“The Portal”
The Voice of Karate Says………
““The Portal ”
Isshinryu, The Art of Shimabuku Soke
“ The Way of The One Heart”
I have dedicated this book, to those people who had the strength, fortitude and faith in me, through nearly five decades of the “Art of Isshinryu,” which became an obsession, taking my time, mind and a great toll on my body. Therefore, first I must mention my wife, Gene (formally Eugenia) whose patience and encouragement made me believe that I was better, than the reality. Her love and encouragement allowed me to indulge in my passion for this discipline, Isshinryu. My wife attended so many Isshinryu tournaments and Shias that finally, at one of his annual tournaments; Sensei Don Nagle got on the microphone and asked my wife, who was in the grandstand, to stand up. He then introduced her, stating that she was, “The First Lady of Isshinryu.”
The next, would be my best friend and mentor, Grand Master Donald Hugh Nagle, called the “Living Legend,” in all of the magazines, of our time. He was a tough taskmaster and often shed my blood on the deck, while I fought him with every fiber in my body. Oddly, that caused us to become life long friends and compatriots. He appreciated competition. I became his confidant and advisor, simply because he knew that I was scrupulously truthful with him and he never had cause to question my loyalty. If I felt he was wrong, I told him to his face and never spoke behind his back. He taught me Isshinryu, how to fight, how to teach and much more, he taught me a way of life. In the end, he gave me his position, because he trusted me. That is a rare thing, in this age. I miss him and his loyalty and fidelity to me. After he passed away, for several days, before they cut off his phone, I would call his line, just to hear his voice and now I watch his kata tapes to remember him, always. All that I can do now is honor him, with my actions in his AOKA, Inc. and by teaching his beloved Isshinryu. He was an Icon in the world of martial arts. When I tell someone that I studied under Sensei Nagle and they say they don’t know who that was, I am truly shocked and disappointed. No one in Isshinryu should be unaware of what he meant to Isshinryu in America and indeed around the world. I want every Sensei in Isshinryu to tell their students all about him and why they must keep his memory in their hearts. All baseball fans know who Babe Ruth was and Sensei was Isshinryu’s Babe Ruth.
I will also mention other members of the first dojo, with whom I shared my love for that first school, Ernie Cates and his lovely wife Patricia, who owned and ran that first school and were responsible for making a home for Isshinryu’s first dojo in America. Pat Cates, a wonderful athlete and caring wife to Master Cates.
Then, there are the men, Marines who populated the school and became family to me; Don Bohan, Rick Niemira, Ronald Duncan, Jim Chapman, Ralph Bove, Lewis Lizotte, my brothers in arms, with “Bo” Donald "Gunny" Bohan and Rick Niemira being my closest friends and whose deaths left a ragged hole in my life. We should still be sitting around swapping stories of the matches we had and the unrehearsed demonstrations that often drew more blood than the Base Naval Hospital. This book on the elements that make up Isshinryu, “The Art,” and it’s history in Okinawa and around the world, was undertaken, in order to fulfill a promise made to three of my friends, Grand Master Don Nagle, Master Ernie Cates and the late, former Marine Gunnery Sergeant and Master Don Bohan. It is also a memorial to the memory of the arts creator, Shimabuku Tatsuo Soke, of Okinawa, for the remarkable gift he has given to thousands of martial artists around the world, in his “One Heart Way.”
And, of course, I must speak of the Master of All of our lives, for without the innovative spirit of Shimabuku Tatsuo, the Soke of Isshinryu, there would not have been the creation of the perfect self-defense, which so profoundly contributed to the meaning of my life, in so many ways. He is responsible for the tens of thousands of nights and days that I spent on a deck, with my students and the pleasure that I had when they succeeded. Succeeded did not always mean a championship, but perhaps the evolution of a student from a shy, awkward person into a confident and respected adult. That feeling eventually spread around the globe. There are now more web sites on the art of Isshinryu, than they’re ever were students in the first five years in America. This simple farmer and jack-of-all-trades, turned out to be capable of creating the most logical, adaptable martial art in existence. Humble and quiet around strangers, he died a giant, with the legacy of creation, exploration and determination. Remember him, whenever you step upon a deck, for he will be there with you, in spirit. Think about the intestinal fortitude that he possessed, in order for him to create Isshinryu, the Art and fly into the face of centuries of tradition. But after decades of practice, he realized the truth of the illogical stances and uninspired movements of what had become of Okinawan karate. He brought forth the most logical of the martial arts, with fluid movement, the ability to immediately move in any direction. He realized that speed bred focus and therefore, speed could kill. He created the most natural and adaptable martial art and had the will to defy the other Masters who raged against this new paradigm, unaware of the vision that Shimabuku Tatsuo Soke of Isshinryu, The Art, he had within him. For this, we must bow to his memory before we start a class, mention his name and revere his knowledge and courage. During the time I have studied and taught Soke's art of Isshinryu I have had the pleasure of training several extraordinary karateka, My first black belt Mel Sutphen was cut from the same cloth as my Sensei Don Nagle. Mel was tough, a real terror on the deck. Guys like Bobby Baker, Malakai Lee, Dr. Barry Steinberg, Nick Adler, Joe Burress, Richie Bell, Stevie DiLorenzo,Frank Klos, John Pinghero, Frank Black, Greg Melita and Dan Vena are all top notch fighters and instructors. Training with these guys was a dream for me, they always fought hard and with great passion. These are my closest students. They have all gone on to become the instructors and continue to this day to turn out champions, in and out of the dojo. Stevie DiLorenzo once said of Dan Vena, every time I go after you with a kick or punch, it is like hitting a piece of granite.
I have elected to name Dan Vena as my successor at the dojo, over the years he has been my trusted colleague and student. He has trained with me from white belt, his Mom brought him to me at a very early age, at that time I did not have a childrens class. I spoke with one of my senior deshi at the dojo, Mr. Louis Luceri and he agreed to help me train this youngster. Since then Daniel has gone on to become one of my most loyal students. He has turned out champions on and off the deck. The patchogue dojo told the story about how loyal and respectful Mr. Vena is, when I asked to get a dojo location for our students, he went out and found the Suffolk Aikiki, Sensei Gene Montileone. Made the lease arrangements got all the equipment in line and named Stevie DiLorenzo as the lead instructor because Stevie is senior to him. This shows integrity, real honesty from one budo brother to another. His fighting ability has gone on to become polished and refined. I have issued paperwork naming him as the inheritor of Ed McGrath's School of Isshinryu Karatedo & Kobudo. He will now represent my dojo and lineage as a 10th Dan in Isshinryu.
I arrived in late 1958, to find a group with at least eight months experience on me. I showed up with another Lieutenant, who had heard about a great martial arts school in town. He was a tough young man, brought up in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. He convinced me to join the club. After a few weeks of practice, he disappeared from class, never to be seen again in the dojo. At age seventy, I am still on the deck four to five days a week. You could say, that I was hooked. This book will tell you how and why.
If you are a new student, or even still within the Kyu ranks, you are in a position to enjoy a lifetime of extraordinary mental and physical stimulation, since Isshinryu is not simply a martial art, but an exciting way of life, that will open your mind to new ideas and people who are as enthusiastic as you will be. Of course, this is in your hands, since you must begin and continue to approach your studies with the proper attitude. As I have mentioned in articles that I have written or magazine articles written about me, from the first day of study under my Sensei, I was fascinated with the exotic movements and rituals of this art. I worked out at the dojo six times a week, for three hours a day and did about two hours of practice, on my own, at home or at lunch time. Throwing kicks with combat boots on, made my barefoot kicks on the deck, extremely fast, snapping them back to re-chamber immediately so that no one would catch my foot or the bottom of my gi trouser. Now, you seldom see anyone trying to grab a kick or punch, but in my era, it was common and often effective. It is a way to take total control of the situation. When on the deck, I was determined to work harder than anyone else in the dojo. I had a background of sports competition and knew it took an all-out effort to become good at what you were doing. My mind was not on what color belt that I wore, I simply wanted to be as good as my ability would allow. When, at my first shiai (promotion test), Sensei Nagle skipped the rank of Go-kyu and promoted me to Yon-kyu, I was very proud and determined to work harder, especially on Ju-Kumite (Sparring), for which I had an innate love. With that promotion, for the first time I became aware of rank and decided that I would try to become a brown belt, since my idols, Rick Niemira and Jim Chapman, were brown belts. That was the extent of my ambition, at that time, because the brown belts were the roughest people in the dojo.
At that time, no one in America had any knowledge of karate, other than a close group of servicemen and former servicemen who during their tours of duty, spent time in the Orient and found the courage to enter the heretofore-closed circle of Asian students. Try to picture the gut check that the first generation of American karate-ka had to overcome, just to ask to join a dojo, where everyone else was Asian and either did not speak English or would not speak it to help out a Gaijin (Foreigner). Most of the Senseis spoke only their native language, so that learning was a matter of watching and trying to duplicate what you had just seen the Sensei do. When the Americans made a mistake, they were often corrected by receiving a Shuto blow (knife edge or side of the hardened hand) on the wrist or forearm and then shown the correct form, then having to perform the move again, to satisfy the Sensei that you had understood.
Karate was not on TV, there were no magazines on the arts, no motion picture Icons of the martial arts. The first and second generation relied on their fascination with the art, to keep them returning, since it was often a brutal passage through the “Portal.”
In this day and age, it is difficult not to anticipate being rewarded by promotion, since many Senseis and even certain styles have given into the “Immediate Gratification” syndrome, which began after the emergence of the “Baby Boomer” generation. At many of the dojos, money is the sole object of teaching. I truly believe in capitalism, since it is the bulwark of our successful nation. But just as the artists of the bygone days, painters, sculptors and architects, who were true artisans and left behind a legacy of masterpieces and yet made little compensation for their work during their lives, I consider Isshinryu to be an art, as well. But those painters were full born artisans and created only for the sake of the creation. The Senseis who are in charge of large franchises don’t have in mind, whether or not the students are getting a base of expertise in order to actually defend themselves from perverts or antagonists of any type. They thrive on the bottom line and in franchises, often pick young black belts who should not be teaching, because they have no depth of experience. They teach youngsters complicated jump kicks that under real stress in the street may not deter an assailant and the child will be kidnapped or the adult beaten badly or killed, while they depended upon the practice that they were given by teachers who don’t understand fighting but know about money. Sensei Nagle taught in the manner of the Okinawans, keep it simple stupid, use basic strikes to vulnerable areas of the body. Keep your feet under your body, to ensure balance. Show students how to feint or fake a move to make a different attack successful.
