INTERVIEW WITH  MASTER DAVE GABBARD 
BY MASTER WILLIE WILSON

 1.  (Question) Master Gabbard, you opened a new school in Decherd Tenn. 
Since returning to teaching, can you let the viewers know how the school is 
going and what directions are you taking?
  (Answer) We re-opened operations at our new location in Decherd Tenn.  
In March of 04. Since that time we grew from zero students to a high of about 
25. Starting over from scratch was a real challenge, but with support from 
my beautiful wife Julie, the children and a few close friends it has been a 
successful endeavor. It’s good to be teaching again.   
I guess the direction  that we are taking still retains the same principles 
that I have always held dear, train hard, train realistically, and you will 
get out of it what you put in. The ideals and work ethic that we learned 
as a group at the Nashville dojo will always be close to heart in the 
things that we do at my dojo. This might  not be popular in the modern 
day commercialism that you find at some schools. And as always in 
keeping with this philosophy you will not have a large number of 
members, and you will only be able to retain very special people 
(knuckle heads) because most people won’t pay the price of hard 
work and sweat. I guess you could say our direction is to continue to 
develop good old fashioned Isshinryu Karate-Ka.
                                                                                                         
2.  (Question) I still hear about the war stories of you being one of the highest 
regarded competitors in the ring in your competitor days, my question is do 
you miss this type of competition?
                                                        
(Answer) I thoroughly enjoyed the 24 years that the good LORD allowed me 
to compete. One of the most important things that I learned from the journey 
was the step by step self discovery that occurred to me over that time. 
Becoming successful at competitive kumite starts out very slowly. Each time 
you compete you gain experience from the event and from your own limitations 
that kept you from performing as good as you had wanted to on that particular 
day.  
When you learn to understand yourself and make the needed changes to 
the areas of your limitations, both physically and mentally you will start to see
improvements in your performance as a competitor.   It takes a lot of honest 
self analysis. For me this took about 5 years just to start scratching the surface. 
When I finally started getting consistent at this process 20 years had gone by 
and it was time to retire. The things that I learned over that time are special to 
me and could not have been accomplished through any short cuts. Everything 
had to be experienced and learned through trial and error.  I often smile when 
I try to explain to a student what they are going through when they ask 
questions like “ I know what I need to do but I just cant make my body do it” 
I remember those same struggles and do my best to make them understand the 
steps they must go through to see results.   I guess I miss this learning process 
and the personal challenges of striving to become a better competitor. As far 
as actual competitions I don’t really miss them, I had my time as a  competitor 
but now would prefer to focus on teaching and working out in the dojo.
( another step in the journey)

3.  (Question) I was told you trained as a kick boxer, were you looking to go 
professional or were you dong it for the fun of it? 
 
(Answer: I learned early on that to be good at kumite and survive in the dojo 
you had to have pretty good hand skills. I learned some basic boxing 
techniques and tried to incorporate them into what I did as a fighter. 
Naturally this evolved into a mixed style of basic martial arts and kickboxing.  
The main intent was not being a professional kick boxer, but to develop good 
fighting skills.

4.  (Question) I understand the IIKA is interested in a traveling competition 
team. Can you give our viewers what is taking place in this new adventure? 

(Answer) Our intention is to have a fighting team comprised of today’s top 
competitors. This team will travel to (AOKA) Ralph Pesero’s tournament 
in New Jersey and participate in the “Team Challenge” to be held on 
September 17th in the evening events.   This challenge will be made up of 
Isshinryu teams from around the country. I feel that we should win this 
competition hands down considering the talented competitors that we have 
in our events. I will be serving as the Team Captain for this challenge 
coordinating the training and travel schedule.  At this time all of the details 
have not been finalized. We should have all of the information after the 
next board meeting in July.  I would like to say that any interested Black 
Belt should currently be in training (as they always should be) and make 
plans for this date in order to be ready once the details of team members 
and travel can be worked out.  It should be a great experience.

5.  (Question) Since you were one of the elite competitors in competition, 
do you think that the tournament pricing has gone too far especially the 
Isshinryu Hall of Fame? 

(Answer) I think it’s the price of doing business in order to have a 
tournament. 20 Years ago it cost $25.00 to participate in a tournament 
and at that time everyone thought it was too expensive. I have three 
members in my family that participate in tournaments. So when you 
have to throw down $120.00 plus, just for entry fee to participate in an 
event, yes we do tend to think of that amount as excessive.  But I think 
you have to realize just what it takes to do an event especially a large 
event such as the Hall of Fame.  In my experience just breaking even in 
the norm, even with today’s prices.  Consider the options, if an event 
organizer can’t pay the bills there won’t be any events I feel that it is 
important for Isshinryu as a whole to have events such as the Hall of 
Fame in order for everyone to continue building new relationships and 
strengthening the ties between the many groups and organizations that 
otherwise would not get together.

6.  (Question) There is a lot of tradition in martial arts, has 
commercializing hurt these traditional values or has it helped to 
modernize these values?
     
(Answer) I never really have agreed with the commercialism values 
that some organizations or dojo’s embrace (having a lot of students 
with no substance, just to make money).  What I value and what you 
value may be somewhat similar but will not be not exactly the same. 
Should I view you as being wrong, un-traditional or excessively 
traditional because you are not in line with me? I don’t think so I 
think that the things we view as being traditional are because that’s 
what we know, and what we grew up being taught.  These items of 
tradition would be very different for each of us, that is why I do what 
I do and you do what you do and so on.   As each new generation of 
karate-ka comes around things change. If you look at Martial Arts 
values now and compare them to the 60’s or 70’s I think you will see 
there is a great difference in attitude and tradition.  I don’t think 
anyone can operate a successful dojo or develop good students 
today by continuing to do only what was done in the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s. 
We must get smarter and better with time and experience.  In 
Isshinryu I think that all of the head Sensei have done an excellent 
job of passing along certain traditional values that are specific to our 
style.  And they have also presented some modernized values that 
still assure a strong future for Isshinryu.

7.  (Question) There has been a split in the Isshinryu family in the 
Master Harold Long lineage, how do you feel about it?
                                               
(Answer) Is there any Isshinryu Organization that has not had some 
type of realignment occur over time? I think that if we only look at 
the surface we tend to think of any change like this as a bad thing.  
Change can cause many good things to occur within an organization 
or style.   Consider how Master Shimabuku was viewed when he 
didn’t fit the mold of what was expected in his time. His peers did 
not take kindly to his progressive thinking away from his lineages 
standard teaching.  If he had not taken that path we would not be 
having this conversation today. Look at the growth of Isshinryu 
from that time until now it’s amazing.   I feel Isshinryu will continue 
to grow as long as people are exposed to good martial arts and new 
ideas.   I also feel that if the intentions of any party involved in any 
realignment are good, good things will happen.   You must also 
consider the opposite. It’s up to those who are involved.  Personally 
I think it has been a positive thing.

8.  (Question) The IIKA is one of the oldest Martial Arts organizations, 
what example should we be setting for the current and future Isshinryu 
generations? 

(Answer) I consider myself to be very fortunate that I was given the 
chance to study Isshinryu in my lifetime. I know what it has done for 
me and how it changed my life as a youngster that needed much 
direction.  I think that it is our responsibility to give back what we 
have been blessed to take from, personally and as an organization.  
I feel that the Instructors involved in Isshinryu today teach because 
they love doing what they do. As long as this philosophy continues to 
flourish then others will also have the chance to have their lives 
enriched by the Isshinryu experience.  I feel responsible to continue 
this pass down in my life to my students and to the individuals out 
there that I have not yet met. This example of passing along 
Isshinryu to others is why we all have the life experiences that we 
currently do.  I feel this is one of the most important personal examples 
that any of us can make in order to help the current and future 
Isshinryu generations.  As an organization I would like to see new 
growth occur within our group. This can only happen if those involved 
in teaching and leadership roles within the organization continue to be 
passionate and make sacrifices to promote good Isshinryu.   From 
Mr. Long’s time until now this tradition has continued and is an 
example of the love for what we do.  This example is what I hope 
the next generation of leaders are experiencing now at this time.  By 
following this example from those Instructors who have had an 
influence in their life they will be able to teach this example to their 
own students in the future. (Example: Commitment Of Return)

9.  (Question) Master Gabbard, you have made a name for yourself 
in the Isshinryu karate circle, what is the legacy you would like to leave? 
   
(Answer) There are three things that I would want to include in my legacy.  

1.)   I would like to be remembered as I remember those who took the 
time to help me as I was growing up through the ranks. Some people 
are lucky enough to have one good instructor to learn from. Coming 
from the Nashville Dojo I had many great Instructors that influenced me 
in what I learned.  Of course Denny Shaffer was the driving force and 
was an influence on everyone that came through the doors at Nashville. 
Phil McElroy led the rest of the group, Jimbo Butler, Jim McDonald, Mike 
Hammonds, Ronnie Ladd, Mike Ellis, Billy Clinard, Phil Whittle and Dennis 
Martin were the ones that really drilled the basics into me when I started as 
a beginner. The student is a direct product of the instructor and the 
environment, with their own special twist.   My exposure to this multi 
instructor influence and the overall mindset at the dojo gave me a unique 
perspective of fighting styles and methods.  These guys were tough and they 
made you fight, if you could handle it they made you tough and in the end 
you became a good fighter. As the saying went in the dojo “You have to pay 
the price” I was a product of each of them and count it a blessing to have 
had the Instructors that I did.  I hope to leave this same impression on those 
who I have come into contact with over the years whether through teaching 
or in competition. You can become or accomplish anything that you want, but 
you have to pay the price. 

 2.)   I feel that I because of my own personal experiences through out the 
years, it has given me a special insight into several areas in the Martial Arts.   
I want to be able to pass this information and philosophy along to others in 
order for them to improve their skills and perhaps shorten their learning curve.  
I am finishing up the first production in a series of Training DVD’s. This one 
is simply entitled “Kumite Methods for Success”. The DVD goes over my 
Philosophy for “Achieving Mental and Physical Improvements to Increase 
Your Fighting Skills”. “Fighting Techniques and How to Deliver” “The Five 
Principals” and several other important aspects that I feel are vital to be 
successful at kumite. Also included is actual footage of some of my past 
competitions to illustrate the philosophical training points in action.  It took 
me about 10 years to put the material into a teachable form for this DVD. The 
material will be available at the Hall Of Fame Tournament In August.   By 
documenting what I have been taught by my instructors along with the things 
that I have learned though experience, I hope will add to a legacy for Isshinryu, 
myself and be a reflection of those I learned from.   

3.)   The last and most important thing that I would want to add is this.  In life
 no matter who you are, we are given opportunities to make accomplishments 
and some of them may even be for very great things.  What we do with these 
opportunities will shape our life and form the paths that we will follow to 
realize our accomplishments or final destination.  How we approach these 
challenges and behave while on the journey can have an influence on those 
who are around you.  They may be watching you as an example in their own 
journey.  This impression can be positive or negative depending on what we 
are reflecting from within, lightness or darkness.  The only way we can be the 
most positive influence to others is to allow them to see the LORD Jesus Christ 
living through you in your life.  Looking back at the example that I may have 
impressed on others because of the way I lived my life at times was not what I 
wish it could have been.  For this I can only strive to improve on what I can 
do in the present and what I can do in the future to be more of a positive 
influence to others.  I realize that any good thing that I have done or will do in 
this life is because of the blessings of GOD.  In order to have any Peace, Joy, 
Love, Strength and especially Hope for this life or the life hereafter, I have to 
know him as my SAVIOR. And I have to depend on him for everything.    
This is the most important thing anyone can ever learn in this lifetime.  
Please use it wisely.