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see PAGE 50

ABOUT THE COVER: From te ll to right stanlng at tOP le lt , ronowned martial arliS1S Masaakl Hatsumi (nlnJutsu), Eric Lee (kung 11.1). Jhoon Rhcc (tac kwon dO), and Furnlo Demura (karme) illus· trat e their dlf lorenl sl yles on a cover c leverly designed by aft dirCCl or Alba! Genesl a.

15th YEARBOOK Michael James, PublishCl Geri Simon, Assistant Publisher BLACK BELT STAFF James Nail , Execut ive Ed itor Albar Genesla, Art Direc tor James Coleman, Editor Jack Vaughn, Copy Editor Kurt Seemann, Editorial Assistan t Jan Wilhelm, Typography Marcia Mack, Photographer

ADVERTISING Barbara Les sard CIRCULATION Mercy Caudillo

FEATURES

CUSTOMER SERVIC E J oan LaMarr

CONTRIBUTORS D.R. Browning Charles Bruder Robert W. Dillon Jr. Gary Goldsleln Grog Leo John Earl Maberry Graham Monro Dorothy A. Odsen Aloll Sternberg

BELT YEARBOOK 1982, VOL. 20, YRB

20 THE MARTIAL ARTS: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMDRROW-The arls 01 karale, kung fu, tae kwon do, and ninjutsu have come a long way to get where they are today. Where wi lilhey be ten years from now? Some of the best in the business tell us.

30 XIAN·JIA·PO TAO·QUAN: SINGAPORE'S STRUGGLING NATIDNAL MARTIAL ART - As difficult as xian-j ia-po tao-quan is to pronounce, this blend of kung fu styles is having an even more dif­ficult time gai ning acceptance as a national art.

36 THE SHURIKEN: ONCE A WEAPON OF TERROR; NOW A TOOL FOR SPORT-From a weapon of the ancient ninja, the shuriken has evolved into a, sporting device for the modern competitor.

42 SHDTOKAN: THE AMERICAN CONNECTION-In New Jersey, black belt Leslie Safar pounds out some of the next links in shotokan's ever-growing chain of heritage.

SPECIAL SWORD SECTION 50 NIPPON·TO: THE LEGACY OF THE JAPANESE SWORD-Follow the development of this

classical weapon from ancient times to the present. Proud owners pamper their nippon-Io today.

56 TAl CHI CHIEN AND TAl CHI TAO: CHINESE TOOLS OF BAD OMEN-Whether you prefer the single- or doubled-edge blade, there is something to be said for both of these venerable weapons.

WORD GAMES

62 MARTIAL ARTS ANAGRAMS: A TEST OF SKILL-Just for fun, try to solve these martial arts· oriented word searches.

BLACK BELT HALL OF FAME 71 INTRODUCTION 72 TERUYUKI OKAZAKI, Man of the Year 74 REMY PRESAS, Instructor of the Year 76 STEVE ANDERSON, Kumite Competitor of the Year 77 JOHN CHUNG, Forms Competitor of the Year 78 YOSHISADA YONEZUKA, Judo Instructor of the Year 79 MIKE SWAIN, Judo Competitor of the Year 80 ROGER TUNG, Kung Fu Artist of the Year

DEPARTMENTS 6 8

13 70 82 86 97

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR INSTRUCTORS' FORUM BLACK BELT TIMES LIBRARY OF BACK ISSUES 1982 FEATURE ARTICLE INDEX KI CALENDAR OF RATED EVENTS DOJO DIRECTORY

BLACK BELT rnagazine- ISSN 0277·3066- is published monlhly plus yearbook by Rainbow Publlcalions. tnc. Ed llorial. advert is ing and circu lal ion ollices at t8 13 Vlctol Y Ptace. SU/bank. CA 91504. Second·class posl age paid Burbank. CA, and addi t ional past o fl ices. Telephone: (2 t 3) 843·444<1 or 849·218 1. COllsullanls: Uyehara Managemen t Inc .. 13 t4 S. King 5 1113131. Su ite 863. Honolulu. HI 968 14. Subscliption lates in the Unil ed Sta tes arc one year (12 Issues plus yearbook). 521 .00: tWO years. S42.00. (Foreign countries add 5'2.50 per year lor postage.) The publisher and editors will no t be responsib le lor unsolici ted materia l. Manuscripts and photographs must be accompan,od by a stam ped. sel l ·addressed envelope. Printed in the United States by Wortd Color Press. Inc .. 51. Lou is. Copyright © 1962 by Rainbow Publicat ions, Inc. All rlghl s resorved. ReprOduci ion without permission is stric tly prohibi ted .

"Just as water will conform to the shape of the vessel that con· tains it, so will a man follow the good and evil of his companions."

-Imagawa Sadayo

INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR REMY PRESAS by Greg Lee

Remy Presas is a martial arts gypsy. He dOesn't own a schoot, doesn't set too many ru les, has no absolute not ions about what makes the most effective kick or which stance delivers the most powerful punch. Or how your belt is tied, for that matter.

Remy Presas is not concerned with all that. He's too busy teaching people self·defense.

Presas, or the "Professor," as his friends call him; has logged more air miles, taught more seminars, dem­onstrated the Fi lipino art of arni s to more students across the count ry for seven years, that through sheer devotion to his sty le of teaching, he has surely earned the mantle of BLACK BELT Instructor of the Year for 1982.

"He gets students to recogn ize thei r martial arts abi lity faster than any instructor I've ever seen," says Los Angeles-based arnis instructor Mike Replog le. "Some people study for years before they develop their own individuality within a style. Remy helps martial artists discover their own style much quicker."

After 25 years in the mart ial arts, Presas has refined hi s teaching methods unt il anyone, regard less of past experience, can learn the rud iments of arnis in one two-day seminar. Not theory, not history, but tangible, usable self-defense ski lls.

Since 1975, Presas has been giv­ing seminars sponsored in dojo throughout the United States as a representative of the Philippine government, teaching the national sport of arni s. His style is spon­taneous and unpretentious: he humbly introduces himself to a new crop of pupils, has everyone pick up 74

two rattan canes and proceeds to demonstrate the 12 basic angles of strik ing and attack, and sinawa/i, the weaving mot ions of the two canes.

" He can be in a room full of strangers and it 'll be as if he's known them for a long time," says Michigan arni s instructor Jeff Ar-

nold. "At ease, he's happy-go·lucky_ But when he gets up to teach, he be­comes a regular arnis warrior."

Close-quarters act ion at lightning speed makes Presas a terror to watch when he is sparring with one of his advanced students. And when the traditional bolo (blade) is

Okazaki in hi s friendly, good·natured way, "is that karate·do is budo, and its purpose is to develop character in human beings and to avoid con­flicts."

According to Okazaki, what separates Funakoshi karate·do from other martial arts is its emphasis on the spirit-a dimension other sys­tems often lack, he claims. "What master Funakoshi developed was a spiritual quality which transcended anything I could do physically," Okazaki explains. "We must try to reach Ihal level of ability. That is why we keep training. Even if we never reach it , we must try. It is our challenge, our responsibility as

c

teachers of master Funakoshi 's prin· ciples."

Okazaki has been, and continues to be, a man devoted to those prin· ciples. Despite his own vast ac­complishments in the area of karate· do, he remains the humble servant of his master. "Compared to my teachers, I am nothing ," he says. "They told me to come to the United States, and I came. When they tell me to go back to Japan, I wi ll go. "

In the meantime, Okazaki con· tinues to conduct quarterly semi­nars, cl inics, training programs and ranking examinations at al l of the ISKF member organizat ions through· out the Western Hemisphere. His

energy, even as he enters this, his sixth decade of life, is seemingly limitless-perhaps one of the rewards of hi s dedication to hard training. He still exudes the en· thusiasm, strength, flex ibilit y, and vigor of a martial artist half his age.

Amazingly, Okazaki somehow finds time to regularly teach classes at three studios-his own Philadel· phia Karate Club, the Philadelphia Athletic Club, and the Shotokan Karate Academy in Ph iladelphia. In addition, he personally instructs at St. Joseph University, Drexel Univer· sity, the University of Pennsylvania, and Jefferson University. He remains a faculty member at three other col· leges, teaching karate and regular physical education classes. Recent· Iy, Okazaki was appointed adjunct professor of health sciences at Long Island State University. Moreover, he will soon be releasing a voluminous book he co·authored with sports medicine pioneer Dr. Milorad Stricevic entit led The Textbook of Modern Karate-the result at ten years of painstaking research in the area of karate training, kinetics, and exercise physiology.

Presently, Okazaki spends six·to· nine months a year traveling to pro­mote karate·do the way Funakoshi intended. His major concern right now is the development of official JKA instructors for the Western Hemisphere. Currently, approximate· Iy 100 black belts, ranking at least in the second dan, are enroll ed in the program. Okazaki estimates that when they complete the three·year training session, the membership of the ISKF wi ll double or triple in the U.S. alone.

To observe Okazaki is like travel· ing back through time to observe Fu· nakoshi at work-he is a living monument to the ideals of karate's founder. "We are all just human be· ings, so we can't be perfect ," says Okazaki. "We have to keep training and trying to become a little bit bet· ter each day. Just do your best."

And that's exact ly what Teruyuki Okazaki has been doing for the past 35 years. 0

73

employed, the sparks literally fly as metal clashes on metal.

The Professor teaches the " flow," the ability to adapt your body, stance and reactions to the motions of your opponent, so that no matter what is thrown at you-fist, club or knife- you will be able to respond

naturally. While other styles make the indi vidual fit prescribed motions, arnis adapts to the movement of the individual.

Presas familiarizes new students with thi s intuitive approach, putting novices at ease alongside experts. Experts like Ernie Reyes, Eric Lee,

Dan And~rson and Keith Vitali , who claim modern arnis has filled a gap in their training left by other styles.

Arnis, then, as taught by Presas, is as much an interpretation of self-defense as it is a style.

Presas studied arnis as a young man, and because of his knowledge of karate and judo (he holds black belts in both), modernized the prin­ciples of the Filipino art into a more efficient, sport-like activity to teach in public schools_ By the early 1970s, principally through the work of Presas, arnis was taught regularly in physical education classes throughout the Philippines_

Presas can also be credited with having interpreted the motions of the sinawali for empty-hand self­defense_ He has systemized the parallels so that anyone who under­stands the block, check and counter­strike arrangement of arnis can employ his hands as well as a cane. Offense and defense are also taught in the same breath.

The Professor is unabashedly in love with his art, and he is very proud that his seminars attract so many students from diverse arts: ken po, tae kwon do, karate, kung fu, judo.

"I love this art. I want everyone to learn arnis for self-defense, for the beauty of the movement, for the ex­ercise," Presas explains.

I'He's a very compassionate man," says Replogle of the Pro­fessor. "Where a more traditional in­structor might demand a certain amount from a student, Remy doesn 't have to. Everyone works as hard as they can naturally, because YQU find you want to. Remy makes learning fun."

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