Monday, March 31, 2014

Metamoris 3 - Eddie Bravo X Royler Gracie (full fight)

Click for larger pic


On Saturday, March 29th, I posted the first match between Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie from ADCC 2003:




Later that day, the highly anticipated rematch took place at the event Metamoris 3. Below is the full fight.


Enjoy!








Was that a good BJJ match or what?!?!?!


Sunday, March 30, 2014

IN MEMORY OF: Guro Theodore 'Ted' Lucaylucay (Oct 5, 1945 - Mar 30, 1996)


In Memory of Ted Lucaylucay: A Great Martial Artist, Teacher, and Friend.
 
Los Angeles - Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Kali legend Ted Lucaylucay died March 30 at his home here. He succumbed to heart failure after suffering from asthma for many years. He was 50.

He was born Theodore F. Lucaylucay Oct. 5, 1945 on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai to Leodoro H. and Rosaline Lucaylucay. Ted’s early childhood was spent growing up in Kauai where he developed a strong love for nature and the outdoors.

Ted’s adolescent and early adult years were spent in San Pedro, Calif., where he began his lifelong obsession with the martial arts. Ted practiced many styles of martial arts including karate, judo, kung-fu, and boxing.

In 1970 Ted began training with sifu/guro Dan Inosanto in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do and the Filipino martial arts. Ted also trained with other world-renowned masters, including Angel Cabales, Leo Giron, Ben Largusa, Floro Villabrille, and his father, Lucky Lucaylucay.

In 1975, with the blessing of Dan Inosanto, Guro Ted founded the Lucaylucay Kali/JKD Association. Guro Ted was a pioneer of the Jeet Kune Do family by establishing his own association as well as being the first instructor to produce and market instructional videotapes on the arts of Kali and JKD.

Executive officers of the Lucaylucay Kali/JKD Association are Guro Leonard Trigg of Oregon, Guro Greg Allen of Texas, and Guro Mark Stewart of California. With the Lucaylucay family’s blessings in line with the wishes of Guro Ted, the Lucaylucay Kali/JKD Association will continue to grow under the leadership of Trigg and Allen.

Guro Ted will be remembered for his kind heart, good humor, and exceptional martial skill.

He is survived by his mother Rose Lucaylucay and sisters Beverly, Arlene, Laverne, Corlene, Gerrie, Rosaline and Audrey.

From Inside Kung Fu, July 1996

 


My previous Birthday posting of Guro Ted Lucaylucay:





For further information on Guro Ted Lucaylucay, please check out the following:





Rest in Peace Guro Lucaylucay ... you are missed!

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie - who will win the rematch?

Click for larger pic

10 yrs ago, Eddie Bravo caught Royler Gracie in a triangle choke. Many said Bravo was lucky. Today at 4pm PST, at Metamoris 3 - the highly anticipated rematch will finally happen!


Below is the full fight of their first meeting.


Enjoy!



Eddie Bravo vs Royler Gracie I





Metamoris 3: Eddie Bravo VS Royler Gracie (Official Countdown)





Do you know who I think will win? The fans will win!


OK, how do you see the rematch going down?


Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mike Blackgrave - STR8 Street Thuggin ~ South Africa Style ?

Click for larger picture


Every culture has it's thugs, South Africa is no different. When my buds in PIPER talk about what they face, this is it. A wired out, well seasoned, cunning criminal who can work magic with a shiv and cares absolutely nothing for his safety. Making it that much easier devouring your safety. He may not be the best armed. He may not be the biggest or baddest. But what he is, is hungry. Hungry for everything he feels he has been deprived of his entire existence. So how does an under educated, mandrax whacked, border line insane individual procure his just desserts? He takes it, by any means necessary. His tools are crude, they don't need to be anything but. It is the purpose that matters not the tool. His knife is cheap, an okapi or even a homemade shiv. His pistol may be a one hit wonder. A crude zip..that's all he needs. His true weapon is the ambush. The ability to blend and shift, to hunt with impunity because he looks like everybody else. He will pick targets of opportunity. It will not matter if his quarry is white or black. It won't matter if it's man woman or child. He is a hunter, and a hunter covets what it sees fit. Some in the west dismiss these types as crude and ineffective. They play gangster comparison as if it were a late after noon game show. They claim their own skills are far superior to this crude little man with the cheap piece of steel protruding from his pipe scarred hands. He does so at his own Peril. It doesn't take a hit from a shiv to convince me that this crude little man, has crude little cousins in his gang family that roams our streets in every town America. His cousin may not move like him. He may not use the same knife. But you can rest assured that he is every bit as deadly and his intent is every bit as real. So when you see guys like this don't dismiss what my brothers in PIPER are trying so kindly to say. Study the bad men, find out what makes them tick. Watch how they move, listen to their intent, often times it rests in their eyes.

The pic is of The Americas Gang leader in South Africa, a pure T killer..OG all the way. Kind of looks like some of the home boys banging on a corner near you. Don't it?

Thanks to the lads in PIPER for their work in bringing their bad guy to the mindset of us good guys everywhere. Wanna learn how to deal with this...then learn the bad guy...learn his ways so you can turn it , burn it and send him to what ever God he deems as THE ONE.

Papa Bear...GRRR
SEAMOK/ PIPER 05-011
Mind Meld Tour




For further info, please contact Amo Guro Mike Blackgrave via:




NOTE:  My deepest gratitude to Amo Guro Blackgrave for his kind permission in allowing me to repost this.



Please check out these other articles, in case you missed them:



Sunday, March 23, 2014

Mike Blackgrave - The Bad Guy aka PIPER




What is PIPER? This is a question asked within various knife communities. Is it a bastardized FMA or Silat system as so many of the internet experts profess? Or is it a contrived notion of a mad mongoose in a far off hemisphere? In all actuality it is neither. It for a lack of a better term is the bad guy. Yes that's right the bad guy. PIPER is a case study on how the bad guy thinks, reacts, moves, attacks. It isn't based on a system, rather it is built on the premise of what South African good guys face on a daily basis in the streets of Cape Town, Johanesburg, Durban and many more. Now most people will never believe that there can be this much danger in such a small country, but I assure you there is. People must remember that before 1994 this country was under apartheid rule. During this time life was extremely hard for the down trodden. They, like anyone did what they felt was right to survive the tide.

As in this country, often times survival leads to a violent and gang like mentality. The strength in numbers mindset takes hold and once your in your there for life. This is where the violence becomes old hat. The gangs of South Africa like gangs everywhere are fiercely loyal and take their work seriously. Gone are the days of banging for survival. Now the gangs bang for pure profit. They look at what they do as their career. They understand that the circumstances that surround them make it next to impossible for a poor kid from soweto to crack the infrastructure of success due to his disadvantaged nature i.e. black and dirt poor. While apartheid has been officially crushed the sentiments still remain in tact on some levels thus feeding the gang frenzy and the violent nature to which they do their work.

The mad mongoose I made light of in the opening stanza is none other than Nigel February the man behind the PIPER madness, and a highly misunderstood, misquoted bloke at that. It seems people take umbrage with Nigel for speaking his mind and talking of truth as it pertains to the dilemmas of violence in his home country of South Africa. He never loses his cool and starts flame wars via the net but rather, he discusses the truth as he knows it. I have known him for quiet a while and not once have I heard him say anything derogatory about any other system of knife. On the contrary, I have heard him praise some as top notch and those he finds lacking he simply refuses to disrespect or talk bad about as he knows this does nothing but flame the fires. To each their own is a motto he covets ... although it is voiced in far different words than afore mentioned.

PIPER was built for the good guys. It is nothing more than that. It is not a set sequence of technique that one simply learns from a template or from a give and take lesson. Nigel put this together by studying the bad guy. He grew up in rough ways and endured much as a youth, and perhaps saw far to much at a young age that pushed him into this undertaking. By studying the criminals of Cape Town and how they moved he understood the danger that they place the average person in and how inept the average citizen was at preserving his own existence under such duress.

This knowledge was the seed to PIPER. PIPER has now grown in South Africa under the protection of Nigel and his Master guardians. They realize that to defeat violent action, violent action must be understood by being able to not only perpetrate like motion and violence but using that same mindset to build ways to defeat it and survive it. The PIPER way is now spreading, slowly but surely in the hands of good guys who understand violence and have survived violence. Piper is not intended to be the same everywhere. It is a blueprint of study. It is up to the individuals who hold the PIPER knowledge to make the effort to fit it to the situation at hand. Criminals are criminals that much is true, but not all employ the blade the same way as their South African brethren. PIPER addresses this, and as Nigel tells me constantly "Bro PIPER is the bad guy..the study of him, take it and study your bad guys..find how the method can destroy the intent of the attacker". That's it in a nut shell folks..that is PIPER.

The quirky individualistic movement that each PIPER player brings to the table is unique and deadly. As I said PIPER is not based on rote movement where you and I are doing the exact same thing on a feeder / receiver basis. For the most part knife in America, especially FMA (which I love) is based on the concept of the duel. The progression is based off of abecedarios and often times assumed that the enemy knows and will react just as it drilled in class. The same applies for the so called knife defense. PIPER does not work this way at all, this is why it is feared and loathed, blasphemed and spit on by a vast majority of the so called knife greats of the western world.

PIPER forces you to react, and by reacting wrong in training one can attempt to fix the PIPER problem...if there is such a thing. I find that the standard fma defenses work only if the motion remains akin to what is comfortable, hence a feeder/receiver base. What doesn't get addressed is the ambush, how do we come out of that mode where we are behind the timing? How do we hit combat mode while under duress. I know how but teaching it is something different as every person rarely buys into the premise of the work.

The fact is the people learning PIPER understand that they will be hit..if you can get them comfortable with that idea the rest will happen if the time and the effort in training is put forth ( a rare commodity indeed). Most students will refuse that they can or will be hit, they revert back to the status of invincible, especially those who have been fed that only one way is absolute truth. That's why PIPER is a threat, a threat to reality, a threat to self and a threat to innate laziness. Most people will never study the bad guy, in their mind why should they? They don't get it, they can't imagine a good guy ever stooping to the depths of shit to study why this happens, how this happens and to whom this happens. The box of truth gets deeper and deeper.

So in closing look at PIPER as a gift. If you empty your cup and open your mind truth will always find it's way out of the box. The entire premise of PIPER lies in the study of the bad guy, your bad guy. The motion and action of PIPER can then be tweaked to fit each and every individual who chooses to pursue it. It is nothing more and nothing less. It cannot be compared because comparing is not in the PIPER mindset. In fact it doesn't even come into conversation because it is a waste of time and effort. The PIPER brethren (of which I am blessed to say I belong, although a pup) simply look at what they do as crucial to their everyday survival. In feeling this way they find it pertinent to pass on what they have discovered to those interested and in need so that they may find the ways via the PIPER to deal with the bad guys near them.

An empty cup and an open mind coupled with a firm desire to understand the violent nature of others are tools to be polished and placed firmly in the personal tool box. Use them when needed but always use them!


Mike Blackgrave
SEAMOK Tactical Solutions.




For further info, please contact Amo Guro Mike Blackgrave via:




NOTE:  My deepest gratitude to Amo Guro Blackgrave for his kind permission in allowing me to repost this.



Please check out these other articles, in case you missed them:



Saturday, March 22, 2014

THE WISDOM OF ... The Vikings (compiled by Mike Blackgrave)




The Truth of The Norse Way

Compiled by Mikhahel Blackgrave (son of Gustave)




1. A man honors all that deserve honoring, no matter the color of his skin or the choice of his way. It is his way. If it is deserved then so be it.

2. The unworthy hold no place at your table, in your home or amongst your kin. Keep a stead fast eye for those who may wish you and yours ill will.

3. Never believe that a warrior is always a wise man. This is fallacy, as many claim to be warriors yet remain steadfast on a path of evil. A true wise man knows that evil holds no promise for your kindred.

4. Wisdom and character are life long pursuits. Listen to no man who deems his wisdom superior over all, his character is tarnished.

5. The myths of the old ways should always be explored with an open heart, a sound mind and a resolute intent. Truth lies in the past, as we are our past.

6. Pain is life, life is truth, use pain to lead you into calm waters.

7. The mind must me nurtured, it must be challenged. To allow dormancy to take hold places laziness of action at the footsteps of those who would choose evil as their way.

8. Courage lies in the steadfast heart. It hold no malice towards good people, as all good people, no matter their druthers deserve their place under the watchful eyes of those who have come before. Unleash your courage on the wicked!

9. Do not tout the names of the Gods to fulfill your agenda for ill will. It shows your character as nothing more than slop for hogs. It is an unfair shame you place upon them .

10. Dishonor is held in the hands of those who choose it’s way and tout it’s truth. To be honorable is to be free, to be free is to accept truth, to accept truth is to understand that you nor I are all that exists. Be humble

11. Unleashed aggression with no merit or meaning is wasteful. Embrace your aggression, nurture it, control it. Unleash it on those who dare take violent action against you or your kindred.

12. The will of man is forged in self discipline. Listen not to those who claim mastery of self discipline for they have filled their cup and have no room for truth.

13. Be a good man, an honest man. Build this character in your kindred and walk free of fear.

14. No man holds entitlement over another. Leave the man who believes he does, his path is lined with pitfalls.

15. Show no mercy to those that creep in the night, willing to vanquish you for their own ill gain. Hold tight your kindred, teach them the way of steel and lead. Raise no victims!

16. Embrace your steel, bleed for it, nurture it, for it is a beast of burden that begs release from it's masters hand.

17. The absence of knowledge allows evil doers to take the Germanic ways and twist them for their own agenda. Stoic is our belief that all good men have the right to that which they hold dear.

18. The warrior never says goodbye as it is final, only farewell as he understands that no matter his outcome he will remain in the hearts and minds of his kindred in the stories they sing.

19. Freedom is paramount to life. Allow no man to place his yoke upon you. Cast out any man who does so for he is not kindred.

20. The Norse way lies in the fusion of mind, body and soul. Blood runs true in those who come correct. Be watchful of those who tout blood above all. Blood runs cold in the thief who turns our way into false agenda.

21. Never be a victim, learn the craft of self preservation. Never claim to be a warrior, act as such and it will show, quietly.

22. Titles bestowed upon man should be earned. Those placed by your own hand should be avoided. They hold no truth.

23. The Einherjar (lone fighter) works well in all ranges, against many or the few, for he has prepared himself and embraced his craft. He comes with no evil as he to can be succumbed by it.

24. Honor holds no sake. It is open to all who embrace it.

25. Command thy self. Be a man in todays time, embrace the now. Do not languish in a past that is impossible to recreate. It is wasteful.

26. In battle, understand the way of the bait. Be the tactician not the drone. Retreat is not cowardice, it is cunning. Like a spider to a fly, understand this and win the day.

27. Never fight. Those who choose fighting are easily vanquished. Their willingness to engage is their downfall. Be the hunter, hunters do not fight, they finish!

28. If battle ensues, use your wit. To stubbornly remain in a no-win fray is the first step to extinction for you and your kindred. Be smart, use cunning.

29. Nobility is an ancient caste that holds merit for only those who place that crown by their own hand. It is a tradition of the ancients and so there shall it remain.

30. Those who do not understand the scope of evil hold no love in their hearts. Avoid them, they come with full cup and closed mind to steal that which you know is good.

31. Life is a battle, understand that and choose wisely which forest you invade.

32. Hold no conversation with men who take your beliefs and twist
them. Sit with no man who believes his path is pure and his skin color superior. He is a fool!

33.Be humble of character, warm of heart and kind. You will know when it is time to flip the coin and unleash the beast.

34. Honor thy wife and children. Honor your kindred who have gone before. Speak no ill will towards the dead.

35. Believe how you will. All good men must do this as similarities in the old ways hold more truth than fallacy.



For further info, please contact Amo Guro Mike Blackgrave via:




NOTE:  My deepest gratitude to Amo Guro Blackgrave for his kind permission in allowing me to repost this.



Please check out these other articles, in case you missed them:



Friday, March 21, 2014

"Samurai Song" by Robert Pinsky (1940-) & World Poetry Day

Photo Credit:  Jared C. Benedict


Today, March 21, 2014, is World Poetry Day!


I'm posting a poem I literally came across yesterday (props to "Callidus C.") that was pretty good. Additionally, I'm posting a video of the poet reading his own poem. The poet in question is Robert Pinsky. He served three terms as the U.S. Poet Laureate. He founded the Favorite Poem Project, where thousands of Americans of all walks of life shared their favorite poems. He is also the poetry editor of Slate as well as teaching in Boston University.


I present to you "Samurai Song"... enjoy!





"Samurai Song" by Robert Pinsky

When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had
No mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep.

From "Jersey Rain" (2000).




If you liked this poem, please Share it with your friends by clicking one of the buttons below. I thank you in advance!




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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon remake!



Did you hear the news? They will remake Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon!


I was able to get a preview for you! ;-)


Enjoy!



Lego Bruce Lee (李小龙) and
The Way of the Dragon (猛龍過江) Nunchaku Fight

Relive the epic nunchaku fight scene from Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon (猛龍過江) remade in Lego. Watch as a badass Lego Bruce Lee takes on 10 mean Lego dudes with his nunchaku and gives them all some whoop ass. The remake is an almost frame by frame reproduction of the original fight scene.

This is my first lengthy stop motion animation. Some earlier scenes in the clip could probably do with an animation redo and some animation movements are not quite as smooth as other Lego animators.

Some info about the animation: it took about 2 weeks to animate (approx 110 hours of animation time over 2 weeks), total of 50 scenes in the clip, and 2670 images taken.






Lego Bruce Lee (李小龙)
and The Way Of The Dragon (猛龍過江) Nunchaku Fight -
side by side comparison!

 
Here is the side by side comparison of the original The Way of the Dragon Nunchaku fight scene (猛龍過江双截棍战斗场面) clip with the Lego version.







Please check out these related entries...


Animated GIF's of Bruce Lee:




Videos of Bruce:


Other Bruce posts:




Bruce Lee's Game of Death remake :-)



Did you hear that there are plans of remaking Bruce Lee's Game of Death? If not, today's your lucky day!  I was able to get a preview video and GIF for your edification!


I cannot wait for the remake!!


Enjoy!







Behind the Scenes





NOTE:  I found this GIF off of Photobucket. All credit goes to the unknown GIF creator, it was a Photobucket Staff pick. Props to "DW" of The Underground forum for heads-up on the video. I found the Behind the Scenes vid and included it today at 4:45pm.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

UFC 171 GIF Highlights - Jake Shields X Hector Lombard

This past Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Dallas Texas, welterweight ranked #6 contender Jake Shields (29-6-1) took on underdog Hector Lombard (33-4-1) in UFC 171. It seemed Shields' fight plan was to weather the storm from Lombard's attacks and seeing if Lombard's cardio holds up. To that end, Shields went for 6 takedowns and looking to fight off his back and submit Lombard. Lombard stuffed all 6 takedowns (I think it was 6, I may have lost track). Lombard was impressive mixing his Olympic Judo Black Belt skills with the threat of his Knockout power. Hector was dominating throughout the fight and Jake finally had a good submission attempt towards the end of Round 3. Shields is not a tomato can, former Strikeforce champ as well as a BJJ black belt.

Without further ado, here are the GIF highlights I've made:



Round 1 - Hector Lombard utilizing his Olympic-caliber Judo skills




End of Round 1 - slomo highlights




Round 2 - Lombard with another trip and a O Goshi/Hip Toss




End of Round 2 - slomo highlights




Round 3 - One more Trip for good measure!


Literally with seconds left in the match, Jake Shields gets a guillotine choke in, but time ran out. Slomo overhead view.






Congratulations to Hector Lombard on his dominating win!



For further information, please check out:



Saturday, March 15, 2014

Chuck Norris - The Octagon (1980) (Full movie)


Another early movie of Chuck Norris in celebration of his birthday.



Scott's life is plagued by two kinds of flashbacks. First are the childhood memories of the rigorous training he and a friend endured under a martial arts master. The second is of a mission Scott went on that ended with him watching his friend get murdered. Scott later becomes drawn closer to a vicious crime ring known as The Octagon. As he gets closer to the truth, Scott learns that these may be the men that murdered his friend so long ago.







For further info:





For other Chuck Norris-related entries:



Friday, March 14, 2014

Happy 40th Birthday Grace Park!!




Today marks the 40th birthday of Grace Park! She was in TV Series such as The Border, Battlestar Galactica (her big break as Boomer), and Hawaii Five-0 (as Kono) as well as in movies such as Jet Li's Romeo Must Die (albeit a brief scene).


I am posting some videos in her honor.


Happy Birthday Grace! May you have many more and your career continues to be on the rise!


Enjoy!



Hawaii Five-0 - Kono's Biggest Hits




Hawaii Five-0 - You Ask, They Tell: Grace Park




Grace Park on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
(Feb 11, 2013)
 
   



Grace Park on Q TV

)


 
And here are some of her racier work:
 
 
 
Slideshow of some desktop wallpapers





Maxim Exclusive: Battlestar Babes - Grace Park and Tricia Helfer






Grace Park - MAXIM photo shoot





For more info on Grace Park:


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Kushti: Physical Body DVD Outtakes Part 5 - Jor (paired practice)



Please check out this 5th clip of the raw training sequences from Vincent Giordano's The Physical Body 1 DVD. This was an outtake/unused footage. Like the first four clips, these are good for anyone who wanted more detail on Kushti aka Indian Wrestling, which was the subject of The Physical Body.

* * * * * * * *

My Review from Dec 2007 of The Physical Body DVD:  


* * * * * * * *


The other parts of the raw footage/outtakes in case you missed them:


Here we go!



Part five focuses on Jor, in this case paired wrestling practice, at the Gaya Seth Akhara.




Enjoy!



For ordering info, please check out:


* * * * * * * *


For further information on new DVDs, please email:


  • vanishingflame@NOSPAMgmail.com(please take out the "NOSPAM" when emailing)

Kushti: Physical Body DVD Outtakes Part 4 - Rope Mallakhamb



Here is the 4th clip of the raw training sequences from Vincent Giordano's The Physical Body 1 DVD. This was an outtake/unused footage. Like the first two clips, these are good for anyone who wanted more detail on Kushti aka Indian Wrestling, which was the subject of The Physical Body.

* * * * * * * *

My Review from Dec 2007 of The Physical Body DVD:  


* * * * * * * *


The other parts of the raw footage/outtakes in case you missed them:


Are you ready for part 4?



This fourth part of our series continues with the Mallakhamb, focusing this time on the Rope Mallakhamb.




Enjoy!



For ordering info, please check out:


* * * * * * * *



For further information on new DVDs, please email:


  • vanishingflame@NOSPAMgmail.com(please take out the "NOSPAM" when emailing)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Taky Kimura Interviewed by Paul Bax




The Taky Kimura Interview
Interview Conducted By Paul Bax

When I first started investigating Bruce Lee and his art of Jeet Kune Do, I remembered an old Lee saying, "If you understand the root, you understand all of its blossoming." With this in mind I decided to dig up some roots that have never been exposed before. Those roots, or more properly, that person is Taky Kimura. Mr. Kimura was Lee's first instructor when Bruce opened his first official school. Obviously Bruce saw the same qualities in Taky that he did in his other instructors James Lee and Dan Inosanto. Those qualities were extreme humility, respect for their sifu and the fact that none of them would ever commercialize his art of Gung Fu. Taky has been happy to go about his business in Seattle and leave the limelight to others. In his first interview ever, Mr. Kimura sheds some much needed light on the Seattle years, talks about the woman behind the superstar - Linda Lee, and expresses his sorrow over the death of Brandon Lee.

HOW DID YOU FIRST MEET BRUCE LEE?
TK: I met him in 1 959 when he first came to Seattle. He first landed in San Francisco, but Ping Chow had been in Bruce's father�s theater presentation and I think they owed the Lee family some favors so they said they would take care of Bruce. That�s probably why he came here.


WERE YOU IMMEDIATE FRIENDS OR DID YOUR RELATIONSHIP SLOWLY GROW?
TK: No, actually Bruce was working in Chow's restaurant and every morning he would go down a street called Broadway which took him down to the Edison Vocational School. He bumped into his first student Jesse Glover and I met Bruce through the group of guys Jesse Hung out with.


AT THE SEATTLE SCHOOL. DID BRUCE INTEGRATE OTHER ARTS AT THAT TIME OR WAS IT STRICTLY WING CHUN?
TK: Well, Bruce was well endowed in a number of styles such as Hung Gar, Choy Le Fut, Preying Mantis, all these different arts. He was very knowledgeable with all these different arts, but I think that he probably found that he identified most with Wing Chun as being more realistic in his eyes prior to leaving Hong Kong, so he did concentrate on more of a modified Wing Chun version to my knowledge. At that time I really wasn't knowledgeable with tall the different aspects of styles. Looking back that's my assessment.


SO EVEN THEN, HIS ART WAS A MODIFIED FORM OF WING CHUN, NOT THE TRADITIONAL ART?
TK: That's right. Bruce was a very keen minded fellow that could just look at something in a moments time and translate it in his own mind as to what works and what doesn't. That was sort of his make-up. Every style has a lot of classical motions as well as the more realistic, simplified things and so I think he picked out what he thought was more realistic and that's what he taught us.


SINCE YOU WERE IN CHARGE WHEN BRUCE COULDN'T BE THERE, WHAT DID HE STRESS TO YOU TO STAY AHEAD OF THE REGULAR STUDENTS?
TK: Well, he was always on the scene pretty much, but there were times when he was involved in his school work, so he actually let me lead the class to begin with, but he always came into the class before it was over to make sure we were doing things right. Prior to each session he would take me aside and we would rehearse different things that we would be working on for the next class. It wasn't as if I was doing something on my own. Everything I did was very realistic and what he wanted me to do.


BRUCE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS ONE INCH PUNCH. WERE THE MECHANICS OF THIS PUNCH TAUGHT OPENLY AT THE SEATTLE SCHOOL?
TK: Oh yeah. The consensus is I guess if you teach someone, you teach them seventy five percent of what you know, so you have that other twenty five percent in reserve in case he turns on you (laughs). He was very free with his knowledge and if he looked at you and felt you were trustworthy and sincere, he taught you. He didn't care what race you were. He taught me the one inch punch and I try to follow through and show my students. The one-inch punch was always one of the things he demonstrated at tournaments.


CAN YOU RECALL BRUCE'S FIGHT WITH THE KARATE BLACK BELT IN KARATE?
TK: Well, I can tell you as much as I know. I actually wasn't on the scene when it happened. This guy was a second or third degree Black Belt from Japan. His first name was Yoechi, but I can't remember what his last name was now. This guy was a fanatic about what he thought he knew. He was on the scene here and of course both he and Bruce were going to the same school. Whenever Bruce would demonstrate something this guy took it personally, like Bruce was trying to put him down but that wasn't the case at all. He would pop up at exhibitions and he would get and challenge Bruce openly on the stage. It finally got to the point where Bruce had to tell him if he kept this up they would have to settle this thing. Of course the karate guy was ready to go immediately then. Bruce said, "Let's get this straight, your challenging me, right?" The guy said, "Yes, I'm challenging you." Then they decided to go down to the local handball court and locked themselves in there. When they got started the karate guy opened up with a kick that Bruce blocked and then he just straight punched him all the way down the length of the handball court. When he bumped into the wall and he was falling, Bruce kicked him. The whole thing was over in eleven seconds. After that this guy wanted to become a member of our class. He wanted to become Bruce's disciple. To show you what kind of guy Bruce was, he actually let him in our class for awhile.


HOW LONG DID THIS GUY LAST IN CLASS AFTER THAT?
TK: Well, he was in class for maybe a month and them he kind of petered out. Maybe he felt he was humbling himself too much. It's kind of hard to say.


EVEN BACK IN THOSE EARLY DAYS, PEOPLE USED TO SAY THEY BEAT UP BRUCE. DID YOU HEAR THAT A LOT?
TK: Yeah, I used to hear all kinds of things, but obviously...(laughs). You're still hearing things like that now.


WEREN'T YOU SEVERELY INJURED IN A DEMONSTRATION WITH BRUCE?
TK: It was a demo during a routine class workout. The group of students were to the far right of us and he was facing me to the left of the group and was telling them that the force of the punch had to be something that penetrated through rather than stopping at the point of impact. I was wearing glasses at the time and he was looking over to the students, so then he let go with this wicked punch that got me in the eye. It broke my glasses of course and I had glass splinters all through out my eye. It almost knocked me out. They took me to the hospital and I was okay. That's the only time he ever missed. He used to throw the nunchaku's around my head and I could just barely feel them touch my hair. After that particular incident I started to worry. He was keenly able to use those things (nunchaku's). It never bothered me because he never missed except for that one time.


DID JESSE GLOVER (LEE'S FIRST STUDENT) GET KNOCKED OUT AT A DEMONSTRATION?
TK: I don't recall Jesse ever getting knocked out but whenever we had these demonstrations we had free-style sticking hands to show the prowess of it. If you look at just brute strength, Jesse was probably bigger and stronger than Bruce, but you have that inner strength that sort of comes out of you. Bruce used to talk about how he could call it forth during an extreme emergency or something like when there is a fire. This adrenaline flow brings that kind of power forth. I think Bruce had the ability to call forth that kind of energy at will. He was only five foot seven and one hundred thirty five pounds. He had a defined physique but he still wasn't a big man. When you look at somebody of that stature coming up with that kind of power, you wonder where the hell it is coming from.


IT IS INTERESTING YOU BRING THAT UP SINCE TOM BLEEKER (LINDA LEE'S EX-HUSBAND AND BRIEF STUDENT OF BRUCE) SPOKE OF THAT IN A RECENT MAGAZINE ARTICLE. HE ALSO CLAIMS BRUCE COULD TAP INTO THAT SOURCE OF ADRENALINE AT WILL.
TK: Oh yeah. They talk about mind and body matter being two different things but I firmly believe they are one in the same. You can't just say it is a separate entity. That's just my feeling. I am sixty nine and I feel I'm still learning a lot of things within myself. I'm beginning to tap into that chapter that I have never been to.


HOW OFTEN DID YOU SEE BRUCE AFTER HE LEFT FOR OAKLAND?
TK: His mother in law was still up here, so he wanted to bring his wife and son to see them from time to time. I would say in the earlier part of after he left he was up here maybe two or three times a year. He would always tell me in advance when he was coming and ask me to set time away from my job so we could go over the new things he was doing. This was one of the things I really appreciated, because he would show me different things they were doing that he had gone into from what he had been doing here. I felt honored to be a part of a continuing friendship and the fact he hadn't forgot me.


WOULD HE TRY TO LIBERATE YOU FROM HIS PREVIOUS TEACHINGS IN SEATTLE AND IF SO, WHAT DID HE STRESS TO YOU?
TK: Well, one of the things he did when you talk about liberation is at one point he said how strongly we attach the importance of chi sau. When he started teaching Kareem Abdul Jabbar for instance - sticking hands, he could recognize there was such a vast physical difference between him and Kareem that chi sao became much more useless than it would be with someone in the range of your own size. At one point he called me and said sticking hands was really not the focal point of things as we thought earlier. At this time I didn't understand the impact of what he was saying, but now I understand. He told me when he was looking at Kareem s navel and he said normally if you extend your foot you could keep yourself out of range from getting hit if you got your leg out there. With Kareem, he (Bruce) could have his leg out there, but Kareem could still hit him. He was over a foot taller. One of the things about Bruce as I said earlier was that he was a guy that could look at something in a flashing moment and tell you the value of it. I think when he first got here to when he was in Oakland and Los Angeles, he was on an up plane of learning things about himself. You read these life stories of all these martial artist and they tell how they learn something from one guy and then they can]t learn anything more so they go to the next guy and they]re always looking for some kind of challenge that will take them up to the next step. I think Bruce went through that same process. The big difference was that he was a man that wasn't tied down to a "classical mess" as he used to call a lot of things. He was self-liberated in that he was looking for things that kept him away from just having tunnel vision.


HAVE YOU FOUND THE SAME LIMITATIONS IN WING CHUN THAT BRUCE DID?
TK: As far as Wing Chun goes there is a vast amount of knowledge there and, to be honest with you, I don't know much of it. The only thing I know is the modified techniques that Bruce taught us. If some of those people who are real Wing Chun artists would come into our club and see us they would probably shake their heads and say "What the hell are these guys doing?" I can't really say one way or the other about it. I think the concept of Wing Chun in principle is very good. It's a simplified straight movement in that it takes away a lot of the impractical things you might see in another structure. When I mention this I certainly don't mean to take anything away from anyone else. I always tell guys that want to get into our private club that you might think wrestling or boxing is the best thing and if that's the case, that's what your going to excel in if that's how you feel. We're not here to tell you we have something that is better than boxing or anything else.


DO YOU THINK BRUCE KEPT A LOT OF THINGS TO HIMSELF?
TK: I think Bruce was very open with me and I think one of the reasons was he didn't see any threat from me. I'm a very passive guy and I was much older than he was. We had a very strong friendship bond between us and I always felt Bruce never held anything back from me that he had but at the same time he knew I was only capable of digesting so much at any given point in time so he wouldn't try to inundate me by throwing a bunch of stuff at me. Every time he came up he would have the next little set of things he wanted me to practice on. At the same time I never pestered him or pushed him because I always had a strong feeling in my mind he wasn't going to hold anything back from me and that he was going to give me whatever he thought I needed at what point in time he felt I needed it.


HOW DO YOU VIEW BRUCE LEE'S ART OF JEET KUNE DO?
TK: Well, I think he certainly has to be given credit for revolutionizing the whole industry of the martial arts. During the late fifties and early sixties there was a lot of mysticism in terms of the martial arts. A lot of the stuff you saw was classical motions and forms and those kind of things and again I don't say this to try to put anybody down or minimize the value of it in terms of the total goal of where you're going. Bruce had his own way of doing things and I just feel very honored that I was one of the guys that got to know him as well as anybody did.


DID YOU ACTUALLY SEE JEET KUNE DO?
TK: I guess I can say that I was the only guy in Seattle that really saw the stages of Jeet Kune Do that he was into whenever he came up here. At that point he wasn't teaching anybody. He would teach me privately different things he was doing. I guess I can say I was the only guy he kept pace at the level he was in when he came up here. It's a very confusing thing. Everybody looks at JKD and tries to say what it is.


DO YOU THINK THERE WAS AN ACTUAL SYSTEM OF JEET KUNE DO?
TK: Here's my view point: If you want to compare it to a sculptor that takes a piece of clay and ends up with a beautiful art object, then he's casting off these little pieces of clay that aren't necessary but in order to get to that beautiful sculpture you will still have to know how he got there. So, yes I think there are pieces that need to be gone through to get up to that point.


WITH YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE, HOW OFTEN AND HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU TEACH?
TK: First of all, it's a private club, we won't charge anything and we are not looking for students. I'm a guy that likes to stay in the woodwork here. I'm not at all trying to make any statements or let anybody think anybody knows anymore than someone else. My knowledge is very limited but I feel secure with what Bruce taught me. My satisfaction is if I can share that knowledge with somebody who's out there afraid to assert himself in the group that he's in because he might be ashamed of something he said wrong. Bruce used to say, "If you have something to say, for God's sake-say it!" In other words, instill a little more confidence in yourself. It relates itself to so many facets of life whether you're driving down the road, attending a business meeting or if you're just talking to somebody. Actually, you're in some form of oral combat with the guy your talking to. You have to harmonize yourself and let it flow. I think that's one of the big things I gained form Bruce. This group I have here, we're not teaching anybody how to fight, we're just sharing something with them that if it gets them on the next level of feeling good about yourself then we've done something.


DO YOU CERTIFY PEOPLE IN JUN FAN GUNG FU?
TK: Oh no, I don't do any of that kind of stuff. I'm not looking for anyone to put me on a pedestal because I know I don't belong there. One of the good feelings is I can work with these people but if there's anything to do with certification I just tell them to go to Dan Inosanto. He's the guy who I believe has been left with the legacy of Bruce Lee.


YOU RECENTLY DROPPED OUT A JKD SUMMER CAMP. WHY WAS THIS?
TK: That's not my bag, Paul. If I were into that scene I would have started a school a long time ago. With my closeness to Bruce I could have made a lot of money but that's not where it's at as far as I am concerned. I'm just interested in being in my little corner. People want to come into the club but unless they are of the same philosophy I am, then I just don't take them. It's just wasting their time and mine. Bruce and I had a long and harmonious feeling about nationwide schools. At one time he and I were talking about starting a nationwide string of schools but when he found out that...and I say this in a very qualified manner because there are many schools that are dedicated in a very sincere manner but then there are other guys out there who are looking to make a lot of money and they don't care if you come today or tomorrow, they're just going to appease you by giving you rank if they think. you've been there long enough. As long as the moneys flowing. When Bruce saw that, he was frustrated with it, so we decided against the idea. One of the last things he said, and I concur with him totally, was that, "What is really important except that you have a few close friends around you and workout twice week and go down to Chinatown o have a cup of tea." I think there is a lot of importance there, you know. That's kind of where I am. I'm not a fighter or anything like that. I'm a very passive guy. If I can help somebody then that's important.


WITH THE "JKD SOCIETY" DISBANDED, DO YOU FEEL THERE NEEDS TO BE A NEW GOVERNING BODY?
TK: I think Dan Inosanto is the person that has been left with the legacy of Bruce Lee, so with him lies the key to some kind of consensus there. Otherwise Bruce is going to be forgotten. If he isn't forgotten it's going to be so fragmented and in different directions nobody's going to understand what he stood for. Dan is the guy who is at the head of the group to lead us into the future with a true perspective of what Bruce was and who he was. Dan is the kind of guy that has such humbleness about him and is so dedicated to making sure whatever Bruce stood for doesn't get misconstrued. He's logically the fellow that needs to be there. I think all these other people around him will rally around him and allow him to form a body that will take this thing into the future. My feeling is Dan needs to come out to assert the leadership that everyone is looking for. Dan might emphasize Kali but that's what people want him for. People like Ted Wong, Dan Lee and all those guys, they were the nucleus of who Bruce was teaching down there. For anything to occur that shows different directions among these people obviously shows a lack of communication. We can't have it continue by having different people doing different things. It has to be structured and made into a focal point, much more than it is now. It takes things like this to get things back together.


CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME INSIGHT INTO LINDA LEE?
TK: Nobody has ever given Linda the credit she deserves. This woman has been one hell of a pillar of strength out thee. I don't think Bruce would have aspired to the height that he did without her support. Look what she did for her son. She was a pillar of strength for him him, too. Nobody ever gives Linda credit. I tell you, she's ten feet tall. First her husband, now her son. Dan was hopeful one day he [Brandon] could take the whole thing over and lead it. That's exactly what Dan told me. He said Brandon came in very humble. He worked from the very beginning. He didn't come in and say, "Hey, I'm Bruce Lee's son, I'm going to start at the top," he started at the bottom like everybody else. He very humbly took his lumps and worked his way up. Dan said this young man had all the moves and the coordination similar to what his dad had. Dan was hopeful one day he could groom him and he could be the leader and take over. What a beautiful thought. If Dan was a greedy, dishonest guy he would never had any feelings like that.


HOW HAVE YOU FELT ABOUT THE LOSS OF BRANDON LEE?
TK: I think it is tragic from the emotional stand point that a mother, after she lost her husband then loses her son in a rather similar way, in a shroud of mystery. Here was a young man who was just on the threshold of doing a lot of big, fine things. You find yourself asking questions. How is it you find all these derelicts out there year after year, falling over the sidewalk just like they were fifteen years ago, but they're still up and around. I'm not one to judge, but it seems these people haven't contributed anything to society but here comes a shining star that has all the potential to contribute something and his life is snuffed out. Your find yourself questioning. One thing about Brandon, I saw some films recently of him doing some choreography on his own, different fight scenes, things like that. I knew Bruce pretty well, I knew the ability he had: the moves, the intense look he had in his eyes. It really made me feel good that I saw that same spark and cunningness and quickness in Brandon.



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The Seattle Years by Taky Kimura

The Seattle Years by Taky Kimura

Taky Kimura was one of Bruce Lee's first students when the latter began teaching martial arts in Seattle in the late 1950's. Kimura, now 71, was older than Lee and the other students in the training group, yet became close friends with Bruce and shared many moments with "The Dragon" away from the martial arts, philosophizing on life.

Kimura, talking for the first time with Black Belt magazine, reveals in the following Dragon Spirit column how Lee not only taught him how to defend himself, but helped improve his self-esteem and his overall outlook on life after Kimura spent five years in World War II internment camps.

- Editor




Taky Kimura (above left) credits Bruce Lee with boosting his self-esteem
after five years in internment camps during World War II.


I met Bruce Lee in 1959, when he first came to Seattle. I had always been interested in the martial arts, and I had a little experience in judo. One day a friend of mine came by and told me about a man down in Chinatown who was performing a martial arts exhibition. My friend told me, "You've got to see this guy. He is just phenomenal."

So I made arrangements to meet Bruce. At that point in time, heand his students were just training in backyards, in parks, or wherever they could find room. They invited me to watch their work out.

When I got there, they told me to throw a punch at Bruce, or use any other moves. I felt the force of the wind against my face after I missed and he counterpunched, even though he didn't come that close to actually hitting me. It was just a very devastating and fearsome event. I knew immediately that I had to [train] with him, because he war such an incredible force.

Bruce had background in many martial arts systems, but he was more closer, affiliated with wing chun [kung fu]. Bruce thought it was very practical in terms of fighting. Plus, it lacked the wasted motion found in other systems and had more realism. I think he based his concepts of fighting on that system more than others.

When he began teaching wing chun he would modernize it in his own way. Anything that was not realistic, he discarded. He taught usthe things he felt were most practical. He put us through drills that made us feel like we were going to drop. But he made us realize that we had to do it with greater determination.

I was 20 years older than Bruce, and at the beginning, he had alot of those attributes that typify teenagers. He was a very energetic person, and always seemed to be in perpetual motion. I had spent more than five years in internment camps in California and Idaho [during World War II], and my whole mental attitude was one of a beaten person. I had a whole different concept of things than Bruce did. I couldn't be around him too often, because it just didn't fit in with my mental attitude.

But as time went on, I realized that this young man was endowed with a very strong understanding of Taoism and Zen. One minute he could tell you the raunchiest joke you ever heard, and the next minute he could be philosophizing Zen and Taoism. It would just blow your mind.

Even though he was much younger than me, I felt he offered something that I needed. So we became very close friends. Part of that may be because we are both Asians, and maybe there was a strong cultural bond between us.

I know that my martial arts ability was far from the reason for Bruce and I becoming close friends. I remember on one occasion, I was training with these guys who were all at least 10 years younger than me. I was working my hardest to keep up with them and I felt like I was gaining confidence. And I was kind of looking out of the corner of my eye, to see if Bruce realized that I was making some progress. Then I heard him say to one ofthe guys, "He'll never make it."

I have that cultural background that the Asians have—a certain amount of pride within ourselves —and I think that automatically took over and it made me work like heck to keep up with the others. I wanted to prove to him that I could make it.

Bruce was very helpful to me in many ways. He took me from a low point of self-esteem and made me realize that I was a human being and that I am just as good as any other person, but yet no better. I owe him a lot for that.

Bruce left us with another message: that the most important thing was to live the philosophy that we adhere to. Fisticuffs just open the door, the upper echelon, of life. The more meaningful part is the spiritual, philosophical essence of what you are.Until you analyze yourself and realize what that means to you, you can't really relate to other people on that kind of a basis.  Because Bruce has done so much to revolutionize the martial arts and has done so much for the world in general in that regard, his name shouldn't be muddied up or contorted in any way. We owe that to him.

I think if Bruce were alive today, he would still be making a lot of changes. A lot of people have asked me "If Bruce were alive today, how would he keep up with all the changes in the martial arts?" He had a keen mind and a real flexibleness about him. He could look at something and move with it. I know that if he were alive today, he would still be astounding us with a lot of ingenious things.


Black Belt
January 1996
Volume 34, Number 1
The Dragon Spirit column
Page 18






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Stickgrappler's Sojourn of Septillion Steps