CQB KAJUKENBO CLUB

On May 29, 2009, Co-Founder Frank Ordonez talked about classes in the early days of Kajukenbo and explained some of the training techniques and self-defense approaches he used to teach.  GM Jason Groff assisted.  Also present: Aunty Lydia Ordonez, Professor Woody Sims of Vallejo, CA, Professor Tim Gagnier and Sifu Becky of Oregon and GM Pat Tyrell.

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Just passing it on for you Willie Nelson fans. — Dave

Willie Nelson to Receive 5th-Degree Black Belt

 

Willie Nelson might be about to turn 81-years-old and be regarded as one of the world’s most famous living pacifists, but apparently hiding behind his friend-to-all disposition and grandfatherly sweetness is a mean roundhouse kick and lethal karate chop.

You may not see Willie step into the octagon anytime soon, but apparently he’s been training for 20 years in the art of Gong Kwon Yu Sul — a modern Korean martial arts system similar to Tae Kwon Do that “emphasizes the application of striking, locking and throwing techniques in practical, free-flowing fighting situations, rather than static situations.” Willie has been training in the art so long he will be awarded his 5th degree black belt in the discipline on April 28th in Austin—the day before his 81st birthday. Grand Master Sam Um of Austin will be doing the honors at his Master Martial Arts studio as part of a promotional event.

10 Badass Willie Nelson Moments

Willie Nelson has been studying martial arts most of his life, starting in Nashville when he was a burgeoning songwriter. “I got into some martial arts and kung fu,”  Willie told Men’s Health Magazine last year. “I liked it. We used to offer kung fu lessons to the kids in town. It’s good for you.”  Apparently Willie trains on his famous tour bus The Honeysuckle Rose while on tour to pass the time and to stay healthy.

Speaking of tours, Willie is getting ready to embark on a landmark tour starting May 1st with Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, as well as select dates with Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, and The Devil Makes Three.

Move over “World’s Most Interesting Man”, Willie Nelson might have you beat.

Younger Willie with Master Sam Um

Original article here

The limits of Kata

When (Choki) Motobu was about 18 years old, he met Komesu Magii from the Gaja District in Nishibary village, who was the strongest wrestler in all Okinawa. Motobu, the son of a nobleman, asked Komesu to a bout, but Komesu was a commoner from a peasant’s family who knew that it would be improper to injure a nobleman in a fight, thus he politely declined. Also, Komesu was about fifteen years older and much taller than Motobu. But Motobu convinced Komesu that he was merely interested to analyze the differences between wrestling and karate. Thus, Komesu accepted the offer and since Motobu didn’t have a proper belt (obi) needed for such grappling bouts, he made one out of a straw rope and taught the young Motobu how to grib onto his obi.

Motobu hoped to punch his opponent with his iron fist, but Komesu was too big and too powerful for the much smaller Motobu. After Motobu was defeated, he asked Komesu what one could do if one was grabbed from behind on his topknot. Back then it was the custom that men wore their hair in the topknot style. Komesu grabbed Motobu by his topknot and even though Motobu was struggling vigorously, he was helpless and unable to regain his stability.

This wrestling experience taught Motobu that regardless of one’s prowess in karate, it was not possible to beat an opponent who is much larger and stronger. Sensei Motobu started to understand that kata has its limits, and he said that kata was not developed to be used against an experienced fighter, but against an unskilled fighter. Motobu sensei recited a poem which was handed down in karate history: “Kata and waza are both limited by themselves. They are useless until one learns how to apply them in any situation”.

From the INTERNATIONAL SEISHINKAI KARATE UNION – ISKU

The gentle way: Judo master Willy Cahill receives Lifetime Achievement Award

July 20, 2013, 05:00 AM By David Egan Daily Journal

Willy Cahill was diagnosed with polio at age 7.

“Doctor told me I would never walk again,” said Cahill.

He was just one of numerous children diagnosed with the crippling disease during World War II. His father guaranteed him that he would be out of the hospital in a year.

As his father had predicted, Cahill was able to walk again after a year of message therapy from Professor Henry S. Okazaki {the founder of Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Jujutsu}, his father’s judo (sic) instructor who worked as a masseur for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Since then, he has made the most of his life.

Cahill, 77, has trained more than 1,200 national and international judo champions, has coached for several Olympic teams and was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as a judo instructor in 1975. Even with all those accolades, Cahill says his biggest achievement is seeing all of his students live a better life for themselves through Judo, something he himself has achieved. His former students have gone on to have successful careers outside of the sport.

Cahill was born in Honolulu in 1935 to John and Abbie Cahill, both professors and founders of the American Judo and Jujitsu Federation. In 1939, John Cahill opened his first dojo in Honolulu in which he taught both judo and jujitsu. His family moved to California in 1947, where they opened a judo and jujitsu school in Daly City. Martial arts for Cahill came naturally at a young age.

Coming to California

“I started training in judo in Hawaii, but I wasn’t serious about it,” Cahill said, adding it wasn’t until he came to California that he got serious with the sport.

After the passing of his father, Cahill took over his father’s dojo at the request of his mother and moved the dojo to downtown San Bruno in 1963.

“That was a big shock when my father died, because he was still young,” Cahill said.

It was his father who made him the coach he is today, because his dad pointed out what he did right and wrong while keeping things in perspective. According to Cahill, if someone underperforms, they’re already upset with themselves, so they don’t need another person hounding at their ear.

“It is best they receive constructive criticism,” said Cahill. Judo translates to gentle way and is very much a representation of the man himself.

This is the philosophy that has elevated Cahill’s Judo Academy to become one of the most highly regarded dojos for more than 50 years. It has been the home to more than a thousand local, national, international and Olympic competitors and coaches.

He has had the privilege of coaching the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic Judo teams and two U.S. Paralympic judo teams, which includes the 2000 team that won the gold medal in Sydney, Australia.

“This was the first time in U.S. Paralympics’ history a U.S. squad won gold for Judo,” Cahill said.

Four year later, Cahill and Ron C. Peck would establish the Blind Judo Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the blind and visually impaired compete in the sport of Judo.

Lifetime achievement

In recognition of his lifelong commitment to Judo, Willy Cahill along with Yoshihiro Uchida received the Lifetime Achievement Award from USA Judo at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City July 19 {2013}.

“It was a real honor to be recognized for my entire career,” said Cahill.

It is an accumulation of what he and his family have worked for, but nothing expresses his accomplishments more so than his Judo Academy. His dojo’s walls are decorated with plaques and pictures of past and present students, each with their own story to tell by Cahill. His classroom is full of students old and young, and Cahill can give a synopsis of every one of them.

“It has been a fun ride and I could not ask for a better life than this,” said Cahill. “Doesn’t matter what age you are but how serious you are in your endeavors. I have been fortunate to have all my students follow this philosophy.”

— The takeaway is that Professor Willy Cahill is considered to be one of the best Judo coaches in the United States but he is actually a 10th Dan / Degree (Jūdan) black belt in Danzan-ryū: the original “JU” in KA*JU*KEN*BO!

“This highest rank in Jujitsu was presented to him by Prof. Wally Jay in Sep. 1994 at the Ohana convention in Las Vegas.” — USA Ju-Jitsu Federation website

Many people do not spot the difference between the KoDENkan (Danzan-ryu) and KoDOkan (Judo) and think they are the same places.  This has resulted in some people implying that there is judo and jujitsu in Kajukenbo, when really judo is simply a sport-focused version of jujitsu with some of the more dangerous techniques removed, ignored or modified.  There is a difference between the places and styles which I feel is important.  I expect my black belts to be “experts in the basics.”  That implies being experts about the basics of multiple martial arts – including the traditions, histories, tactics, strategies and differences between styles.  Not understanding the “differences” between judo and jujitsu makes you appear ignorant.

Being a black belt in taekwondo or aikido does not automatically make you a ‘martial arts’ expert.  It merely means you are a black belt in that particular style; and you many not even an expert on that one!  By comparison, expect my students to be familiar with a lot of other martial arts, not just Kajukenbo.  They should know more about taekwondo’s history, strengths and weaknesses than most TKD black belts.  The same goes for aikido and many other styles.  My students should be experts in the martial arts -plural- not just a ‘black belt’ in one system.