Coolest Real thing that you have ever experienced in Martial Arts

[dvcochran]

The coolest thing I have felt and saw was Jack Hwang taking on six of us at one time.
He kick me so hard in the stomach, I thought I would never breath again.
when he was finished with us he took on another six.
When I say finished, we were not getting off the ground.
It was like watching a movie.

watch 44 seconds into video see him do two side kicks at same time 6 ft in the air.

Bruce, I love that old school vibe in the video. A true Martial Art legend.

 

[Bruce7]

The first time I did a triple kick up a wall back flip and land on my feet.
I always land on my head. I guess I tried it at less 12 times before I landed on my feet.
My long fist teacher would help the other students land on their feet.
He did not like me or was trying to make me humble, I never knew for sure.

 

[Graywalker]

Watching "The Cat" Gogen Yamaguchi do two things, jump up and stick to the wall and then run across the floor using his butt cheeks.

Strange.

But the coolest thing he did, is when one of the black belts, decided he wanted to see how Gogen could handle a punch to the gut. He said sure, just let me use the John, that way I don't crap myself.

When he got back, the black belt hit him and we heard a clunk and the black belt just grabbed his hand and started jumping around.

The cat then pulled out the ceramic lid,from the back of the toilet, from inside his gi and said, if the strike is announced, it should hurt the person announcing it.

Good laugh.

 

[_Simon_]

Watching "The Cat" Gogen Yamaguchi do two things, jump up and stick to the wall and then run across the floor using his butt cheeks.

Strange.

But the coolest thing he did, is when one of the black belts, decided he wanted to see how Gogen could handle a punch to the gut. He said sure, just let me use the John, that way I don't crap myself.

When he got back, the black belt hit him and we heard a clunk and the black belt just grabbed his hand and started jumping around.

The cat then pulled out the ceramic lid,from the back of the toilet, from inside his gi and said, if the strike is announced, it should hurt the person announcing it.

Good laugh.

Hahaha that is awesome XD

Wow did you train with Gogen Yamaguchi Sensei? That would have been unreal..

 

[Graywalker]

Hahaha that is awesome XD

Wow did you train with Gogen Yamaguchi Sensei? That would have been unreal..

Only for few days while he was visiting my instructor in the 80's before he passed away. He was a very unique person, both serious,and powerful, and hilarious. I liked him very much.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Watching "The Cat" Gogen Yamaguchi do two things, jump up and stick to the wall and then run across the floor using his butt cheeks.

Strange.

But the coolest thing he did, is when one of the black belts, decided he wanted to see how Gogen could handle a punch to the gut. He said sure, just let me use the John, that way I don't crap myself.

When he got back, the black belt hit him and we heard a clunk and the black belt just grabbed his hand and started jumping around.

The cat then pulled out the ceramic lid,from the back of the toilet, from inside his gi and said, if the strike is announced, it should hurt the person announcing it.

Good laugh.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. It reminds me of similar anecdotes I have read about the old masters such as Matsumura and Motobu. There was a cleverness and maybe a perverse sense of humor, to be found, but always a profound lesson to be had.

 

[jobo]

the coolest ma thing ive ever seen was

i was in a crowded pub and two guys that had arived together started to have a heated argument and one pulled out a big knife and started to walk towards the other guy, every one stepped backwards away from the event, except one little guy, who came up behind the knife man, grabbed his wrist, twisted, caught the knife as it fell with his other hand and tossed it over the bar before walking out of the room

the now non knife man was just staring at his hand wondering where his knife had gone, its by far the most impressive ma skill ive ever seen

i asked the guy about it later , its my job he said( prison officer) they teach us aikido

 

[Ivan]

The coolest thing I have felt and saw was Jack Hwang taking on six of us at one time.
He kick me so hard in the stomach, I thought I would never breath again.
when he was finished with us he took on another six.
When I say finished, we were not getting off the ground.
It was like watching a movie.

watch 44 seconds into video see him do two side kicks at same time 6 ft in the air.

For me it would have to be during a sparring match with someone much older, much more experienced and much higher rank than me. It was back when I was green belt, and this guy was like in his 30s maybe 40s with a black belt (can't recall what rank) - this what TKD by the way. But halfway through our round, I was looking him right in the eyes and I saw the most imperceptible change in his expression. We were both sort of taking a break; still in our fighting stance, circling like sharks, ready to react and attack at any moment, but catching our breaths. I'd had a lot of experience in martial arts before, and boxing sparring but this club was where I actually got to apply the kicks I learned before hand. The expression I saw was one of pure curiosity - he was trying to figure out what I'd do next, how I'd react, how I would attack. It was so imperceptible, anyone (me included) could have missed it. I think it was his eyes narrowing or something much smaller. But as someone who has, unfortunately, a big ego and have always wanted to be acknowledged for my skill, that moment meant everything to me. As soon as I saw, it was like a trigger for us to get back to sparring, like in those western movies where the tiniest sound sets off the draw.

It might sound sad, but that is easily one of my most memorable moments in martial arts, and also one of the moments that brought me the most happiness in my life.

 

[Bruce7]

For me it would have to be during a sparring match with someone much older, much more experienced and much higher rank than me. It was back when I was green belt, and this guy was like in his 30s maybe 40s with a black belt (can't recall what rank) - this what TKD by the way. But halfway through our round, I was looking him right in the eyes and I saw the most imperceptible change in his expression. We were both sort of taking a break; still in our fighting stance, circling like sharks, ready to react and attack at any moment, but catching our breaths. I'd had a lot of experience in martial arts before, and boxing sparring but this club was where I actually got to apply the kicks I learned before hand. The expression I saw was one of pure curiosity - he was trying to figure out what I'd do next, how I'd react, how I would attack. It was so imperceptible, anyone (me included) could have missed it. I think it was his eyes narrowing or something much smaller. But as someone who has, unfortunately, a big ego and have always wanted to be acknowledged for my skill, that moment meant everything to me. As soon as I saw, it was like a trigger for us to get back to sparring, like in those western movies where the tiniest sound sets off the draw.

It might sound sad, but that is easily one of my most memorable moments in martial arts, and also one of the moments that brought me the most happiness in my life.

In the 60's and 70's it took 7 to 10 years of hard work to get a black belt, so no one cared what degree black belt you were. My teacher started as a 13 year old and got his black belt when he turn 21 and his teacher helped him start a school in San Angelo. A black belt from Jack Hwang meant something back then. Jack Hwang would not let someone run a school unless he had reached a very high standard. Belt test were only given when Jack Hwang was there. In 1973 he only came once that year, because he was the head coach for america's first TKD team to go to Korea, so he did not have much time that year. San Angelo is 375 miles from Oklahoma City.

 

[Buka]

Tough question, I've been extremely lucky. We were in South Africa having dinner. One of the sponsors came over and asked if we'd teach a seminar. We said sure, when? He said right now. Before we could say no he plopped down a wad of cash, couple of grand each. We said, sure!

Went to a high school gymnasium. Two hundred and fifty Karate people. We asked them what they wanted to work on. They wanted to learn a head scissor take down and nothing else. (we had pulled off a couple in completion down there) There were no mats. We did it anyway and nobody got hurt too badly, other than a lot of bruising from coming down hard or crashing into each other as it was very crowded. We were bruised, too, but it was a lot of fun.

The other cool thing on that trip was sneaking off and teaching underground classes to black South Africans because they weren't allowed to take Martial Arts. (Apartheid) We were breaking their laws. And we were loving it.

 

[Bruce7]

Tough question, I've been extremely lucky. We were in South Africa having dinner. One of the sponsors came over and asked if we'd teach a seminar. We said sure, when? He said right now. Before we could say no he plopped down a wad of cash, couple of grand each. We said, sure!

Went to a high school gymnasium. Two hundred and fifty Karate people. We asked them what they wanted to work on. They wanted to learn a head scissor take down and nothing else. (we had pulled off a couple in completion down there) There were no mats. We did it anyway and nobody got hurt too badly, other than a lot of bruising from coming down hard or crashing into each other as it was very crowded. We were bruised, too, but it was a lot of fun.

The other cool thing on that trip was sneaking off and teaching underground classes to black South Africans because they weren't allowed to take Martial Arts. (Apartheid) We were breaking their laws. And we were loving it.

Who was your first good teacher?

 

[Buka]

George Gonis, Greek Goja Ryu. Unfortunately, I had to leave after six months. Didn't have a car, had to take a bus, a trolley, then a train and walk fifteen minutes to the dojo. It became too much for me.

Next one was Joe Vassalo, my boxing coach.

How about you, who was your first good teacher?

 

[Bruce7]

George Gonis, Greek Goja Ryu. Unfortunately, I had to leave after six months. Didn't have a car, had to take a bus, a trolley, then a train and walk fifteen minutes to the dojo. It became too much for me.

Next one was Joe Vassalo, my boxing coach.

How about you, who was your first good teacher?

I was not counting boxing I had a pretty good boxing coach before MA.
I know how you feel, I had to drive 60 miles to San Angelo one way, but it was worth every mile. He taught me from early morning Saturday till late. I would get home round 8 or 9:00 at night.

 

[Buka]

I was not counting boxing I had a pretty good boxing coach before MA.
I know how you feel, I had to drive 60 miles to San Angelo one way, but it was worth every mile. He taught me from early morning Saturday till late. I would get home round 8 or 9:00 at night.

My first full time teacher was a fraud, and didn't last long in the Arts. Poor bastard, I feel sorry for him. He had Kumite trophies for some of the largest, well known Karate tournaments in the country...which he had made, not realizing someone could actually check. I had taken over the teaching in the dojo when I was a green belt. (I'm sure that was top notch instruction. NOT)

But I went everywhere and trained at other dojos. Met some legends and trained with them. I used to drive to Rhode Island and train with George Pesare and his students. It's where I first learned, what I consider, real Martial Arts. It's where I met Joe Lewis and started training with him. As the years went by, Joe would stay at my house when he was in New England doing seminars. We used to fight in my kitchen. I'd get smashed into the wall, the dogs would come charging out of the other room, take one look at Joe, turn around and run the other way, their claws scrambling on the hard wood floors. We always laughed at that. I consider George Pesare (and his students) my first good teacher, Joe Lewis my first really good teacher. I cried so hard when he passed away.

 

[dvcochran]

My first full time teacher was a fraud, and didn't last long in the Arts. Poor bastard, I feel sorry for him. He had Kumite trophies for some of the largest, well known Karate tournaments in the country...which he had made, not realizing someone could actually check. I had taken over the teaching in the dojo when I was a green belt. (I'm sure that was top notch instruction. NOT)

But I went everywhere and trained at other dojos. Met some legends and trained with them. I used to drive to Rhode Island and train with George Pesare and his students. It's where I first learned, what I consider, real Martial Arts. It's where I met Joe Lewis and started training with him. As the years went by, Joe would stay at my house when he was in New England doing seminars. We used to fight in my kitchen. I'd get smashed into the wall, the dogs would come charging out of the other room, take one look at Joe, turn around and run the other way, their claws scrambling on the hard wood floors. We always laughed at that. I consider George Pesare (and his students) my first good teacher, Joe Lewis my first really good teacher. I cried so hard when he passed away.

I also started with somewhat of a fraud. The guy was a great teacher and motivator and had good TKD skills but not a good person at all. Was a hound dog with more more than a couple of women at the school (he was married with 3 kids) and essentially just quit coming to the school and we had a really good class going at the time with about 50 people. Me and another red belt met with the landlord to find the rent was 5 months behind and Jerry (the instructor) had been playing song and dance with him. I knew the landlord and we negotiated the rent and kept going; and I eventually bought the building from him. We had an open door and had visitors at about every class.
I would say the best teacher I ever had from a sport/fighting point of view are Sang Chul Lee and Ki Whang Kim. They were very instrumental in getting TKD into the Olympics and both one hell of a coach. It opened doors that allowed me and a few of my piers back in the day travel to several school east of the Mississippi. The best scholar/teacher I ever worked with is Jun Lee, contributing editor of TKD Times. The guy is encyclopedic.
I traveled so much back then just to workout it was part of what ended my first marriage.
Around the same time is when I dabbled in Kung Fu. A man named Rusty Grey in Nashville had a great class. Adults only and belt/sash was not a formality although he did promote people. Man we had some great slobber knockers there.
Great times.

 

[Bruce7]

My first full time teacher was a fraud, and didn't last long in the Arts. Poor bastard, I feel sorry for him. He had Kumite trophies for some of the largest, well known Karate tournaments in the country...which he had made, not realizing someone could actually check. I had taken over the teaching in the dojo when I was a green belt. (I'm sure that was top notch instruction. NOT)

But I went everywhere and trained at other dojos. Met some legends and trained with them. I used to drive to Rhode Island and train with George Pesare and his students. It's where I first learned, what I consider, real Martial Arts. It's where I met Joe Lewis and started training with him. As the years went by, Joe would stay at my house when he was in New England doing seminars. We used to fight in my kitchen. I'd get smashed into the wall, the dogs would come charging out of the other room, take one look at Joe, turn around and run the other way, their claws scrambling on the hard wood floors. We always laughed at that. I consider George Pesare (and his students) my first good teacher, Joe Lewis my first really good teacher. I cried so hard when he passed away.

You started on the east coast, how did you get to Maul?

 

[Bruce7]

I also started with somewhat of a fraud. The guy was a great teacher and motivator and had good TKD skills but not a good person at all. Was a hound dog with more more than a couple of women at the school (he was married with 3 kids) and essentially just quit coming to the school and we had a really good class going at the time with about 50 people. Me and another red belt met with the landlord to find the rent was 5 months behind and Jerry (the instructor) had been playing song and dance with him. I knew the landlord and we negotiated the rent and kept going; and I eventually bought the building from him. We had an open door and had visitors at about every class.
I would say the best teacher I ever had from a sport/fighting point of view are Sang Chul Lee and Ki Whang Kim. They were very instrumental in getting TKD into the Olympics and both one hell of a coach. It opened doors that allowed me and a few of my piers back in the day travel to several school east of the Mississippi. The best scholar/teacher I ever worked with is Jun Lee, contributing editor of TKD Times. The guy is encyclopedic.
I traveled so much back then just to workout it was part of what ended my first marriage.
Around the same time is when I dabbled in Kung Fu. A man named Rusty Grey in Nashville had a great class. Adults only and belt/sash was not a formality although he did promote people. Man we had some great slobber knockers there.
Great times.

That is definition of cool.
Sang Chui Lee is the longest-tenured US National Taekwondo Team coach, serving from 1979 to 1988. In Taekwondo sparring, Lee is credited with innovating the Ax Kick. During his coaching tenure, he is credited with developing a more versatile fighting stance and developing steps for his athletes to be more fluid in their movements.

 

[Buka]

You started on the east coast, how did you get to Maul?

Airplane! (Meant as humor)

One of my best friends moved here in 74. We all started coming out to visit him. In 86 my wife and I came for a month long honeymoon. We decided to move here.

Worked hard and saved up for eight years. Bought a pop up camper and toured the mainland for four and a half months with our two dogs.

We were loving life, then 9/11 happened. I wanted to come back and fight bad guys, so we did.

Finally came back in 2016.

Been a hell of a trip.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

My first full time teacher was a fraud, and didn't last long in the Arts. Poor bastard, I feel sorry for him. He had Kumite trophies for some of the largest, well known Karate tournaments in the country...which he had made, not realizing someone could actually check. I had taken over the teaching in the dojo when I was a green belt. (I'm sure that was top notch instruction. NOT)

But I went everywhere and trained at other dojos. Met some legends and trained with them. I used to drive to Rhode Island and train with George Pesare and his students. It's where I first learned, what I consider, real Martial Arts. It's where I met Joe Lewis and started training with him. As the years went by, Joe would stay at my house when he was in New England doing seminars. We used to fight in my kitchen. I'd get smashed into the wall, the dogs would come charging out of the other room, take one look at Joe, turn around and run the other way, their claws scrambling on the hard wood floors. We always laughed at that. I consider George Pesare (and his students) my first good teacher, Joe Lewis my first really good teacher. I cried so hard when he passed away.

I envy the ability to call George Pesare a good teacher, but not a really good teacher.

 

[Buka]

I also started with somewhat of a fraud. The guy was a great teacher and motivator and had good TKD skills but not a good person at all. Was a hound dog with more more than a couple of women at the school (he was married with 3 kids) and essentially just quit coming to the school and we had a really good class going at the time with about 50 people. Me and another red belt met with the landlord to find the rent was 5 months behind and Jerry (the instructor) had been playing song and dance with him. I knew the landlord and we negotiated the rent and kept going; and I eventually bought the building from him. We had an open door and had visitors at about every class.
I would say the best teacher I ever had from a sport/fighting point of view are Sang Chul Lee and Ki Whang Kim. They were very instrumental in getting TKD into the Olympics and both one hell of a coach. It opened doors that allowed me and a few of my piers back in the day travel to several school east of the Mississippi. The best scholar/teacher I ever worked with is Jun Lee, contributing editor of TKD Times. The guy is encyclopedic.
I traveled so much back then just to workout it was part of what ended my first marriage.
Around the same time is when I dabbled in Kung Fu. A man named Rusty Grey in Nashville had a great class. Adults only and belt/sash was not a formality although he did promote people. Man we had some great slobber knockers there.
Great times.

Your fraud guy sounds just like my fraud guy!