Grandmaster Denny Shaffer, The Karate Five Association has always counted you as one of our friends and supporters. You did an interview with us about four years ago. Since then there has been a few events, changes, and additions to our martial arts circles. We would like to do a follow-up interview with you to discuss and address some of the selected topics. As such, we would like to concentrate this interview on Isshinryu Cross-Training Alliance (ICA), Harold Long Foundation (HLF), and Dragon Sen-I Jutsu. Grandmaster Willie Wilson |
| 1--- What are your visions of the ICA? |
#1 My vision is already in place. I wanted a vehicle by which people in the martial arts could expand their knowledge in other disciplines that will enhance their present style. For most of us, that present style would be Isshin-ryu. Since we are open to all martial artist, the same would be true for their primary style. There are many people with vision on our board of advisors, so we will need to focus on a unified vision of which I think, I have just espoused. Butch Hill wrote a very good “statement of purpose” which is on our ICA page. The whole concept is a melting pot of knowledge with input from everyone. |
| 2---What do you hope to accomplish through the ICA? |
#2 First of all, to succeed in generating revenues for the Harold Long Foundation. This is it's financial purpose. It will make it possible for the Foundation to operate independently of donations if it has to. When you join the ICA you are in fact donating to the HLF. It is called a donation but in Harold Long style you are getting much more than you are giving. For 25.00 dollars, you are getting the equivalent conservatively, of 4,000.00 dollars worth of seminars and training. Check it out. We have four “ICA JAMS” a year, with dojo visits thrown in. If the men and women who instruct at these Jams charged what they were worth, no one could afford it. My only concern is when this sinks in to the people who want this kind of training, where are we going to put all of them! |
| 3---Do you have any fears that “Isshin-ryu” may not get enough emphasis in the scheduled training sessions of the ICA? |
#3 Not when you consider the first name of the alliance is the “Isshin-ryu” Cross-Training Alliance. Our advisors are all high profile Isshin-ryu people. Our assistant advisors are the same. We relate almost everything we do to Isshin-ryu striking, it's kata, chin na, or tuite. Some time we do it standing up; some times lying down; some times both. We just learn all the possibilities and probabilities. However, there is room for other styles and disciplines to be members. No one will have anyone else’s style forced on them. We will learn from each other and take from each what is useful to the individual. Some who are not in favor of our cross training approach, have tried to paint it as; anti Isshin-ryu, or use the propaganda of disloyalty to discourage others from trying it. When people say Isshin-ryu is all you need, they should say instead, that Isshin-ryu is all they need. They should not try to make these decisions for others. The Martial arts is an activity based on the love for what it has to offer. It is not a religion. The Masters are not God’s and should not be treated as such. It is not an exclusive club that only certain people can join, as illustrated by some of our former students. It is what it is. Using it to be more than that to control students and people who may discover something you are not willing to, is not leadership. It is demagoguery. Isshin-ryu is our label of choice. God, family country and career, are our priorities. Martial arts activities are down that list. If you get that one ahead of the others, you need some couch time at your favorite shrinks office. |
| 4---In one of your articles you wrote, “The cherry on top was when Master Mitchum put his arm around my shoulder and said ‘you are doing good things. Keep up the good work.’ I said, can I quote you? He just smiled and said, ‘I said it.” |
#4 Master Mitchum is a man I hold in very high esteem, so I try not to get beyond his spoken word. I would say that he addresses things one at a time on their own individual merit. I took it as an endorsement for me and what I was trying to do based on his watchful eye at the seminar. I do not and will not translate that into an across the board endorsement for cross training or supplementary styles. He is the gold standard by which other Isshin-ryu leaders should be measured. I do not in any way consider myself on his level. I am however confident in my direction. |
| 5---Do you see the ICA as being something Mr. Long would have supported and gone along with? |
#5 My personal opinion is, yes he would. He was only dogmatic about Isshin-ryu toward the end of his life. He was very open early on to anything. People from other styles, and even wrestlers would visit his dojo to work out, share and train. As he grew older, he became fearful that Isshin-ryu and his legacy, was not going to be maintained up to his standards. He looked around at the leadership and made some peculiar decisions. I’m sure most of it was based on who had the capacity to carry on his life’s work. Only time will tell if any of those decisions will bear fruit. Joe and I gathered about us on the advisory and assistant advisory board, a group of people who work up to the standards Mr. Long would have approved of and they represent Isshin-ryu as he would have wished Mr. Longs passing should not be the end of anything, but the beginning. This takes work, diligence, and creativity to keep the dream alive and well. You don’t do that living and training in the past. I will give you a once and for all answer to this question. If Mr. Long were alive I would do it any how. I am more than capable and qualified to make that decision. I have paid all the dues anyone could pay up to this point and I am not finished yet. I believe in what I am doing and I believe in myself. I walk my own path. Mr. Long did too. That was a part of our respect for each other and a big part of the relationship. We were a lot alike in the ways of independence and he knew it. He knew what it took to get the best out of me as he did with others. He always treated me as an equal. I treated him with respect and made sure others did also. |
| 6---Are there any plans to change the name from “Alliance” to “Association”? |
#6 I believe time will make that decision. It is pretty much an association now. I like the Alliance identity because I don’t want to get tied down to the association mind set. Associations have a habit of getting into the control business with rules and requirements. I like the freedom and format we use as an alliance. The whole concept of the word describes our group. If we come to the point to where a more traditional organization would be in the best interest of growth and development then so be it. For right now I just enjoy the informal atmosphere and group participation thing. I will tell you one thing. Our entry into the organizational arena, has made other organizations better. We had, and have no intentions of competing with any one, as we are a supplemental, eclectic group of cross trainers to Isshin-ryu and other disciplines. We are a generic group of people who like to get a little "down and dirty". There are not a lot of those out there anyhow, so the associations can stop worrying about losing people to us. Now there is lots more activity going on everywhere. This is good. This is Harold Long good.. So a little competition has proven to be a good thing. |
| 7---The HLF experienced some success in the first year of its existence. What plans do you have to help its growth and future financial stability? |
#7 One wouldn’t imagine that you would have to do much work to perpetuate the Harold Long Foundation, but we have. We hit a political and personal snag that I had not counted on. Once the Foundation made it clear that we were not aligned with anyone, or any other association, we hoped that message of neutrality would help. It helped some, but not like it should have. Then one of our Board members was used as an excuse not to participate. Once people began to understand the game that was being played, they ignored the players and supported us. Also, the two tournaments( Wayne Wayland's and the Isshin-ryu Hall of Fame) really helped. Both gave us an opportunity to speak to the goals and ideals of the foundation and display Mr. Longs memorabilia. Our support really picked up after that. We then decided to charge for a “Jam” (what we call our training sessions), we gave in Knoxville. The charge was 20.00 dollars. From that jam, Joe Laney and I envisioned an ICA that would help to financially support the Foundation. That is where we really took off. We also have added patches, t-shirts and sweat shirts for sale, to further help fund the Foundation. I regret that Mr. Longs family had to originate the Foundation. We should all be ashamed of ourselves for not organizing it ourselves. In mine and others defense, the initial responsibility for doing that was given to someone who never followed up. So along with Joe Laney,the family stepped in and took over. I am honored that I have been able to be a part of it. I think that lots of the people have a double pride in belonging to the HLF/ICA, in that, it supports Mr. Long in a tangible way and doesn’t just pay lip service to his memory. Gary and Rick Long have been great to work with and are a credit to their dads memory. He would be so proud of these guys for their refusal to let their dads memory lay in the hands of self promoters or apathetic former students. |
| 8---We know that personal donations and the ICA dues are the basic source of funds for the HLF. Are you considering a HLF Tournament where all proceeds go the HLF? (Example, $20 registration fees, no trophies, and award certificates to winners. If possible, to be held in a rent-free location). |
#8 Yes we are. But first we want to make sure that there are some proceeds. Last year the Harold Long tournament lost it’s rear end. So we decided to pass this year until we could reorganize our strategy. We will be holding a tournament with a cross training agenda. That means; Kumite, kick boxing, kata, grappling, pancration and team fighting. As you can tell, this will take planning as there are no tournaments like this any where close to us. The ICA needs to get a little stronger in order to have a base nucleus of competitors. Planning tournaments is not my long suit, so Joe Laney, Wayne Wayland, Butch Hill, James Ogle, and some of the more organizational minded people, will have to run that one. I would like for us to be able to charge a fair entry fee for a fair return to each competitor. We will wait to determine that. But in the mean time, I do like your example of a low budget shiai. |
| 9---Is the Dragon Sen-I Jutsu style complete and ready for spreading into the martial arts community, or is it still in the formulating process? |
#9 It is complete but ever evolving based on the utilization of each individual. Its key word is situational so that leaves a lot of room for the evolvement spoke of. I have been teaching it to another dojo, but so far we have kept it to ourselves except for certain aspects I have demonstrated and taught at seminars, and other Jams. As you know, it incorporates karate, kung-fu, jujitsu, boxing, and Isshin-ryu karate. It is a lot to learn, but it is designed for the individual to glean from it what is best suited for them. It offers many weapons and options. I compare it to a firearm company say, Browning They design and produce many different weapons. I have fired a browning shotgun at ducks and a BAR(Browning Automatic Rifle) at people. All great weapons in their proper application but not one weapon for everything. That is unless you want to shock the hunters in the next blind with automatic weapon fire. So, Dragon Sen-I Jutsu, (Dragon Spirit Fighting) is a Brand name that has many different weapons(options), for many different situations. So how does this fit with Isshin-ryu? We devote part of our training week to Sen-I and part to Isshin-ryu. Much of it is compatible and inter changeable anyhow. How does it affect my students? The only way I can answer that is not very modestly, but more like a proud father. Just watch them fight for the answer. They are cross trainers!!!!!! |
| 10---Are you ready to accept a Ju Dan as the Grand Master of Dragon Sen-I Jutsu? |
#10 Oh the best till last. What lies at the heart of all good and bad blood in the martial arts…RANK!!! OK, I’m not going to drag my foot and say,”gosh Oh gee, I don’t care about rank”. I care about it in this way. It must enable my students to advance and it must be legitimate. Rank is the root of all evil and the least telling thing about a person’s ability. It is however the thing that we have set up and institutionalized as an indicator of achievement. Petty and profane as it is, we are stuck with it. That doesn’t mean that you have to sell out, lose your mind, or follow some "schmuk" of a leader, just because he can promote you. No I’m not dodging the answer. I’m qualifying it. At this writing I am not ready for anymore rank above what I now have. As far as Isshin-ryu goes, I have reached the ceiling there. There is no more need, as I’ll never live long enough to promote my students past 8th Dan. I do however plan to participate in promoting others outside my dojo, but that will be a group effort with other qualified Martial artist. As far as my own system (Dragon Sen-I Jutsu) is concerned, I have been asked that by other people. I haven’t given it much thought and use the title of Master Instructor. I know that Chris Spruiell tested for some people for his sokeship and I wouldn’t rule that out for me depending on who they are. I honestly don’t know what some of the other martial artist have done who have developed their own style. What ever it takes to give identity and status to my students and others who are studying Sen-I under me, I will do. With my goal to be on a part time basis after three years. Maybe I had better start thinking about it.
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