I started when I was six years old, (1979), in Isshinryu karate under Larry Dreer. Isshinryu
is an Okinawan style distinguished by its use of narrow stances, low line kicks, and a vertical punching fist. A relatively
simple art, Isshinryu usually produces some tough fighters because of the emphasis on sparring. I studied Isshinryu on and
off under various instructors including Bill Coppage, Phillip Warbington, Jimmy Chrestenson and Scott Renaldo, until I went
to college.
In 1991, at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS, I began learning Shotokan karate under
Daryl Adams, who was a national JKA (Japanese Karate Association) champion in both fighting and kata. Shotokan is a Japanese
style with an emphasis on hip-rotation, low stances, and really, really technical precision in striking. The primary weapon
of the Shotokan practitioner is the reverse punch, which is fired off of the belt. In my opinion, no other hard style martial
art is more crisp or beautiful to watch than good Shotokan.
Anyway, Daryl really changed my kicking game, and I became a fair martial artist under his tutelage,
eventually getting my first and only black belt from HIS master, something something Mikami. I really should know Mikami's
full name, because he's like "the man" as far as Shotokan goes, and his school in New Orleans is the Mecca for JKA in the
southeast. Unfortunately, that was 1995 or 1996, and I've long since stopped caring or following traditional martial arts
because they simply are not combat effective.
Now, during college, I was in the Kappa Alpha fraternity, which was in a constant battle for
campus supremacy with our arch rivals, the Pi Kappa Alpha's. This- along with my big fucking mouth- resulted in numerous bar
fights, many of which I lost. I couldn't understand this because I was a damn good karate-ka, and I'd even competed on a national
level. Nevertheless, real fighting never seemed to be like I thought it should be, (a lesson I'd learned many times in high
school as well), and I started looking elsewhere for enlightenment.
This is about the time the first Ultimate Fighting Championship came out, and after watching
that event with bated breathe, I had a revelation: I didn't know shit. And not only did I not know shit, nobody else knew
shit either. As I said, I started looking, thus training with anybody and everybody I could. I went to seminars, I visited
other people's dojos, I read books, etc. Eventually, I got a hold of the Gracie Jiu-jitsu instructional videotapes, gathered
together a small group of like-minded martial artists, and started learning how to fight for the first time.
This period of self-tutelage, (during which I also dabbled in Aikido, Judo, Wing Chun, and several
forms of Kung Fu), continued until 1997, when I met my current instructor, [Super Asskicker]. As always, I am changing his
name so that my writing doesn't reflect badly on him, (though [Super Asskicker] gets a kick out of my stories). [Super Asskicker]
teaches his own eclectic blend of fighting based on his experiences as a professional bouncer and kickboxer. The stand up
stuff is mostly Jeet Kune Do, Western Boxing and Muay Thai, while the ground stuff is Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Catch-As-Catch-Can
Wrestling. I hate labeling it that way though because what he does is uniquely his own, and is absolutely, positively stripped
down to the epitome of effectiveness.
For example, most people involved in JKD do a good deal of trapping. We do very little because
most of it doesn't work in a real fight. Most people involved in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu learn a SHITLOAD of techniques that require
the gi. Although we practice a few collar chokes to use in the winter when people are wearing coats, we never train with the
gi at all. That's why I hate to use labels. I am NOT a JKD fighter, nor am I a boxer, nor am I a wrestler. I'm just Mike.
Over the past five years or so, I've continued training on and off with [Super Asskicker], as
well as experimenting with different things on my own. I still go to other dojos as often as I can, though I usually find
that 95% of the martial artists out there were exactly like I was: good at martial art, useless at martial skill.
Hope that answers your question. If you wanna know anything specific, just let me know.
