rank systems, filled with a myriad of stripes, belt colors, trophies, and patches. The purpose of which is to provide a steady stream of external rewards in order to keep students satisfied.

Of course, the fees associated with such programs also helps the profitability of the school, but that's not our concern here.

Let's assume for a moment that the majority of the general populace accepts the idea of steady-stream-rewards.

In contrast, let's analyze one of the most powerful tools of an old school dojo: failure.

In many old martial circles you'll hear the phrase "Nana korobi, ya oki", which means "Seven falls, eight getting up". The phrase is used to indicate a broad sense of resilience throughout life, but is acutely demonstrated in martial arts training. Not only are you literally thrown down in martial arts, but you also experience roadblock after roadblock as you attempt to improve your body, mind, and spirit.

One of the most top secret aspects of being a Sensei is intentionally setting up challenges for students to overcome. A good Sensei doesn't want to spoon feed everything to students; instead they want to encourage effort in the right direction.

This is one of the fundamental crossroads where Eastern and Western cultures tend to clash. Eastern aloofness and Western directness can react in a destructive way, ultimately causing a student to grow agitated and quit, or they can result in a powerful combination of external knowledge with internal inquiry.

So...how do parents fit into all this? They need to be able to watch their children fail and encourage them to get back up and try again.

Certain pressures will tempt a parent not to engage in this practice. The first pressure is from the child him/herself. Failure never tastes good, and the child will want to quit repeatedly. It can be a tough slog to get them to push through. The second kind of pressure is societal and ego based. Some parents refuse to see any fault in what their child is doing, even if a Sensei does. Furthermore, if an egotistical parent sees other children progressing faster than their own they will have the tendency to accuse the Sensei of favoritism, poor teaching, or other kinds of incompetence. At that point, they can allow their child to quit without any sense of guilt or fault.

 Navigating these subtle psychological factors can be challenging.

Recognizing Bad Teaching

Let's make things more complicated. As mentioned above, a parent needs to be careful not to fall prey to their own ego and the emotional swings of their child. This includes not projecting fault onto a Sensei if success isn't immediate.

But what happens when a Sensei actually IS at fault? Believe it or not (but believe it), there are a ton of shoddy Sensei out there.

Sometimes instructors have to be tough on students. As stated earlier, putting up intentional roadblocks can help students overcome their own perceived limitations and teach them qualities of resilience, determination, and self confidence (that all too buzzed word in martial arts circles).

But a lot of Sensei aren't so altruistic in their motivations. Many are guided by how much money a parent has given, how many sponsored events they've attended, and other even more nefarious factors.

Sometimes it's easy for perceptive parents to pick up on the difference between a tough teacher and a bad one. Let's take a look at some common red flags bad teachers may exhibit:

• Militaristic dominance over students, including insults, injury, and abusive regimentation.
• Touching and feeling of an uncomfortable variety or in a manner that clearly isn't related to technique.
• Explicit favoritism, providing perks to students that are above and beyond the norm of their rank.
• Probing comments about a student or parents relationship life, physical appearance, or dating life outside the dojo.
• Excessive grouping of students into pay tiers, sometimes through the addition of many special "clubs".

Unfortunately, bad behavior often manifests itself in more sublte ways. Teachers with unscrupulous motives tend to be good at hiding it, and only after months or years of analysis will a parent catch on to the true motives of the teacher.

There's no easy solution to this problem. Parents simply need to keep involved and keep their eyes and ears open. Most of all, they need to be honest with themselves where the problem might lie.

Letting Go

Most instructors hate to admit it, but some students simply aren't cut out for long-term training. Martial arts can be arduous, thankless, and boring. Not everyone was born to fall in love with them.

As mentioned above, one of the core responsibilities of a parent is to help their child push through those times of low motivation and setback. Sometimes this can equate to literally/figuratively dragging the child to the dojo.

How then is a parent to know when it's time to let go?

As you might have guessed, there is no easy answer. Sensei, of course, will recommend you push through any and all obstacles because they know the lofty value of long-term training. They want your child to have a life enhanced by the arts (or they want your money - remember, there are bad teachers too).

Parents, on the other hand, need to help balance all aspects of the child's life. Kids are samplers by nature; they tend to enjoy an activity for awhile, get bored, and move on. Of course, pushing through that sampling tendency is what turns a good young student into a great mature student. But what if it isn't sampling, and the child would be much better off elsewhere?

Of course, you can split time between martial arts and other endeavors, but then you run the risk of overwhelming an already tight schedule.

The best overarching advice I can give in this regard involves "the spark". Development in the arts is unique for every single person that engages in practice. If a parent is observant, they might see certain shifts or sparks in a child's development. Unexpected moments of intensity, focus, self defense skill, good behavior, courtesy, etc etc. If a parent sees these things and believes that the arts are turning their child into a better person, pushing through resistance might be appropriate. If they are not seeing any positive gains, or even negative tendencies of bullying, disobedience, disrespect, etc., it may be time to move on.

Grazing the Surface

Being a dojo parent can involve complex psychology (I've seen it). It can be just as complicated for the young student (I've lived that).

Sometimes parents can be creative with solutions, such as joining the class themselves. If they are on the floor, it's easier for them to 'lead by example', and of course the child recognizes that since a parent is nearby behavior is a requisite of class. But ultimately, nothing external will be a permanent solution. The parent and Sensei can guide and inspire, but they can't decide what's in the heart of the student.

The problems and solutions I've offered here are just a hint at the broader picture. If you are a Sensei, parent, or student, the more you learn about long term success in the martial arts the better equipped you'll be to deal with twists, turns, and roadblocks along "the way".

When you reflect on the best sword fighting scenes in cinema history, you might cite some of the following movies:

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• Mask of Zorro
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
• The Princess Bride
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• The Three Musketeers
• Highlander

Imagine one man with the depth of knowledge and passion for excellence needed to bring combat to life on all of those movies. Bob Anderson was the man behind the swords.

Image Courtesy of ScienceFiction.com

Life and Times

"Born in Gosport, Hampshire, Anderson followed his father into the Royal Marines in his early 20s. In September 1942, he was one of the survivors when HMS Coventry was badly damaged in the eastern Mediterranean by German dive-bombers. After the second world war, Anderson, who had taken up fencing at a very young age, taught the sport as an instructor for the services. He won competitions with all four weapons – foil, sabre, épée and bayonet – and represented Britain at the Olympics in Helsinki in 1952. It was while waiting to compete there that he was asked to go to Pinewood Studios to work with Flynn on The Master of Ballantrae. " - The Guardian

Bob Anderson was a man who managed to turn his expertise into a fruitful career. After working with Errol Flynn, Anderson's star rose as he moved from movie to movie. He became known as a tough perfectionist working behind the scenes, but his effort repeatedly showed on film. Anderson even made appearances as he doubled for various actors.

Years of Olympic experience and stage presence made Anderson the elite sword coach in Hollywood all throughout his life.

 Here's more on Anderson as a coach and swordsman:

The Birth of the Lightsaber Duel

Although lightsabers played an important role in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, they truly came alive in the duels of the second two movies in the original trilogy. The lightsaber appeared to be a unique mixture of fencing sword crossed with medieval broadsword. The results were stunning and game changing.

The individual under the mask of Darth Vader, David Prowse, was allegedly not up to the task of bringing the duels to life. It was Anderson who stepped in, at the age of 60, and fought Mark Hamill on screen.

The portrayal of sword work in movies has never been the same.

A Lasting Career

Despite his advanced age, Anderson continued to be active on movie sets, demanding excellence from actors such as Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings. In fact, he was working on the upcoming movie The Hobbit, which is set to be released toward the end of 2012.

Sadly, he won't be able to finish that particular project, but there is no doubt his mark will be left on the movie when it hits the silver screen.

The Lives of Many

The amount of lives Anderson has touched can hardly be overstated. The Princess Bride is my personal favorite movie. I recall growing up with it and every time I watched the sword duel between Wesley and Inigo I was stunned into silent study. The intrigue, banter, and athletics were perfectly executed. The moves were so fluid and astounding that I couldn't imagine two better swordsmen in the whole world.

It's satisfying to know that the man behind the choreography was indeed one of the best, and will always be remembered for his lasting efforts.

It's true, though. Martial arts affect people in a very profound, fundamental way. Because of that, divergent viewpoints on martial matters can take drastic turns for the worse...quickly.

This isn't a new phenomenon; I imagine a lot of readers have experienced it. In fact, this kind of conflict goes back about as far as karate was recorded. One of the earliest examples is Sokon Bushi Matsumura referring to Palace Hand (Motobu Udundi) as light and formless, a rather incomplete art.

But the feud I'd like to mention today is perhaps one of the most famous - that between Funakoshi Gichin and Motobu Choki. Both are men of great fame and reputation, but in most ways they were diametric opposites.

Two Men of Different Methods

Funakoshi Gichin is the founder of what is now called Shotokan Karatedo. He is commonly referred to as the father of Japanese Karate, and rightly so. No one did more to bring karate to the forefront in Japan, and Funakoshi's efforts to get karate recognized by the Japanese Butokukai were immensely impressive.

Interestingly, among his peers and teachers, Funakoshi was never considered a dominant fighter or technician. He gained his reputation as a gentleman of elegant thought; a man of philosophy, linguistic skill, political acumen, and of course karate talent. As for forms and technique...Funakoshi showed his wisdom there too by associating heavily with one of the great savants in modern history - Mabuni Kenwa. Kenwa's retention of kata was staggering, and many top tier instructors poured knowledge into him like a basin, hoping that he could help pass along their dying arts.

Mabuni, like Funakoshi, was a refined man. Perhaps that is why they got along so well. But standing on the other side of the aisle, gruff and distant and displeased, was a man known for fearsome fighting prowess. This man was Motobu Choki, Motobu Saru the Monkey, and he would prove to be the yang to Funakoshi's ever present yin.

Two Men of Different Means

The development of these two men was as different as their personalities. From a class standpoint, Motobu was of higher dignity than Funakoshi. Funakoshi's family possessed some minor status, but Motobu was from one of the grandest lines on Okinawa. It was his family that retained and passed along Ti, the Palace Hand (now known as Motobu Udundi).

Despite this class difference, the growth of the two men would prove quite opposite from what you'd expect. Motobu Choki, being the third born son, had no right to his families prestigious art. He developed a resentment toward that fact, and often attempted to sneak peeks at his older brother's training. In time Motobu retained techniques and tested them in rougher parts of Naha, whereupon he would engage in fights as frequently as possible. Soon his ego, prowess, and reputation as a ruffian grew.

At first very few teachers would take him as a true student. It took many years of slowly piecing together experience before Motobu Choki began training in earnest underneath instructors like Matsumora Kosaku (Tomari Te), Ankoh Itosu, and Tokumini Peichin. Throughout his growth and maturation, Motobu was always regarded as a fearsome fighter.

On the opposite side was Funakoshi. Funakoshi, while not possessing the remarkable class distinction as possessed by Motobu, was a bright and likable child who befriended the son of Azato Ankoh. Azato was a man of some prestige, both from a karate and governmental standpoint, and he took a liking to young Gichin. From then on, Funakoshi's experience under quality instructor's like Azato, Itosu Ankoh, and Higaonna Kanryo would help him develop into a fine karateka.

While pursuing his martial arts career, Funakoshi also improved his education and schooling, ultimately becoming a teacher himself. Like his instructor Ankoh Itosu, Funakoshi was in favor of Japanese reforms and quickly became a go-to resource for the Japanese on this still rather mysterious art of karate.

Two Men of Divergent Viewpoints

The differences between Funakoshi and Motobu weren't just theoretical; they encountered and disliked one another. Motobu considered Funakoshi to be rather soft and superficial in his understanding karate. He observed the changes Funakoshi was making and decried them as moving away from the true core of Okinawan karate that he had seen from the Motobu line and his other instructors.

Funakoshi, on the other hand, looked upon Motobu with disdain due to his constant rough behavior and lack of social grace. Funakoshi did not believe Motobu was a proper representative of karate.

There were a few alleged meetings between Motobu and Funakoshi, one in which Motobu dared Funakoshi to attempt techniques on him. At every turn Motobu would simply throw Funakoshi down and foil his efforts. This of course could be folklore. One thing that certainly did happen was a boxing match between Motobu and a European Boxer (exact country of origin debated). Motobu apparently knocked the big, bruising boxer unconscious even after the man had defeated all comers prior to Motobu. When the event was reported, Funakoshi's picture was used in Motobu's place as the karate man of prestige.

You might imagine how that went over with Motobu.

All of these factors and many more contributed to the ongoing feud between two of the top karateka of their time.

In and of itself, this is a very interesting study. But there is another layer. Two men of high importance to the development of Japanese karate not only knew about this feud, but studied under both men anyway.

The Brave Konishi Yasuhiro and Bold Ohtsuka Hironori

In Japanese karate circles, these names are well known. Konishi would go on to develop Shindo Jinen Ryu, and Ohtsuka would head Wado Ryu.

Both of these men spent significant time studying under Funakoshi and helped the spread of karate in Japan. Interestingly, they also facilitated and supported Motobu Choki as he spread his own brand of karate knowledge.

By most accounts, it is stated that Konishi and Ohtsuka wished to take their basics, forms, and physical fitness as developed by Funakoshi and augment them with the feared fighting prowess of Motobu. Motobu had also become one of the most famous practitioners of Naihanchi kata (long considered a cornerstone of Okinawa karate) and was a highly sought after resource for understanding the deeper aspects of that particular system.

We needn't stretch our imaginations to realize what Funakoshi and Motobu must have thought about the others influence on these two young men. Yet, the culture of martial sharing on Okinawa was strong. The act of Konishi and Ohtsuka seeking out instructors highly skilled in particular areas was not unusual. In fact, you might say it stuck to tradition.

Of course, when put through a Japanese lens these actions were almost unthinkable. The Ryu/ha of Japanese Koryu arts were highly secretive and exclusive, a habit born from centuries of in-fighting and rigid class identification. The idea of going to another instructor was not smiled upon, especially if one of the headmasters happened to hate the other.

Nevertheless, this is what happened with Konishi and Ohtsuka and they both became highly skilled and refined practitioners.

A Hint of Things to Come

These two masters, Funakoshi and Motobu, were not members of each other's fan club. Yet we see instances of old Okinawan culture poking through - that of sharing and cross training despite frictional differences. At the same time we see the beginnings of Japanese influence as each branch of karate became named, labeled, and sectionalized. Konishi and Ohtsuka lived at an interesting time where their desire to improve their learning began to rub against the trend of modern karate.

This conflict of interest exists today as we see the very same kind of feuds develop and the same impulse to label and confine each style. Perhaps we can use the experiences of these karate greats to better inform our overall perspective on the martial arts.

This is great - I didn't suspect it would grow so large and I'm very thankful it has.

In order to help get us over the hump, I want to do a giveaway. This giveaway is rather special because it is going to feature IkigaiWay T-Shirts. These are the first of their kind as IkigaiWay has never had any personal swag outside of stickers.

A custom printing company called OoShirts has been kind enough to offer three shirts for the giveaway. OoShirts is a private startup out of Berkeley California and I am happy to support them.

The Shirts

Here is a peek at the shirts you'll have a chance to win. I will gather the correct sizes after the winners have been declared and contacted.

The front of the shirt features the unique Ikigaiway tree with mitsu domoe. The site name is featured below the emblem. The back of the shirt displays kanji for the famous saying "Fall down seven, stand up eight". A quote that I feel truly embodies what the martial arts can provide in our lives.

How to Enter

Entering for this contest has two easy steps.

1. spread the word about Ikigaiway.com.

You can do this one of two ways. If you have a blog, you can make a mention of the site and link to it. The context of the mention is totally up to you.

The second is by utilizing the Facebook "share" button. Goto the Ikigaiway facebook page, and locate the share button as shown below:

(click the image to enlarge)

2. Tell me you did it.

Drop a quick comment on this blog post to let me know you shared. Be sure to include your email address when filling our your commenting name so I can reach back out to you.

That's it.

How will I know if you actually shared or not? Because you gave me your word that you did, and you are a martial artist. It's what we do and who we are. You're word is good enough for me.

End of Contest

The contest will end after we crest the 10,000 fan mark. At that time, all the participating names will be put into an electronic hat and three will be drawn randomly. Those winners will be contacted in order to get their proper size and shipping address.

Good luck, and thanks for all your support!

For those of you who remember the previous exploits of Martial Arts Santa, thanks for sticking around the blog for so long! This year he's going to focus on that wonderful tradition of gift-giving.

As opposed to normal martial arts gifts like a new bo or a copy of "Karate-Do: My Way of Life" (great book btw), M.A.Santa is going to dig a little deeper and try to recommend some resources and items that the martial artist in your life may not have heard of.

Whether you need some fresh ideas for yourself or a loved one, check out these M.A.Santa approved items:

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In 1609 the Shimazu Clan of Satsuma, Japan staged a bold takeover of the Ryukyu island chain. Unfortunately, most karate resources briefly mention the event, state that the Shimazu reinforced weapons bans on the island, and move on. This excellent book delves deeply into the details of the conflict, exploring the military capabilities of both the Japanese and the Okinawans.		Richard Kim is a very well known researcher and practitioner of the classical arts. He had a large impact on the development of western martial arts. In this book, Kim Sensei tells a series of stories that illustrate the character, skill, and mindset of classical individuals throughout our collective martial past. Included are stories of Funakoshi, Musashi, Higashionna, Miyagi, and more.
When I first began my sword training, my instructor recommended this book to me. It was a real game changer! The author, Dave Lowry, is a highly respected researcher and storyteller in the realm of Koryu arts. In this book, he explains the unlikely circumstances of how he met a true Yagyu Shinkage Ryu Master and became a disciple of the art.		If you're in the first few years of karate training, or would just like to establish a better understanding of history, "Okinawa: Island of Karate" might be a good choice for you. This DVD, presented by George Alexander Sensei, provides a quality walkthrough of karate and kobudo history. Also featured are unique video clips from old masters, and a trip through Okinawa's Budokan Museum.
It's quite likely that this is my favorite martial arts documentary of all time. "Budo, the Art of Killing" was filmed in the late 70s and features high level experts in a multitude of Japanese and Okinawan arts. The thing that makes this documentary special is that it touches upon the heart of each art and doesn't get caught up in gimmickry.		Bill Hayes Sensei tells an amazing story in his book "My Journey with the Grandmaster". This book provides discussion of concept, mindset, and spirit, mixed with personal experiences of the author on Okinawa. If you are interested in acquiring a copy, please print out this order form or contact Hayes Sensei directly with a book request.

These are all top shelf resources and I hope you've seen something here that you've never seen before.

Happy gift giving!