Masters Hall of Fame Magazine issue 5

Page 14

How has martial arts assisted you with being in law I first produced a set of 8 instructional video tapes on enforcement? Have you ever had to use your arts in your Yoshinkan Aikido for Law Enforcement. Our Chief of Police occupation? at that time, had a martial arts background and totally If it were not for my martial arts training I would not be here supported my decision to make these tapes by allowing me to today. My martial arts training helped me many times in my do them in full police uniform. These tapes went on to career as a police officer. I was able to remain calm, use become part of many police departments video library, not verbal skills and if necessary use my martial arts skills so that only nation wide but world wide as well. The second 3 no one got hurt. One such case involved a young man who volume series that was produced, focused on traditional was extremely agitated and wanted to die by being run over by martial arts techniques for the modern day warrior using a car in the street. I had to approach him in the street and the techniques taken form the martial arts that I have studied over very first words out of his mouth were, “I know Karate and I the last 50 years. What I wanted to do was to show the more only know one move and I don’t want to use it on you”. I practical side of the martial arts and not so much the immediately responded by saying, “Then you must know the traditional point of view. In Aikido, especially, it is often said code of the Samurai, Bushido, and that the mind and body are that you are to make harmony with nature. This does not one in the martial arts”. His mind set immediately relaxed and mean the elements of nature but more so the nature of the way he said, “You know the martial arts?”. I told him that I did the human body moves or reacts. Thus, if Aikido, or any and we were able to calmly talk him into going to the hospital martial art for that matter, is to be in true harmony with nature, for evaluation. The funny part to this story was that as the it needs to adapt to the elements of both the culture and ambulance attendant started to load him into the ambulance, I environment where it is taught, otherwise it is not in harmony reminded the subject of the code of the Samurai, and the with nature, it is in discord. ambulance attendant immediately replied to the subject, “You know the marital arts, so do I”. So now they had something in

How exactly did you get your nickname 'Samurai Cop"?

common and off they went and no one got hurt. A happy

By day I wore a badge and by night I wore a black belt. One

ending to what could have been a possible violent

of the positions that I was assigned to during my law

confrontation.

enforcement career was that of a Training Officer. Because of my extensive martial arts training, on the day that I retired from the department, I was given the nickname, the “Samurai

You have a set of instructional videos that you made.

Cop” by my fellow officers. It was a nickname that I feel very

What motivated you to do these excellent set of

honored to have received coming from those whom I worked

instructional videos with so many in the market already?

with each day for 34 years.

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