Back in Hawaii

So here I am, back in Hawaii, back where all the insanity started. Sitting in the ship (USS Kidd DDG 100) I can already smell the Hawaiian air which beacons me home. In some ways coming to the islands is always refreshing to me, in other ways it reminds me of all the misguided instruction that I had received early on. I watched as we pulled in, things that I remember grown up are not longer there. I can still see Aloha stadium in the background, so I know Aiea is still there, still can see the mountains in front of me and Daimond head to my right. This feels like home, but it's not home. Home is still a long stretch of ocean away.

I contacted one of my friends out here, Jann Aki of the Gojukan. Planning on doing some training with him over the weekend. Sean Harding is out here now, he's another student of Hanshi Berkowitz. So even though I have some mixed emotions about being here I am looking forward to getting on the floor and getting knocked around. Going to try to work my way up to Kailua at some point and go see some family too, that is always a good thing.

Gambatte!
Scot

Focus on yourself

A lot of my early on training what chaos at best. I started training with Bruce Hill in Goju Ryu, the instructor switched his curriculm over from Meibukan Goju Ryu to Wing Chun, so after a while I dropped out because I like Goju better. I switched over to Shito Ryu with Bill Clark, where all we were focusing mostly on Shurite kata. The instructor moved to California and started working as a stunt double in some movies, so I again switched over to Shotokan. I stayed in the Shotokan system for about 8 years under Jerry Offutt. After I joined the Navy my training fell apart, I started training with anyone and everyone that would have me.

In retrospect I trained with a lot of people who were probably not the most respectable martial artists, and I became a kata collector. I was in this slump for quite a while. Probably upwards of 6 years of just traveling and collecting any garbage kata that I could find.

About four years ago I met Kyoshi Anthony Marquez and we had a long talk about what in the world I was doing. This conversation made me realize just how far off the path I had strayed. Not focusing on any one thing had taken a horrible toll on me and it was starting to show technique wise. After this I decided to refocus all my efforts on Goju Ryu. That is where I started and that is where I thought I should end. I met Hanshi Steven Berkowitz and started to use his methodology for Seiko Higa lineage Goju which is where I have directed my focus and kept it for the last 4 years. I know this probably sounds like a small task, but from going out of chaotic training of just whatever and whoever to something very focused and direct... this was a very big task and has required a lot of self discipline.

I realize that damage had already been done for myself, for example the katas in the Classical Shurite Kata video set that I recorded with Yamazato productions back in 2007. I had learned these from Gil Wantanabe from Hawaii in 2002. I was having to look at my notes inbetween nearly every shot to even get through the day's recording. My point it that these kata were likely recent inventions of which I did a horrible job even attempting to represent because I was practicing too much other unfocused garbage to keep the simple stuff straight in my head.

At one point I was working on about 200 kata from both Okinawan/Japanese and Chinese systems. This was a combination of empty hand material and weaponry. When I was doing this I was making the pathway to wide and eventually if you do this you will get burned.

I really do consider the talk I had with Kyoshi Marquez the turning point in my martial art's career. At the time I had been practicing the arts for over 20 years, but still had no direction or focus. This really brought me back down to earth and let me know what I needed to do. It is better to focus on one way than to overexert yourself trying to do everything. Go back to the dojo kun, and refocus all your efforts.

Since then I have dropped nearly everything except Goju Ryu, Ryuei Kobudo, and a handful of Chinese kata like Babulien, Seimon, and Ershiba. I still practice Gokenki's Paiho katas as well as some Ryuei Ryu kata on my own, but I do not teach these kata. Everyday I run through the 12 Goju Ryu katas. When I teach my focus is now only on Goju Ryu and Ryuei Kobudo. By refocusing and getting rid of all the extra stuff I was carrying around I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. It's really hard to explain the feeling, but I know the path I am on now is the correct one for me.

I really want to thank everyone who has stuck with me over the years. I'd like to thank Jerry offutt for teaching me presentation, Bruce Hill for teaching me to build a core, Steven Berkowitz for helping me refine my core, Anthony Marquez for being a friend and setting me straight, and Grant Campbell for always being honest with me and not holding back when we talk. Without you guys I would have strayed even further. Domo Arigato Gozimasu.


Scot Mertz

"Respect your efforts, Respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power."
~ Clint Eastwood

Happy Year of the Dragon

Wow, another year has come and gone. Talk about time flying. I'm very sorry that I have not kept up on this blog, but with work pulling me in one direction and family pulling me in the other I have had to prioritize my time a little differently during 2011.

During the last 7 months I have been deployed on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) and with that chapter finally starting to come to a close I am starting to get a bit more free time to sit down and write.

Deployment has been good to me, I started teaching karate classes onboard the Stennis back in July of 2011, and kept a good amount of people interested for the deployment. Mostly worked on basic kata such as Gekisai Dai Ichi, Gekisai Dai Ni, Saifa, and Sanchin, however everyone who was practicing was loving it. My true hope is that everyone involved now has the desire to seek out an instructor and continue their training.


My book has now released and is available for sale on Amazon.com and at Lulu.com. It's called Ryuho No Hon, which means "Book of the Dragon and the Phoenix". I call my own dojo the Ryuhokan, so this book is a summary of the material that I teach at my dojo. The history section is massive, I tried to be as thourough as possible with it, and thanks to the works of several great martial artists and historians like Garry Lever, John Sells, Mario McKenna, Morio Higaonna, and Tetsuhiro Hokama I think the history is one of the most accurate that has ever been published. The rest of the book goes into the exercises and drills that I teach such as the 18 hands of Lohan, Ba Duan Jin, Kakie, Kata, Self-Defense, Bodyguarding tactics, and the like. I have also added in a collection of articles that I have always found inspirational in my training, such as the "Bucho Ikko" by Bushi Matsumura.

Click here if you would like to purchase a copy of Ryuho No Hon

Heading back to the US in a few short weeks and really looking forward to getting home. The month of March is going to be busy, so if anyone is into seminars and on the east coast come on out and see me. On March 8th I'm going to be in Havelock NC teaching for the UMAA. March 10th, I'll be in Wilkes-Barre PA teaching at the Downtown Karate Dojo. On March 17th I'll be in Clermont Florida teaching for William Valdes. 19th of March in Benton Arkansas teaching for Jerry Offutt. Still working out the details for more stops.

I hope everyone out there has had a wonderful 2012 thus far, and I wish you all the best with your training and all your endeavors for this year of the Dragon!


Scot Mertz