Martial Arts Students from Arizona Learn to Use Farming Tools

Kobudo, the ancient Okinawan martial art of farming and fishing tools for self-defense has been so effective, that many law enforcement agencies around the globe adopted many of these tools for their line of work. One notable tool was the tonfa, a side handle baton that replaced the common ‘Billy club’ for a few decades until the expandable baton was introduced. But even the expandable baton, known as a kibo and referred to as ASP, has a Japanese martial arts association. For instance, the hanbo, a 3-foot baton, is used in many styles of traditional jujutsu and ninjutsu and is even used in some styles of Shorin-Ryu Karate. Other similar tools include nitanbo and kobuton.

 Other kobudo tools, or weapons, include an unusual fork-like weapon known as sai. The sai is a classical kobudo martial art weapon and one of the hardest to learn. Even so, members of Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Kobudo Kai at the Arizona Hombu in Mesa tested for certification with this weapon. To certify, the group was required to demonstrate four separate advanced kata (forms), bunkai (self-defense applications) and ippon kumite (sparing). Six martial artists from the martial arts school successfully passed exams and were awarded certification in this complicated weapon. The six included Adam Bialek, Sensei Bill Borea, Amanda Nemec, Ryan Nemec, Alexis Pillow and Sempai Patrick Scofield.

Utah Black Belts train in Arizona

Shihan Kim Schroeder and Sensei Jeff Schroeder train with hanbo

Each year, the Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Karate Hombu welcomes members of the Utah Shorin-Kai for advanced training in karate, kobudo, samurai arts, etc. When the hombu was located at the University of Wyoming, members from the Utah martial arts association would travel to Laramie to train at the university. Now that I'm no longer at the university, the Utah martial artists jump aboard a plane in Salt Lake City and travel to Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport, rent a van or two, and drive to Mesa to stay at Days Inn while training at the Arizona Hombu dojo.

Explaining a technique for locking an attackers wrist to two Utah brown belts

Sensei Paula from Gilbert and Shihan Neal from Phoenix work
on restraints at the Arizona-Utah Karate Clinic.

Ryan from Mesa works on advanced martial arts technique with Jesse from Tempe.

This year, we welcomed some of the Utah yudansha (black belt rank) and sempai (senior brown belts) from the Utah Shorin-Kai who came to train in advanced martial arts techniques and hanbo on May 3rd and May 4th, 2013. The group arrived at Sky Harbor on Friday morning and checked into their motel near the Arizona martial arts training center on the border of Gilbert and Mesa near Baseline and MacDonald. On Friday evening, the Utah group led by Kyoshi Rob Watson, 8th dan, arrived at the martial arts facility and exchanged hugs, handshakes and greetings with a few members of the Arizona School of Traditional Karate.

After exchanging greetings and renewing friendships, we bowed in, warmed up, and started our training with hanbo. The hanbo is a 3-foot bo (stick) often seen with ninja or jujutsuka. I was introduced to this very practical art by my instructor several years ago. Weapons similar to hanbo include tonfa, nitanbo and kioga. The kioga, also referred to as kibo, is a common tool of law enforcement that is referred to as ASP or expandable baton. The difference between the use of the hanbo and kioga is that the hanbo is always the same length, but many techniques are similar. The difference between law enforcement officials and martial artists is that law enforcement training is limited in use of this tool. True traditional martial artists never end training and use the hanbo to activate pressure points and use it for blocks, strikes, restraints and throws. Following two hours of training with the hanbo, the Arizona-Utah group retired until the next morning.

On Saturday morning, training began in advanced empty hand (karate) techniques. These included blocks, strikes, chokes, throws and restraints. The group trained for five hours before the clinic ended. At the end of the clinic, Kyoshi Rob Watson, 8th dan and Renshi Todd Stoneking, 6th dan, and members of both Arizona and Utah said their goodbyes and it was the consensus that the time went by too fast. But many had bruises to remember. I will travel to Utah in the fall for the Utah gassuku (adverse training) at the East Canyon resort near Park City.

Professional photographs during the training were taken by Amanda and Ryan Nemec of NemecPhotos. We are very thankful and appreciated by the excellent quality of the photography at this year’s clinic.

The 2013 Arizona-Utah clinic ends with bows to one another.

Bunkai (application) from Meikyo kata

Utah Martial Artists Train in Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona

Thadd Barrowes (1st dan) of the Utah Shorin-Kai from Murray Utah, applies restraint
to Ryan Harden of the Arizona School of Traditional Martial Arts in Mesa and
Gilbert during annucal Arizona-Utah clinic at the Seiyo Kai Hombu in Mesa.

On April 12th, 2012, a group of senior martial artists from Murray, Utah traveled from Salt Lake City International to Phoenix Sky Harbor airport to train at the Arizona Hombu and Seiyo Kai martial arts facility in Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona. The group from Utah included my good friends Kyoshi Watson, 8th degree black belt and Renshi Stoneking, 6th degree black belt of the Utah Shorin-Kai. These Utah martial artists are very good and anyone in the Murray area looking for a place to learn and train in martial arts could not do any better. For instrance, Kyoshi Watson has been in martial arts for more than 4 decades, so there is considerable experience in this group.

The Utah group trained with some of our Arizona martial artists in advanced Okinawan Karate Kata (forms) that included many devastating self-defense applications against a variety of attacks. We reviewed techniques from Gojushiho, Nijushiho, Wankan Dai, Wankan Sho, and Meikyo.  These kata actually include gun, knife, club and riffle defenses and defenses against grabs, sucker punches, and chokes.

The group later trained in hanbo (law enforcement night stick, or 3-foot club) for strikes, throws and restraints and also trained in traditional Okinawan kenjutsu (samurai sword). The three day clinic ended on late Saturday afternoon.

The clinic was a lot of fun and I received many encouraging compliments on the instruction. And this was one of several clinics I recently taught to librarians from Chandler, Arizona and faculty, staff and students from the University of Wyoming in self-defense.

Annual Training for Arizona-Utah martial artists in Murray, Utah.



Arizona Black Belt Clinic

Over this past weekend (April 12-14, 2012), it was a great pleasure having a group of black belt and brown belt students travel from Murray, Utah to Phoenix, Arizona to train at our Hombu in Mesa, Arizona. Part of the Utah Shorin-Kai group drove from Murray, Utah and part of the group flew out of Salt Lake City International to Phoenix Sky Harbor and then drove to the Hombu. We also had students from Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Phoenix attend our clinic at the Hombu. The group is headed by my very good friend Kyoshi Rob Watson, 8th dan.

Sensei Bill Borea, 2nd Dan, trains with Tonfa (using reverse grip) with
his uke Shihan Neal Adam, 5th dan (using bo).

Training began Thursday evening with Okinawan Kobudo. We trained with tonfa and sai and a very interesting question came up. How come we don't see more police officiers taking these classes? My answer was "Good Question".

One of our students from the Gillette, Wyoming dojo mentioned a few years ago that the Campbell County sheriff's office issued nunchaku law enforcement personnel and they received no training. Talk about a bunch of deputies with knots on their heads!  This is as crazy as issuing a tonfa, a kioga or kebo (expandable baton) to a police officier and only teaching them to swing. We all know how to swing weapons (except maybe nunchaku), but police officiers are really missing the boat on not getting proper training with their accessory weapons.

Anyway, our members at our school trained with the tonfa before beginning kihon (basics) and bunkai (applications) with the sai. It didn't take them long to discover how difficult it is to use the sai. After many bruised knuckles, it was apparent to them that it will take time to master this weapon. Thus, all day Thursday was devoted to Shorin-Ryu Kobudo.

On Friday, we had two sessions. We started reviewing all of the bunkai as ippon kumite for several kata (forms) including nijushiho, meikyo, wankan dai and others. So all day Friday was devoted to Shorin-Ryu Karate.

On Saturday, we trained in samurai arts including hanbojutsu, iaido and kenjutsu. The Hanbo is a great weapon and very pragmatic. We had the opportunity to practice strikes, blocks restraints, throws and pressure point strikes. This was followed by several iaido kata (fast draw sword) and then onto kenjutsu (katana or samurai sword applications). The clinic ended at 4 pm and our people from Utah were on their way back home. We will all miss them as we have all developed very close friendships.

Renshi Stoneking from Murray Utah applies Ryote Garumi on Luis during
hanbo training in Mesa, Arizona.

Soke Hausel, 10th dan, poses in Japanese
garden in Gilbert, Arizona with traditional hakama

We all missed our samurai at this clinic. Sensei Paula, of true samurai lineage, was unable
to attend due to back complications. We all pray for her rapid recovery.

Luis applies Ago Senage on Renshi Todd Stoneking, 6th dan, using hanbo at the Black Belt Clinic at the Arizona Hombu in Mesa.

With Spring comes TAMESHIWARI in Arizona and Wyoming

After I piled up rocks for my students at the University of Wyoming
 the Casper Dojo and Gillette Dojo, I explained to them the philosophy of breaking, how to break and then
demonstrated using the largest rock. Few, if any believed this could be done. After I broke the rock, gave
them an opportunity to break, they were all successful.

What is Tameshiwari?  When I started training in karate as a teenager, nearly every person in the US as well as Hollywood had the misconception that karate experts not only registered their hands, but also trained constantly hitting sand with the side of their hand (shuto te) until the developed a lethal strike that could break almost anything in half. This became known as the Karate Chop or Judo Chop.

Donnette Gillespie, white belt, breaks her
first rock at the Laramie Bushido Dojo in
Wyoming (about 1977). Donnette retired
from Karate and moved to Alaska many
years later after first earning a 3rd degree
black belt.

Today, we hope most people realize breaking things in karate is a very, very minor part of karate. For me, I see breaking (tameshiwari) as a unique optional addition to karate training but it is seldom practiced in our dojo around the world. It has two uses - (well possibly three if you include a geologist who forgets to take his rock hammer to the field):
(1) developing self-confidence as there are few people if any, who believe they can break a rock when I first show them the specimens, and

(2) entertainment for martial arts demonstrations.
Because of this, we instructors tend to give the public the wrong idea of what karate is all about.

George Chakmakian, 1st dan, breaks rock
at the University of Wyoming Education
Building Gym during training.

Even so, I like to break out a truck load of rocks each spring for my students. You should see their eyes if they have never done this before. And if you could read their minds, this is what they are saying, "Are you crazy?"

I like to teach them to break rocks. The reason for this is rocks are many times more challenging than the run-of-the-mill rebreakable boards, wooden boards, tiles and cinder block. And everyone (particularly boys) has experience getting hit by a rock as a kid, and we know how hard these can be. So it can be a real self-confidence booster and also results in good word-of-mouth advertising from our students and those who participate as part of an audience.

How difficult is it to break rocks - very. But the benefits are good. And during my more than 40 years as a karate instructor, I've only had one person who was unable to break a rock who tried. But she had built a barrier in her mind which made the rock to be much harder that it was. This psychological barrier was impenetrable for her even though she had the ability to break it. So the statistics are on the side of those who try to break rocks with proper instruction.

Termite mound (foreground) in
Ellendale Field of Australia.

Years ago (about 1965), when I was a teen in SLC, I demonstrated to a couple of students that I could break a rock. Like a wild fire, this news spread rapidly throughout the school and in a week, I had people stepping way out of my way and acting very polite. So rock breaking can have added benefits we are unaware of. There was another time, in the outback in Australia in 1986 with an international group of geologists. It turned out that we had some from Japan with black belts so we had a contest to see who could break the most tops off of anthills (termite mounds). Not easy to do as most were highly silicified and could not be broken with a sledge hammer.

Sensei Lenny Martin breaks his first rock
at the University of Wyoming

So, this Spring, we will again introduce our students to rock breaking. When the sun stays up a little later in the evenings, watch for our rock breaking event at the Hombu in Mesa, Arizona at 60 W. Baseline Road. This event will occur on a Tuesday evening in March and we'll try to make a family event of this so our families can cheer on our rock stars.

Jessica Ricks (now Nidan) prepares to break rock.
In the following photo, she hit this piece of Forelle
Limestone with so much force it crushed the rock!

Eric Hausel tries a rock and breaks it at the University of
Wyoming

Breaking a rock while others stand around to discuss their breaking successes.
Rock breaking at the University of Wyoming Geology 101.

Kyle Gewecke, 4th dan, from Gillette, Wyoming prepares to break rock

Karate demo from 1976 where I break cinder blocks with head.

1976 Demonstration - Breaking roofing tile with fist (tsuki). Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Tempe, Phoenix Arizona

Soke explains to Mesa-Gilbert martial artists about the technique
of rock breaking.

Patrick breaks rock on first attempt

Te, the art of the empty hand - sketch by Soke Hausel of Phoenix Arizona.

1985 photo of Soke Hausel from Mesa, Arizona, demonstrating side karate kick at 9,000 feet in Happy Jack, Wyoming while standing on 1.4 billion year old Phanerozoic Sherman Granite.