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Thread: Hello from Canada

  1. #1
    lazn Guest

    Default Hello from Canada

    I have been a member of E-Budo since 2011, and of all the forums, it is my favorite. I haven’t officially introduced myself, so I will take this opportunity to tell my story.

    Originally, I am from Toronto, Ontario. My martial arts experience was mostly a hobby during my youth, as I spent the majority of my time involved in sports. In my late teens and early 20’s, I was conflicted with my training, often a result of unfair club contracts, and pressure tactics by teachers who were mostly absent or never taught classes. A bit of Shotokan here, Aikido and Judo there, but mostly I kept with athletic pursuits, and strength training. Although it is important to note, I grew up during the era of Saturday morning Kung Fu on Buffalo, channel 29; Bruce Lee and Chuck Noris, Arnold, and Rocky. I spent a lot of time mimicking their overly dramatic techniques. I also paid $1.50 for the Charles Atlas mostly bodyweight exercise booklet (one of the best investments I had ever made).

    After university, work, and family commitments, I discovered Crossfit and half-marathon training, but dabbled with a few clubs that provided instruction in Hapkido, Systema, and FMA. For me, the comparison was always in regard to the quality of training. I had the experience of being coached, and so often the instruction in the various martial arts dojos felt a bit … unprofessional.

    As an adult, and a cynic, I placed a critical eye upon anything I pursued. Based on my life experience, it wasn’t difficult to assess the value of a club, or its owner, and avoid a ridiculous contract or fee. I believed the only pure martial arts were that of boxing and wrestling, and I enjoyed sampling other combat sports to determine its value for my own goals. For a time, it was all about weapons (and I still have a fascination), but I wanted to focus on practical application. Yes, I could utilize anything as a weapon of opportunity, but of course, there is the issue of being charged with assault with a weapon (in Canada).

    After years of working for family, I chose a different path. My experience leading up to my current job exposed me to valuable outdoor, and weapons instruction. I continued to train in Crossfit, and half-marathon, but scaled it down due to my busy schedule.

    In 2007, I moved to British Columbia, and worked there for 7-years. While in BC, I enjoyed the weather, and the coastal life, but more importantly, I found a wealth of martial arts resources. But, not unlike Ontario, there were the posers amongst the legitimate instructors (let me qualify that by saying the instruction was more art than martial). Due to my schedule, I had some difficulty committing to more than one activity. At work, they ran a BJJ club, and although it was fun in the beginning, instruction was non-existent. It was more ‘show up and roll’. I joined a few Judo Clubs within close proximity, but instruction was geared toward kids and teens, and little attention was given to adults. Other clubs more favorable to adults often attracted the unsavory types, so I wanted to avoid the tatted out bangers.

    I examined a whole slew of Japanese, Chinese, FMA training being offered. Again, I paid particular attention to the instructor/instruction, the agreement for training, and the fee. The few places that eventually demonstrated a professional competence were not easily accessed due to limited classes. I resorted to booking private classes with an FMA teacher in Vancouver. I kept looking for new opportunities, but family and work commitments prevented too much extra curricular activity.

    In 2010, I found a website administrated by John Cole regarding Hakkoryu Jujutsu. I spent a bit of time researching the subject, and finding quite a lot of controversy over some dude named Nidai Soke. Of course, my research led me to Michael Seamark of KoKodo in Vancouver, and I attended his dojo after having made contact with John Cole. Michael was a nice guy, but there was a vibe that I couldn’t shake, and I decided to not pursue KoKodo. After a bit of research, I found that Michael was originally from Ontario, and studied with Ken Hoggart under Lamonica. I recall Michael stating that KoKodo was the ‘evolution’ beyond Denshin ryu, and Hakkoryu, and minimized the value of the three license levels above yondan. Ken and Lamonica were critical of Michael, stating he made a direct business relationship with Irie to distinguish himself and establish KoKodo in North America. Originally, KoKodo was to remain in Japan, as KoKodo supported the Shiatsu training for Denshin ryu (another story, but never to be told).

    Eventually, I received an email from John Cole, advising that only Steve Glaser and Gordon Kiyokawa were available to teach, but lived in Oregon State. At first I balked at the idea of travelling 5-hours to train (so did my wife), but I had done my rounds with a variety of teachers and dojos, and I hadn’t found anyone I trusted or liked. So, after a single telephone conversation with Gordon, I decided to make the 5-hour drive to Portland, and try out Hakkoryu.

    In preface, I had been working in Surrey, BC since 2007, and although I had my fitness and strength, and many years of collecting techniques and training, I did not necessarily find anything that suited my job. Yes, foot sweeps are cool, except when the receiver doesn’t know how to break fall. Ground techniques are awesome, except when the other person is covered in scabs and is likely to share their Hep-C or HIV with you. There is also the convenience of everyone’s cell phone camera, and instantaneous Youtube upload … yep, that is so helpful if you decide to punch someone in the face.

    So in 2010, I drove down to Portland and stayed in a crappy hotel the night before my 9am private class. To explain, Gordon had only one student, and taught from his home; specifically, he had attached a solarium to the back of his house, and placed tatami mats on top of a concrete deck (cold in the winter, hot in the summer).

    When I met Gordon, he looked fit, and wore a judo gi with rolled up sleeves that looked like it was beaten with a stick, a hakama, and a very worn purple obi. Gordon was soft spoken, and offered fewer words. I assumed he was a typical Japanese fellow, a bit stoic. After changing into my gi in the hallway bathroom, I was led through the family room (full of kids toys) to the dojo at the back of the house.
    It was 2.5 tatami wide by 3.5 tatami long. There were numerous old books on the shelf, along with all kinds of old rusty sharp implements. All of his diplomas were facing in, and leaning against the wall, and there was a series of cabinets containing many 8mm, 16mm film stock, VHS and DVD recordings.

    We began the warm up, and went through break and high falls, and talked about his experience and mine, our jobs, and family, etc., (probably the most talking we had ever experienced during our time together). Gordon spoke reverently of Brian Workman, his teacher for 19-years. Even though Gordon had become a Shihan in a very short 6-years, he continued to train with Brian weekly until Brian’s tragic death in 2007 due to an intoxicated driver. I could tell there was a lot of emotional pain attached to Brian’s death, not simply as a friend, but as a fellow practitioner of Hakkoryu. It wasn’t immediately clear to me in the early days of our training, until I was allowed access to Brian’s massive private video collection.

    The training began with Hakko Dori, and I was immediately critical. I came all the way to Portland for a frigg’n thumb break! But then without warning, Gordon nearly broke my wrist with Tekagami. The rest of the training seemed a little harder despite the reprieve of Aiki Nage and Hiki Nage.

    Each technique in Shodan was practiced in that one session (and subsequent), and each technique became exponentially more painful. As an aside, I had been involved in many martial arts training, and I’ve been punched, kicked, smothered, pressure pointed (even stabbed), but I had never felt pain like the kind Gordon dished out. I was hooked.

    Despite the nearly 3-hour training, and the even longer drive home (I had to stop several times due to feeling nauseous and limp wristed) I kept thinking: holy crap!

    Since that first training session, I kept going back nearly every week. On my days off, I would get up at 3am, drive 5-hours, train for 9am, and then head home for 6pm. Depending on traffic in Seattle / Tacoma, it was actually a nice drive. I even began to make friends with border guards on both sides, at Starbucks outside of Olympia and made acquaintances with military personnel at the base nearby who recognized my weekly stops for coffee.

    Training was different at the Ryubukan dojo (the dojo operated by Brian Workman, that Gordon took over after his death). Soon after, Shodan waza would be finished in less than 20-minutes and we would practice variations or something very close to randori. Gordon would provide a little ‘gift’ now and then, usually a Shihan technique that I would notice for its insane pain compliance; all I would get is “I haven’t shown you that yet”.

    I realized later that Gordon taught all of the main movements from Shodan to Yondan, so when I advanced to Nidan, and Sandan training, I had already developed the skills. Gordon and Brian seemed to focus on basics, variations, and a practical combative approach (interestingly, Brian had quite the collection of combat manuals).

    After a few years, I was invited to Steve Glaser’s home in Ashland, Oregon where they held a mini gathering of Shihan and students (descendants of Brian Workman’s three students: Steve Glaser, Ralph Verde, and Gordon Kiyokawa). The gathering was in its second year, and was dedicated to Brian Workman. It was a very cool weekend, as everyone had a chance to train with different people, and be exposed to shiatsu. The best part was socializing afterward, and late nights of drinking and talking history and personal stories (often reminding me of my fraternity days). Steve Glaser put on a few DVD’s of Brian in Japan 2004, and then an incredible recording of Gordon and Brian training Shodan to Sandan, and then literally going at each other with variations for an hour. It was by far the most spectacular but realistic display of Hakkoryu techniques I had ever witnessed, and really hit home the value of the inner circle. These were not people who were like cult members, or elitist types. Instead, what I had found with Gordon and the west coast Shihan was a core group under Brian Workman who had developed a unique approach to training, and like elite athletes they focused on being the best. They were humble people, teaching out of their homes, charging far too little to their few students. In my opinion, they were all sincere practitioners, deserving of respect.

    I learned a lot about the personal stories of Hakkoryu, all those people who split off, whether for good or bad reasons, they were only a few people motivated by nothing more than a desire to have no accountability. Yes, I did speak to all who were heads or ran the other organizations, but I never found their reasons for breaking off to be valid. Brian Workman was not always happy with the way things were run, but he held a high position, and was entrusted with Hakkoryu in North America. Brian was loyal to his ryu, and always said: “we are but guests”. Gordon was not always happy with the way things were run, but like he always said: “everything is fine in my world”.

    Looking back, even after I started training with Gordon, and knew I had found a martial art that was a perfect fit for me, I continued to dabble in others. During pat leave, I spent 9-months at Gracie Barra (really expensive), and tried Shorinji Kempo (really cheap) for comparison to Hakkoryu. I also trained for short time at Burnaby Yoshinkan Aikido under Rob Mustard, who is a great man. I wasn't able to commit to the training due to the hours, but Mustard Sensei was awesome and gave me a full refund. We also spent the afternoon at his home having tea and talking martial arts, and the real story behind ‘Angry White Pajamas’. Mustard Sensei gave me some advice I will never forget (sorry, that one is between Rob and myself). In my first year of training with Gordon, I visited family in Toronto, and decided to look up Denshin ryu under Ken Hoggart in London, Ontario. I paid him $40 for an hour, and we trained at the home of one of his students. Looking back, I am glad I began my training with Gordon as an introduction to Hakkoryu.

    The biggest boon to my training was access to all of Brian’s books and video collection. I had some previous training in video/audio editing and offered to digitize the collection to preserve the original content. Gordon agreed, and I spent several months running VHS tapes through pro S-VHS editors, and importing them as raw content into Adobe. It was long hours on days off, but in the end, I managed to collect an amazing resource of material you will never find anywhere else in the Hakkoryu world. It was decided the content would remain restricted, and only available in small pieces for demonstration. The good content remains accessible only to those few Shihan, and myself (under the promise I won’t upload them to Youtube). What is even more interesting is seeing all of those people that were formerly part of Hakkoryu, and now run their own organizations (very enlightening).

    Having spent a lot of time reading blogs, and forums, I found the general perception of Hakkoryu is quite skewed (I think someone said the split off happened because Palumbo was supposed to take over??? Actually, he was ejected for producing the Shodan to Sandan books without consent). It’s too bad, because the syllabus and method are quite ordered, and accessible compared to other Daitoryu traditions. However, I am good with Hakkoryu not being too popular, and I think the split off groups would agree with that sentiment as well. Aside from the politicking, the fact remains that only Irie decided to rename the art, the techniques, and shiatsu despite it being Hakkoryu that he teaches. I recall that KoKodo is promoted as something new and special, but I have 1990 video that shows Irie’s technique is unchanged from that time. To each their own.
    Hakkoryu is my main martial arts style, and I returned to Judo and consider them both equally important training. During my time in Surrey, BC, I had a unique opportunity to train with an excellent teacher of Hakkoryu, and then implement those principles during the course of my duties. I was confident in my approach, as I kept a video record of all my training, and could see there was nothing overt and therefore, in my opinion a liability proof martial art. Needless to say, as I continued to develop my skills, I also found practical ways to use Hakkoryu. Gordon was always pleased to hear my stories, as I helped to prove that Hakkoryu was useful in a combative circumstance. Albeit, one thing that Gordon always taught was the setup with an atemi to the face. Many teachers imply the strike, but Gordon always made contact. Obviously, it was hard to justify striking someone in the face, so I would use a feint instead, which worked just was well.

    In 2011, I met Phil Relnick of TSKSR out of Woodiville, Washington. It took 2-years to be accepted as a student, and although my training is only a few classes, I continue to keep my membership and connection. I had introduced my friend to KSR before I was transferred back to Ontario, and thankfully he is doing quite well under Relnick Sensei (its my long term plan).

    The same friend was in charge of training at my place of work, and was also keenly interested in Hakkoryu. Because of my growing reputation at work (the civilian employees called me the sandwich ninja … a story for another time) my friend took up training with me, and we formed a study group. I won’t divulge the content of our training, but ‘randori’ was set up for full contact, 100% effort with a 60 second time limit to end the confrontation. Our group worked quite well and meshed easily with policy led training.

    In 2013, I was exposed to CQC training under Bob Carver out of Ottawa, Ontario. I still maintain contact with Bob, who is now running his own combative program that in my opinion is superior to any other combat training. Bob has trained many professional fighters, police, military personnel, and even JTF2 consider Bob the s%#@. For comparison, I have done a lot of research into Krav Maga, and no matter what program you subscribe, the original combatives under Fairbairn, contemporaries, and those who followed, are very much a variation of the same thing. It all depends on your perspective, and wallet.

    After relocating to Ontario, and now living in Barrie, I have been devoid of practice partners in Hakkoryu, but I train with Shihan Devon Smith out of Michigan State. I still fly back to Portland when I am able, so officially, I have two teachers in Hakkoryu. Whereas Gordon is slim on detail more on pain, Devon is considerate and fills in all the blanks. Devon is also an incredible historian for Hakkoryu, and has had a multifaceted experience in the martial arts.

    In my current training, my employment requires a more CQC approach. I now train regularly (as I am able to fit into my schedule) in Judo, under Blair MacDonald of Crown Hill Martial Arts, in Barrie. There is also a club I train at now and then called Uptown Boxing, which is also very good.
    In 2014 I was granted permission to teach Hakkoryu Jujutsu, although I am not at the Shihan level, and I am not necessarily in a rush to obtain that title. I am more martial art than shiatsu, so time will tell if Shihan is something I really need to accomplish (I probably will, but until I can afford it, its on the back burner).

    For as much as I have learned, I am but a student and will remain so until I turn to dust. I have strong opinions about the culture of martial arts, systems, making money, exploitation, etc., so I have decided that my worth is no better than anyone else, and I will not take a penny to train with anyone despite having paid to establish a dojo license. The license is mine, not the student’s. The training is a shared experience, and I am essentially training despite teaching. Maybe one day far into the future, I may change my tune, but for now my eventual goal is to train, and focus on best practices.

    Regards,

    Nathan

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Massachusetts
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    Hello Nathan,
    Welcome to E-Budo. With your long and varied training history, I hope you'll find plenty of discussion topics here that will be of interest to you in both your broad and specific interests. Enjoy the forums.
    Cady Goldfield

  3. #3
    lazn Guest

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    Cady, thank you.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
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    Hiroshima, Japan.
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    Hello Nathan,

    Welcome to E-Budo. I am glad the administrative matters were sorted out successfully.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

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