I’ve been extremely fortunate to have stumbled on some amazing training opportunities, and over the years met and become acquainted with some amazing martial artists. Some I’m even privileged to call friends.
Having grown up in Japan, it was a constant presence in my life. I was influenced early on in life about traditional Japanese values and etiquette by my late Grandmother, who was a master of Japanese tea ceremony, and was taught early on to value it’s treasures.
My first martial arts lessons were by my friend’s father in judo at the age of seven. Before starting, I recall watching the classes from a vantage point where I wouldn’t be discovered by the “ijimekko”, the local bullies, who loved to single me out and making my life rough on the daily for being a “ha-fu”, a half-breed.
Yet, this wasn’t why I wanted to learn martial arts...
In fact learning to fight had nothing to do with it. It was the explosive movements of Karate... and the fast yet graceful throws of judo that spoke to me.
One day a young man next door, a gaijin (foreigner) and the son of a family friend and a university student who practiced Shotokan Karate in Tokyo, had left a pair of Karate hand protectors on the kitchen table.
I recognized what those were, having seen them in magazines and on television.
I recall bugging him forever about his training after that day, and he was eventually kind enough to answer the many questions about Karate and Budō (martial arts) I had as an annoying 7-year old. He even took me to his dojo to watch a class. I was ecstatic.
This was the beginning...
Moving on into my teens, I spent a considerable amount of time training in Western Boxing, Tae Kwon Do (ITF) and hard-style Karate; and somewhere along the way earning my first black belt in Karate (Kyokushin).
I ended up moving to California in 1990 with the intention of meeting and training with GM Ed Parker.
It was not to be.
However, I did end up studying Kenpo Karate in 1991, starting the journey with Mr. Jim "Yosh" Furuya, a black belt under GM Ed Parker and his student Mr. Steve Johnson.
Since I moved around quite a bit, I had the opportunity to learn from a few other instructors here and there, and finally reconnected with my good friend and mentor, Mr. Larry Kongaika, in 2007.
Crazy to think about, but I first met him in 1991 as an Orange Belt in Kenpo.
Time flies.
We continue to train and teach out of MAX Dojo in Diamond Bar, California.
In 1991, I also began training in Chinese Kenpo with Mr. Sam Estrada who was a long-time student and black belt under GM Ed Parker and later became a student of Professor William K.S. Chow.
He was instrumental in helping me research Kenpo history. Encouraging me to keep studying and digging, much like he did in his training. He continued to travel to Hawaii after the Professa's death to seek out individuals who were his students and train with them.
I've had the opportunity to train with Sensei Sam for many years and taught together out of a Los Angeles Parks and Recreation facility until around 2015.
As you may have seen on this blog, I also have an interest in the art of Jeet Kune Do. I've written about the catalyst that got me started in JKD elsewhere on this blog, but needless to say, I've been blessed by the individuals I've been able to meet over the last 30 years.
Direct students of Bruce Lee, such as: Jim Sewell, Bob Bremer, Leo Fong, Taky Kimura, Dan Inosanto, Patrick Strong and others; as well as my primary instructor of old-school JKD, Sifu Tim Tackett.
In the midst of all of this, I spent several years training in traditional Japanese martial arts.
From Japanese jujutsu to Japanese stick-fighting (jojutsu / jodo), to Aikido, Judo and hard-style Karate. This is where some of the greatest lessons in martial arts and life come from. I often speak of my Jujutsu sensei to my students, and the lessons imparted to me while I studied with him.
Spent a handful years studying Chinese martial arts and even spent some time dabbling in Muay Thai / Kickboxing, Filipino Martial Arts, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (somehow earning a blue belt... more than once lol).
Over the years I've ended up with all kinds of crazy martial arts experiences.
Meeting the great Mas Oyama of Kyokushinkai Karate; having dinner with Masaaki Hatsumi, the father of modern Ninja movement; visiting the Shorinji Kempo temple in Japan, and meeting the daughter of the founder Doshin So; my encounter with the Korean national Tae Kwon Do demo team and the subsequent invite and visit to the Kukkiwon (the TKD headquarters in Seoul, Korea); training Tai Ji Quan in Taiwan under a student of Wang Shu Jin, a giant in Chinese internal martial arts; meeting Gozo Shioda, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido during a visit to their honbu dojo; training with the legend, Dan Inosanto; and so much more.
Fast forward until today, and I'm still actively training and teaching Kenpo Karate and Jeet Kune Do.
And honestly, this is just the tip of the ice berg.
I've been truly blessed in being able to meet and train with so many exceptional martial artists from around the world.
The late Anthony Bourdain once wrote:
“I feel like I’ve stolen a car — a really nice car — and I keep looking in the rearview mirror for flashing lights. But there’s been nothing yet.”
This is how I've felt about my journey so far.
This blog is simply a way for me to gather some of the lessons I've learned from my teachers, and share bits and pieces of information on the martial arts I've had the opportunity to study and the lessons I've learned.
Hope you enjoy some of my ramblings.
Steven